Creating a Business Plan for Youth Sports

A business plan helps you run your business and is your guide through each stage of managing the operation. The plan provides the structure for your Youth Sports operation and is the roadmap to grow and achieve your goals. A business plan can also help you bring in funding, investments, and other partnerships. There are many different types of business plan formats you can use and they can be adjusted to fit your Youth Sports operation. Here are some of the key elements of a business plan.

Executive Summary

The executive summary outlines your Youth Sports business and why it will be successful. Include an outline on the programs and services you provide along with your mission and vision statements.

Organization and Management

Describe your company and include the legal structure of your business. Outline how your company will be structured and who will run it. Use an organizational chart to show each position along with their role in the company as well as how each person’s unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture. Consider bios of key members of your leadership team.

Goals and Objectives

A goal is something you want to achieve and should be a key part that will determine the rest of the business plan. It’s the desired result that your organization plans and commits to achieving. When making goals they should be SMART goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. You can have both long term and short term goals within your programs.

An objective is a specific task and measurable action that can be accomplished to achieve your goals.

A goal is an achievable outcome that is generally broad and longer term while an objective is shorter term and defines measurable actions to achieve an overall goal. While different, the two terms are often used in unison. Both are essential to planning and executing the goals of the organization.

SWOT Analysis

Conduct a SWOT Analysis as part of your business plan. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT Analysis is a tool that can help you to analyze what your company does best now, what it needs to improve, and how to devise a successful strategy for the future.

Market Analysis

You’ll need a good understanding of your industry outlook and target market. Competitive research will show you what other businesses are doing and what their strengths are. In your market research, look for trends and themes. What do successful competitors do? Why does it work? Can you do it better? Now’s the time to answer these questions.

Describe the Services You Offer

Describe what programs and services you offer in detail. Explain how it benefits your customers and how it differentiates from other programs in your service area. If you’re doing research and development for your service and programs you want to offer, explain it in detail.

Marketing and Sales Plan

There’s no single way to approach a marketing strategy. Your strategy should evolve and change to fit your unique needs.

Your goal in this section is to describe how you’ll attract and retain customers. There are 4 primary categories a sales and marketing plan will have to answer the questions on how you will sell your service and attract new customers. These are called the 4 P’s of Sales and Marketing.

1. Product: What are you marketing? The product section should explain what you are selling exactly. 
   
   
2. Place: Where are you available? This section should outline where you will sell or market your programs and services. How will you get customers to reach out to register or participate? 
   
   
3. Price: How much will you charge? This is an essential part of your planning process. Your pricing decisions would decide how you will generate revenue for your business. Your pricing decision should be based on market analysis, competition, value offering, buying behavior, etc. 
   
   
4. Promotion: How will you promote your offering? You can have the best product, but no one would care if you’re not promoting it. The primary reasons to create a marketing plan is to help you promote your offering. 

Within your Sales and Marketing Plan, you should also include the following or make sure they are addressed in your 4 P’s.

Value proposition: Make a clear and compelling statement about the unique value your Youth Sports operation brings to the market.

Customer Relationships: Describe how customers will interact with your programs. Is it automated or personal? In person or online? Think through the customer experience from start to finish.

Customer Segments: Be specific when you name your target market. Your business won’t be for everybody, so it’s important to have a clear sense of whom your business will serve.

Channels: List the most important ways you’ll talk to your customers. Most businesses use a mix of channels and optimize them over time.

Cost structure: Will your organization focus on reducing cost or maximizing value? Define your strategy, then list the most significant costs you’ll face pursuing it.

Sales Metrics: Determine what metrics you want to use to determine success. Things like break even points, cost recovery, revenue goals, participation numbers, etc. are all ways to determine you are meeting your sales goals.

Funding Request

If you’re asking for funding, this is where you’ll outline your funding requirements. Your goal is to clearly explain how much funding you’ll need over the next five years and what you’ll use it for. Give a detailed description of how you’ll use your funds. Specify if you need funds to buy equipment or materials, pay salaries, or cover specific bills until revenue increases. Always include a description of your future strategic financial plans.

Financial Projections

Supplement your funding request with financial projections to include your revenues and expenses. Your goal is to show that your Youth Sports business is stable and will be a financial success. If your organization is already established, include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years.

Provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. For the first year, be even more specific and use quarterly or even monthly projections. Make sure to clearly explain your projections, and match them to your funding requests.

This is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business.

Keys to Success

The next section of your plan can outline key areas that will help your business succeed. Three areas can include:

Key Partnerships: Note the other businesses or services you’ll work with to run your business. Think about suppliers, manufacturers, subcontractors, and similar strategic partners.

Key Activities: List the ways your business will gain a competitive advantage.

Key Resources: List any resource you’ll leverage to create value for your customer. Your most important assets could include staff, capital, facilities or intellectual property. Don’t forget to leverage Youth Sports resources that might be available.

Appendix

Use your appendix to provide supporting documents or other materials were specially requested. Common items to include are credit reports, resumes, pictures, reference letters, licenses, permits, patents, legal documents, and other contracts.

Business planning is ever evolving and should be adjusted as time and business needs change. Creating the roadmap not only helps you stay on track but adapt as needed. Sound business planning will make sure your Youth Sports operation is a success for many years to come!