They’re everywhere. They’re all around you. Believe it or not, they represent the next huge wave in club profit streams. Forget about disappearing lead boxes in the corner dry cleaners; flyers handed out at grocery stores, or disposable door hangers. Want to find out where the smart money is in club profits? Look around. It could be from that chunky kid you hired to mow your lawn. It could be that bunch of kids that you always see running at the local park. It could also be that skinny kid delivering newspapers each afternoon on his trusty 10-speed, legs churning like pistons.
Who are these kids? They are all future champion athletes. These kids will, at some point in time, all compete for playing time on varsity teams, for college scholarships, and yes, even for lucrative, professional contracts. These kids will compete in all manner of sports from football to gymnastics to lacrosse, and they will do so with a passion for excellence – which represents major dollars for those clubs positioned properly to service them.
The athletic performance marketplace is booming in every state in the union. This is much more than just your everyday “personal training.” This type of training – when delivered, presented and serviced properly – will make any ordinary athlete a good one, and allow those specially gifted ones a superhighway to the path of greatness. Remember this: You are now working in the unusual atmosphere of an “Inelastic Price Demand Curve.” Taking all of the Harvard Business School mumbojumbo jargon out, what this means quite simply is this: Parents tend to spend whatever it takes to promote their children’s athletic success. Regardless of their own personal, financial circumstances, a motivated parent will find the money needed to give their child an advantage to make the varsity team or to get that college scholarship. The question is, how to proceed? Are you, the club owner, properly positioned to make that move into delivering this sort of service, potentially reaping the vast rewards? Do you even think you are ready?
FOUR CHOICES
Following are four critical points to really ponder before dipping your toe into the water, so to speak:
1. Do nothing: Ignore the obvious and watch your competition take the lead (and your family memberships). Or, go on standby and wait for a big player to start their $440,000 pre-sale campaign designed to cut your monthly membership rates in half and drive you out of business. Your staff must be masters at pounding the streets. Freezing weather? Rain? Too bad, you had better be on every street corner, every day when you take on a super-funded national player. How long before this starts to happen? It already is.
2. Do-it-yourself: Sure you can train, and undoubtedly you probably do a good job. You may even already know how to train athletes. But, how do you sell a multi-thousand dollar package to their parents, coaches and athletic directors? How do you build a business by yourself? You may say, “I don’t need anyone, I can do this myself.” Well, you could, but just try and create brand awareness in a replicable business system without spending millions of dollars first. It is very hard to do. Ask Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Xerox, Starbucks…The list goes on and on. Take Starbucks, for example, why do you think Starbucks outsells (and, at far higher prices, by the way) the local “Mom and Pop” coffee shop whose actual product may be just as good (or better)? It’s the system. It’s the marketing. It’s the branding. It’s the training. And, of course, it’s the support. This is the reason why these systems are successful nationally.
3. Add new space: Build a 20,000-squarefoot addition onto your existing building, or sign yet another long-term lease for new space. Now, get your local loan officer on speed dial, and say, “Hello!” to new real estate taxes; higher energy bills; friendly general contractors, and your local permit department. If you are ready for spending an extra million dollars, this can be a good approach. (That is what it is going to take to do it and do it correctly.) And, the payback period will be five to 15 years.
4. Take the “business in a box” approach: This method can be the most profitable, especially if you have club space that isn’t booked every hour of the day, and an existing training staff. This method enhances your club by optimizing existing equipment, space, and the knowledge potential of your entire staff. Using the Best Buy Geek Squad analogy, obtain a Sports Performance Training License from a top-notch firm, and this will enable you to piggyback off of their national branding, marketing and industry leadership, and their total lifetime support. With this approach, you will have two solid businesses in one, and the freedom of operating as an entrepreneur.
Creating a sports performance training business, by using some of the “better” choices from above, can be very rewarding, even highly profitable, and it will sincerely differentiate you from your competitors even further. It is not uncommon for a well-run sports performance business to generate $40,000 per month. This could be you! And, yes, next time some skinny kid asks you for a spot, remember what that kid could represent to your club, and, ultimately, your back pocket. It’s smart money!
(This editorial was written with help from Ron Fernando, EVP d1 Performance.)
Corey Miceli is the Founder and Owner of d1 Performance. To see if your club qualifies for an athlete performance department, visit www.d1usa.com, or call 800.806.2107.
