Owning and running a sports facility is an idea any sports minded person has probably had at one time or another. This is especially true if you participate at one of these facilities as an adult. You look around and see all the people participating; you do a quick calculation in your head and think to yourself…”man this guy is making a fortune here! I should quick my boring job and do this!” I can tell you that in my experience I have heard that statement countless times from customers. However, if you are really serious about perusing that dream job, you need to complete a proper plan first. In this article I will cover the three basic steps every recreational facility business plan must have.
Site Location and Market Demographic Study
The first step is to choose a general site location then study and develop a report on the area’s demographics. You do not have to have an exact location picked out, but you at least need the neighborhood location. From that point draw a radius out to include about 25 miles or no more that a 45 minute drive from that location. I have found that within those guidelines you will find 90% of your customer base.
The demographics you need to include are current and expected population broken down by age, current and expected income levels by household, and discretionary spending levels. There are many other items to look at but those are the big three. Look at current levels and what is expected over the next five, ten, and fifteen years. Once you have that information, put it aside, you are not ready to make any decisions yet.
Competitive Market Study
The second step is to look at the competition in your market area. Look at every possible competing activity within the radius you created. You must include not only similar activities that want to do, but all other possible competing activities as well. For example if you want to run an arena soccer facility, you still need to research activities such as baseball, football, and lacrosse.
The reason is that many people participate in multiple activities and it will also give you a better understanding of what people are spending on recreational activities. That will come in handy in the third step.
Include information in your study such as pricing, number of participants, length of activity or season, etc. After compiling the data, create a list of your findings and sort them with the businesses closest to your proposed location first. You will want to give more weight to those businesses closest to you.
via How to Complete A Sports Facility Business Plan in Three Steps.
