I love playing video games. Right now I’m playing Metal Gear Solid 3 and Max Payne 3. It’s one of the activities I do to unwind from a busy business day, but it’s also one of those activities that I sometimes use to inspire my approach to business. What can businesses learn from video games?

1. Be prepared. In a video game you have to be prepared. You’ve got to make sure your character has the best equipment and resources, which means you’ve also got to manage the income the character has. In business its the same. If you want to grow your business you need to be prepared, have your resources lined up, and the finds to support your activities. Being unprepared can be more costly to a business, because of what it can cost in time and income.

2. Be curious. In a video game, you need to be curious. There will always be lots of treasures and Easter eggs in the game, but if you aren’t curious you won’t find them. You can’t assume the obvious route has everything. You’ve got to explore every corner. The same is true for business. You need to be curious about your market, your customers, your competition, everything. You’ve got to be willing to look at how you do business from different angles, instead of just going with the obvious route.

3. Be Persistent. The key to winning a video game comes down to good research and resource management, but also persistence. A game can get frustrating, but sticking with it can feel really good when you’ve finished the game. The same applies to business. Be persistent with your business. Don’t give up just because it isn’t easy at that moment. Things will change, especially when you keep tip 4 in mind.

4. Be smart. In a video game doing the same action again and again doesn’t always work. In fact, a video game requires a fair amount of strategy. You are trying to solve problems, which means you need to plan for how you will solve those problems. With business doing the same activities again and again isn’t effective unless you can track and show that those activities are working. To grow you business you need to be smart and develop a plan as well as actions to execute that plan. you need to track the activities and measure the results.

Playing video games has definitely helped me with problem solving and analyzing situations. A game is a puzzle and solving the puzzle requires more than brute strength. It requires all the elements I mentioned above. So does a business, if you want it to be successful.