Good Neighbor Podcast: Youngstown

E2: Creating Fun From Scratch: How Ivan Bosnjak Turned a Social Media Trend Into a Card Game

• Stacey Willis & Ivan Bosnjak • Episode 2

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Ever wondered how those viral social media games make the leap from your screen to your living room? Meet Ivan Bosnjak, founder of BigHot LLC and creator of the wildly popular "Say the Same Word" card game that's captivating families and friends across the country.

Ivan's entrepreneurial journey began with a simple observation – people loved watching mind-reading games on TikTok and YouTube, but no physical version existed for at-home play. With creativity and determination, Ivan and his fiancée transformed this gap in the market into an opportunity, developing a card game where players try to guess the same word simultaneously. What makes their game stand out is its accessibility; designed for players of all ages and requiring as few as two participants, it's the perfect addition to any social gathering.

The conversation shifts to debunk common myths about product creation. "People make the idea of creating a product bigger than it actually is," Ivan reveals, explaining how many aspects of product development can be self-taught through online resources. He candidly shares a $10,000 setback when their innovative dual retractable dog leash design turned out to be already patented – and how this challenge ultimately led to an improved product and valuable business lessons about resilience and adaptation.

As a content creator himself, Ivan brings a unique perspective to product marketing, leveraging social media to connect with his target audience of sociable individuals between 18-50 years old who enjoy game nights. His business philosophy centers around inclusivity and creating enjoyable experiences for everyone, whether through physical products or entertaining YouTube content.

Looking for your next game night hit? Find "Say the Same Word" on Amazon Prime or their Shopify store, and follow Big Hot on YouTube to stay updated on their upcoming innovations, including their reimagined dog leash and new games on the horizon. What creativity-sparked product will you discover next?

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Willis.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of something fun to do? Because I have something that might be closer than you think. Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast, Ivan. Ivan, how are you doing today?

Speaker 3:

Doing well. Stacey, how are you?

Speaker 2:

I am doing great. I am so excited to learn all about the product that you're going to share today. You're a product creator, so I want you to tell us a little bit about your company and what we're going to be talking about.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, of course, my name is Ivan Bojnak. I have the company Big Hot LLC and we created the game Say the Same Word card game. It's a viral card game that you may have even seen on TikTok, instagram, youtube, any of the social media platforms. That's where two people grab a card and they read three, two, one and then try to guess the same word. So it's a very fun game that's available to play for all ages, which really makes our game one stand out against other ones.

Speaker 2:

And how did you come up with this business?

Speaker 3:

So me and my fiance, we love having game nights, we love playing games with all of our friends and family, and we were watching these videos of people play a similar game and realized that there was no card game behind this concept and when we wanted to play the say the same word game, there was a gap in the market. So we decided that a lot of people like playing mind games and playing card games with families. So we said why don't we create it our very own branding, make our very own prompts, our very own cards and release it to the public and then market it to people on TikTok, youtube and Instagram that were playing similar games already that really might enjoy ours YouTube and Instagram that were playing similar games already that really might enjoy ours.

Speaker 2:

So there has to be some misconceptions or myths associated with being a product creator. What are some of the myths or misconceptions that you can share?

Speaker 3:

with other creative individuals like yourself, I would say one of the biggest myths is how hard it is to start.

Speaker 3:

I think people make the idea of creating a product bigger than it actually is. It really just takes a little bit of know-how and a little bit of creativity to really come up with the idea, as well as inner interconnectivity between you and team members and people to work with. So for us, one of the harder things was actually finding a reputable supplier. Uh, there's. It's not easy to just find anyone off the street that can print you thousands of cards. Uh, so you know you have to find someone that's reputable, but finding somebody like that is one of the harder things. But outside of there, the creativity of creating the game is it really comes down to you and your designer. Reputable, but finding somebody like that is one of the harder things. But outside of there, the creativity of creating the game is it really comes down to you and your designer, and it can be as simple as learning in Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator all things that you can learn on YouTube. So a lot of the things you can self teach and accomplish on your own.

Speaker 2:

Who are your target customers and how are you marketing to them?

Speaker 3:

So our target customers are? We're going for people ages 18 to 40 to 50. Those are the main users that we're looking for, as we feel like those target demographics are the ones that will play our game the most, people that are very sociable. We're targeting people that like to play games. Specifically, on our Amazon portal, we target the words family game, night, couples games, because our game you can play with as little as two players, so it is really versatile in who you can play it with as well as our point structure.

Speaker 3:

It's easy to understand for all age groups. So we're looking for the sociable people, people that like to have family gatherings, hang out with their friends and are looking for game nights, and those are the type of target keywords and demographics that we're looking for. Outside of that, anybody can really play it. So if anyone is interested in it, it's completely available.

Speaker 2:

Well, outside of creating this board game, what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

So for fun, a lot of my fun interconnects with my businesses, because I really do like all of the things I do, but one of the funnest things I do is I also create YouTube videos, which kind of bled into creating the game, because we were social media creators. We were on TikTok, we are on YouTube, we do a lot of these social media things, so being able to actually create a game now to launch to our audience was very, very beneficial to us. So I really like to create YouTube videos, do different challenges. We've done an amazing race before. We've done a squid games. We recently gave away a thousand roses to nursing homes. These are all things that are technically business, but I do really enjoy doing them and have a lot of fun with it.

Speaker 2:

And let's switch gears just a little bit. Can you describe a life challenge or a hardship that you overcame and how it made you stronger? Does anything come to mind?

Speaker 3:

Yes, so recently, with our current our current leash design. So we're actually working on a brand new dog leash. Being that we're a product designer, we need to go through an entire dog leash. Ours is a dual retractable dog leash, so it's a very, very innovative product. Ours is a dual retractable dog leash, so it's a very, very innovative product. Really, really interesting.

Speaker 3:

Our first model that we ended up buying actually was patented by another individual, so for that initial model we actually had to eat a lot of the cost uh, probably spend about 10 000 on the initial mock-up prototype and an initial batch and finding out after the fact that we're not able to sell those leashes, you know, really puts a damper in our our entrepreneurial spirit as far as figuring out what are we going to do next.

Speaker 3:

But the biggest thing I can say that we have done to overcome that is, you know, it forced us to to be creative and it forced us to to change, to really think about how can we make this product different than the current patent and then patent it ourselves. So that's kind of where we are at the current stage with this specific leash, is that we actually have applied for a patent on the new one and we'll be able to sell it, and it's going to be a much better and more efficient product than the prior. So the biggest challenge was actually overcoming and taking that loss on the head and not everything is going to work out but figuring out how to be adaptable in those situations in order to come out of the other side more profitable and more successful.

Speaker 2:

Ivan, tell our listeners one thing they should remember about Big Hot, about your brand, about what you're doing.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So one thing that we really want people to remember is we try to be all inclusive for everyone. So, whether or not you like entertainment from a physical standpoint, or you want to play our game with your friends and families, or if you're at home and you like to watch YouTube, we have something for everyone. We do nice things. Like I said, we gave flowers away, we've done fun challenges. There's a lot to do in our area outside of the normal things. You know. It's not just about going to the mall or going to the movies. There's other things that you can do around here and just if you look for it, I know we're not LA or New York, but we try to make it as inclusive and as fun for everyone around us as possible.

Speaker 2:

And how can our listeners find your products right now? What would they do? Would they go to a website? Would they go to Amazon? How would they find you?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so for all of our products they are available on Amazon and you've and Amazon Prime. So if you have Amazon Prime, you can get it in as little as two days. We can look up, say the same word, card game on Amazon. Say the same word, card game on Shopify, and you'll be able to find our store. Either one is fine. Outside of that, if you like other entertainment, feel free to look up Big Hot on Google B--I-G-H-O-T or BigHot on YouTube, and you'll be able to find me, I'm sure.

Speaker 2:

All right, ivan. Well, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward. And, yeah, just keep on creating.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we look forward to multiple new ventures coming soon. As I said, our brand new leash will be releasing soon and we're very excited for that, as well as some other products on the horizon as well as new games. So make sure to stay stay up to date on those things, because you know we got a lot coming.

Speaker 2:

All right, thank you so much.

Speaker 3:

Yes, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for much. Yes, thank you.