Unemployed, Disabled Couple Struggle to Start New Business
In this cost-consuming day and age, how does a family of three live on $1100 a month? “Very carefully,” says Daka Y.
Her husband, Dana S., was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 18, which worsened as the years went by. After helping a stranded motorist move her car up a snowy New Jersey hill in 2005, he further damaged his joints and needed a knee replacement. Later, he moved to Georgia and started receiving his Social Security Disability in 2007. He used his unwanted spare time to start an online degree in IT.
Meanwhile, Georgia native Daka Y. left her hectic job at age 30 in 2006 when she discovered she was pregnant. She had already miscarried four times due to the exhausting body stresses and extremely long hours of warehousing and retail management. A Science Fiction/Fantasy writer, she used the time off during her pregnancy to finish several of her books and start her Film degree. However, she suffered another setback due to medical complications after her son’s birth.
Dana and Daka met accidently on the Internet, shortly after Daka separated from her unfaithful husband in 2008. They shared many of the same interests, which included video games, nature, art, and music. And Daka’s son adored Dana. Accident or not, it was plain to see Dana and Daka had something special. They started dating, moved in together, and eventually got married in 2011.
Blooming love was not without hardships, it seemed. In the horrible Georgia economy, it was difficult for Daka to find a job. Plus, Daka was hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver while taking her son to Pre-K one morning, and she suffered a painful herniated disc. Insured with only Medicaid, it was hard to find a doctor, so she suffered in pain. Meanwhile, Dana’s Medicare only covered so much of his RA treatments, creating another out-of-pocket expense. What can one do? Start a business!
Daka has 8 (soon to be 10) self-published books, but missed the opportunity to do any book touring and promo work because of her back injuries. They also created a natural, handmade line of beauty products, but currently they are only able to produce them in very small batches. Right when all hope seemed lost for finding a viable product it hit them: a new family game! Fortuna was the result.
Fortuna is Daka and Dana’s latest stab at achieving the American Dream: a two player game of math and chance with simple playing components, posted on Kickstarter.com. Daka and Dana hope to raise $200,000 to manufacture their bright idea as a console game, phone app, and home game. However, the most fun lies in the backing rewards offered. “There’s lots of blank space to be filled on the backs of the game boxes and even inside the games,” Dana said. “Not to mention, the spaces that can be filled in the RPG game plot.”
At the $25 and $50 levels, backers gain banner ad space on the websites. At the $75 and $100 levels, backers gain advertising inserts inside, and advertising labels on the backs of the game boxes. By far, the most interesting reward is the rare and limited $1000 level, which earns backers a permanent spot in the console RPG world of Fortuna—with a storyline centered in a casino. Backers’ real-life ads appearing on in-game billboards, matchbook covers, t-shirts, television commercials, and everywhere in between. “It’s a fun way to show our supporters how much we appreciate their help!” Daka said.
For more info on Fortuna, visit dragonfishent.com or search Fortuna on Kickstarter.com
Her husband, Dana S., was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 18, which worsened as the years went by. After helping a stranded motorist move her car up a snowy New Jersey hill in 2005, he further damaged his joints and needed a knee replacement. Later, he moved to Georgia and started receiving his Social Security Disability in 2007. He used his unwanted spare time to start an online degree in IT.
Meanwhile, Georgia native Daka Y. left her hectic job at age 30 in 2006 when she discovered she was pregnant. She had already miscarried four times due to the exhausting body stresses and extremely long hours of warehousing and retail management. A Science Fiction/Fantasy writer, she used the time off during her pregnancy to finish several of her books and start her Film degree. However, she suffered another setback due to medical complications after her son’s birth.
Dana and Daka met accidently on the Internet, shortly after Daka separated from her unfaithful husband in 2008. They shared many of the same interests, which included video games, nature, art, and music. And Daka’s son adored Dana. Accident or not, it was plain to see Dana and Daka had something special. They started dating, moved in together, and eventually got married in 2011.
Blooming love was not without hardships, it seemed. In the horrible Georgia economy, it was difficult for Daka to find a job. Plus, Daka was hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver while taking her son to Pre-K one morning, and she suffered a painful herniated disc. Insured with only Medicaid, it was hard to find a doctor, so she suffered in pain. Meanwhile, Dana’s Medicare only covered so much of his RA treatments, creating another out-of-pocket expense. What can one do? Start a business!
Daka has 8 (soon to be 10) self-published books, but missed the opportunity to do any book touring and promo work because of her back injuries. They also created a natural, handmade line of beauty products, but currently they are only able to produce them in very small batches. Right when all hope seemed lost for finding a viable product it hit them: a new family game! Fortuna was the result.
Fortuna is Daka and Dana’s latest stab at achieving the American Dream: a two player game of math and chance with simple playing components, posted on Kickstarter.com. Daka and Dana hope to raise $200,000 to manufacture their bright idea as a console game, phone app, and home game. However, the most fun lies in the backing rewards offered. “There’s lots of blank space to be filled on the backs of the game boxes and even inside the games,” Dana said. “Not to mention, the spaces that can be filled in the RPG game plot.”
At the $25 and $50 levels, backers gain banner ad space on the websites. At the $75 and $100 levels, backers gain advertising inserts inside, and advertising labels on the backs of the game boxes. By far, the most interesting reward is the rare and limited $1000 level, which earns backers a permanent spot in the console RPG world of Fortuna—with a storyline centered in a casino. Backers’ real-life ads appearing on in-game billboards, matchbook covers, t-shirts, television commercials, and everywhere in between. “It’s a fun way to show our supporters how much we appreciate their help!” Daka said.
For more info on Fortuna, visit dragonfishent.com or search Fortuna on Kickstarter.com
- TAGS:
- advertising,
- smallbusiness,
- economy,
- games,
- americandream,
- newlyweds,
- kickstarter
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