Who Says You Can’t Mix Business with Pleasure? Business Opportunities for the True Sports Enthusiast
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You’re a jock. You played. You still play whenever and wherever you can. No, you’re just a rabid fan. If your team’s having a great season, you’re in a good mood. They lose? Everybody knows to steer clear, at least until your wounds heal. Whether you’re a player or a spectator, the world of sports is your greatest passion, or at least one of them. You could be around ball fields, the golf course or even the local pool and racquet club all day long, shooting the breeze about the latest scores and odds with people just like you. Admit it, just talking about “jock stuff” gives you a rush. You’re not a Little League coach for nothing! But, hey, we all have to work for a living, right?
Well, what if you could do both? What if you could merge your enthusiasm for all things athletic with your desire to own and operate your own business, or even just make a little extra money each month? And, what if you could try your hand at it from home, part-time, for relatively little up-front investment in some cases…just to see how you like it?
There are many who say that if you own a business, choosing what you do dictates how well you will do. And, any good shrink will tell you that doing what you love or have an interest in is good for the psyche, not to mention the pocketbook. So, if sports are your thing, keep reading. There are a number of business opportunities out there that you might find are worth a closer look.
Yet One More of Golf’s Challenges Finally Met
Anyone who loves and has played golf knows that keeping golf shoes clean is a necessary evil, for you and for the place where you play. You don’t want the mess in your car; they don’t want it in the clubhouse or on the carpet. Bristle brushes anchored to concrete are such a mess, and that nasty air compressor blows dirt and grass everywhere, doesn’t it? Enter a somewhat ingenious machine, coupled with a well-conceived, advertising-driven business opportunity…The Golf Showshiner.
The Golf Showshiner combines full-color, motion advertising with a commercial golf shoe-cleaning apparatus that is easy to use, easy to maintain, completely weatherproof and provides a free and necessary service. Anyone who owns/manages a pro-shop, driving range or even a soccer or rugby facility would be hard pressed to find the downside of housing one of these state-of-the-art units, especially when it costs them and their customers nothing. All they need is a standard wall outlet and a little electricity. And, it enhances the look and professionalism of their establishment. With well over 15,000 golf courses in the U.S. alone, the market for these machines is practically endless.
“When our distributors purchase one of our units, they own it. It’s their business to operate as they see fit for the most part, and we support them in every way possible,” says Mike Carter, President of Shine Mark Systems, the company that offers not only the Golf Showshiner business opportunity, but a similar Showshiner polisher option as well. That includes the actual advertising development and production, if necessary. In fact, Shine Mark Systems has channels in place to support its distributors each step of the way as they build their business, from the quality control at the Raleigh, NC-based factory that manufactures the units to the actual marketing of the units themselves and finally, the selling, designing and production of the advertisements for unit installation.
“You do not necessarily need a background in advertising to be successful in this business, even though it is helpful. You do need to be someone who is a true entrepreneur and knows it takes time and hard work to build a business,” Carter says. “And, you must be able to build community relationships, not only to market your units, but also to sell and maintain the advertising on them.”
What’s really incredible about this particular business opportunity is its novelty. “This is far and away the best cleat cleaner on the market, bar none,” Carter asserts. “It’s so new that 99% of the people you talk to will not have seen anything like it, so a self-starter with a solid backbone can really do well.” The company has a number of distributors who have made the Showshiner business their sole source of income. However, many distributors start with just one or two units and find a way to manage it part-time or as part of an already existing business plan.
The flexibility in how any Showshiner distributor chooses to manage his (or her) own business is part of the opportunity’s appeal. And regardless of how they do it, it’s safe to say each one of them is on the cutting edge of a burgeoning industry and will reap the benefits. “We’ve been very successful thus far,” Carter enthuses. “We’ve got Shine Mark Systems units operating in 40 countries worldwide, but some of our best territories are still available,” he says. “The world’s a big place, and we have plenty of room to grow.”
Don’t Just Buy ‘Em, Sell ‘Em
Ted Nevins is the owner of SportsLife Enterprises. He loves to tell parents, “Don’t just be the person that buys your kids’ jerseys; be the one that sells ‘em!” Nevins speaks from his experience as a Dad, a sports fan and a man with years of experience under his belt. “I started right out of college as a dealer in this business selling customized apparel and accessories directly to sports teams and schools,” say Nevins.
By continuing to share all that he has learned in the past fifteen years, Nevins’ company has steadily grown into a nationwide network of as many as 1,000 dealers at any given time, all of whom he considers part of the SportsLife family. And a mighty powerful family it is when it comes to negotiating with some of the world’s largest suppliers of customized and other athletic apparel, accessories and memorabilia. By virtue of its size and its relationships of many years with these suppliers, SportsLife can get many athletic/sports-related apparel and other merchandise items at wholesale or oftentimes less than wholesale prices for its distributors. And those low prices mean their dealers can be competitive and extremely profitable at the same time when selling these same goods to their own customers.
In addition, being part of SportsLife means you are just a phone call or e-mail away from getting the support you need to start your business and sustain it, and membership costs just $30 a month. “We want our dealers to be as successful as possible and to have as much flexibility as they need to do what they need to do, when they need to do it, with our help, all at an affordable cost,” says Nevins.
Having been a businessman his whole adult life, Nevins knows that anyone who doesn’t have problems in business, especially when they’re just getting started, isn’t really in business at all. He prides himself on his ready accessibility, his assertion that no question is a dumb one and the fact that he has built such a tremendous network of support to sustain every member of the SportsLife family. “Most of our dealers are home-based, but we do have a number of people who have worked very hard and who have grown into their own storefronts as well,” Nevins says. So, whatever tack you want to take with your own sporting apparel and merchandise business, someone out there has already charted the course and is willing to help. However, he is quick to point out that if owning your own customized and other athletic apparel store is your ultimate goal, it is best to start small. “The first year or two of a new retail establishment can be a lonely one,” he points out. “It’s sure easier when you have an established customer base to get you started.”
At the end of the day, Nevins says, “Initiative is everything.” SportsLife can give you all the guidance, training, resources and tools you’ll need, and it can and does even help you set up your own fully operational website. But, it can’t make you do what you must do, which is to do your homework, make a business and marketing plan, set goals and have realistic expectations along the way. Growing a successful business doesn’t happen overnight. According to Nevins, the hardest part is getting started. “If you don’t come to the plate, you’re not going to get a hit,” he says.
Nothing says it better than a great sports metaphor!
** Sports-minded, potential entrepreneurs might also want to check out these intriguing business opportunities: National Sports Photography and MVP Logo.
By: Kathleen C. Lanza
for BusinessOpportunity.com
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