Assignment 2: Operating a Small Business

Small Business Startup: Indoor Basketball Gym

Mario Parker

Strayer University

05/01/2019

Small Business Startup: Indoor Basketball Gym

An indoor basketball gym is one of the most selling business ideas today because of the increased popularity of the basketball game across the world (Chambers, 2019). In my region, the idea is valid and feasible because while there are many basketball players, there are only a few places to play freely, any time of the day basketball gymnasium centers. In other words, the demand for basketball gym services is higher than its supply. For this reason, there is usually constant congestion in the few available centers, which forces other clients to incur extra charges such as transport as they travel to other cities for the gym services. Besides the basketball players, there are also numerous people in my hometown who actively seek the facilities of basketball gyms for their excellent health and fitness.

Additionally, my town also boosts large numbers of players of other games and sports that are constant customers of gym centers irrespective of the game or sport they represent. From these observations, it is evident that there is an indoor basketball gym gap in the market of my hometown. Thus, starting up one would be a productive and profitable initiative.

As an entrepreneur, I will be motivated to invest in this idea. The name of my business will be “Stunners Basketball and Sports Gym Complex Center.” However, it simply is known as “The Stunners Gym.” The gym will serve mainly basketball players, but it will also have facilities and services for players of other games and sports as well as all the people eyeing fitness. In other words, the center will have multiple courts and will operate for 24 hours to suit the work and home scheduled of every client. The following are some of the core services the center will offer:

· A first-class fitness and lifestyle center,

· Two full-size basketball courts accommodating all other sports

· Food and beverage/lounge area,

· A massage therapy clinic

· A conference room,

· A childcare center

· A full-service locker room

· Qualified and Proficient Sports and Fitness Specialists for training and exercises respectively as well as consultations

Value Proposition of the Business

Concisely, a value proposition refers to a statement, which elucidates how products or services of a business will solve the problems of customers, improve their situation (relevancy), provide specific advantages (quantified value), and or tell the idyllic consumer why they have to purchase from the business and not from their competitors (unique differentiation) (Entrepreneur Media Inc., 2016). Defining value proposition will be crucial to me especially as I will be a new player on the market that includes already established organizations. Without a good enough value proposition, I arguably no amount of marketing efforts or hustle will help me.

For this reason, I gave it all my best to try to develop one, which I will use for The Stunners Gym. It reads as follows:

“Bad news about the economy is ubiquitous, but even in these most difficult times; we would like to offer you certainty in the middle of all the doubt. Do not worry about the cost because we are your friend. We offer you the best for your sports and fitness needs. First, we let only specialists attend to you, and besides the training and exercise centers, we also offer you a place to relax in our lounge. Here is also the only place you can access the gym services for you and your children at the same time. We offer you the best here because we know health and fitness are wellness and wealth.” With this value proposition, I hope to attract many customers and kick-start my business career with The Stunners Gym on a high note.

The Industry and Competitive Market

As a health and sports gym business, The Stunners Gym will fall under the fitness industry. Recent research shows that this is one of the booming sectors across the world today. According to Entrepreneur Media Inc. (2016), the emergence and growth of the fitness industry is founded on the increased involvement of people in sports and games as well as the physicians’’ recommendation of exercises for people as one of the ways of controlling such ugly and costly health conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Almost 70% of the people who go to gyms today do it for their good health and physical fitness (Champers, 2019), while the rest are players of different games. Thus, in short, the fitness industry is increasing today because of the increasing demand for the gym and other fitness services and facilities.

The fact that the industry is one of the most profitable of the modern time implies that it is also one of the most competitive. Competitive industries have competitive markets. A competitive market is one in which many producers of goods and services compete with one another to meet the demands and wants of many consumers (Pride, 2018). In such markets, Pride (2018) avers that no single producer, or a group of them, or single consumer, or group of them as well, can dictate the manner, direction, and dimension in which the market operates. As already mentioned in the introduction of this paper, there are already some gym centers, which are already established in the target region of my business. I will start my gym knowing that these centers will be my all-time competitors just from the time I will launch until how long I will operate. Nevertheless, because the market will be open, my success will depend on my creativity. In addition to the value proposition, protecting the brand, logo, and product technology of my business will also significantly help it to compete healthily and sustainably.

Protecting the Brand, Logo and Product Technology

One of the most reliable and successful strategies of protecting brands, logos and product, and service technology is trademarking them. Corporate reputation is arguably the pillar of successful and profitable business operation. For all business organizations, this reputation is developed through brands, logos, and product technology, and is as well destroyed through the same. For a case in point, Pride (2018) argues that a reseller may advertise a firm’s products online for less than the approved amount, thereby creating a crisis that would tarnish the image of the business. Also, Chambers (2019) asserts that an online retailer that has signed an authorized dealer program with a corporation may, however, intentionally for their own sake represent the products of the firm in a way that violates the agreement and hence destroys the image of the business. Somewhere else, other people or organizations may use the logo of a good firm to sell their manufactured counterfeit products. While this directly results in fewer sales for the original products, Chambers (2019) reports that it also destroys the reputation of the whole firms and its products when the consumers find out that the counterfeit goods are of low quality. Besides, competitors may use the product technology of a given firm to produce superior goods that will come to haunt those of the technology’s parent organization in the market. From both a theoretical and practical point of view, all these actions pose a negative impact on business. As such, protecting an organization’s brand, logo, and technology is not only crucial but compulsory. Trademarks for my brand, logo, and technology will help me preserve the reputation of my business. First, the strategy will vital in stopping contract violations and will also ensure that no one duplicates the technology of my business or uses its logo somewhere else.

Other strategies I will use to protect my business’ brand, logo, and product technology among other facets include IP Violation protection and alerts for crisis management. Imagine the time and resources organizations invest in creating content for their businesses on their websites and other online platforms! Can you imagine how it feels when these companies see this content on another site? For my gym center, I will sign up for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Protection and Takedown Services and put them in charge of copyright infringement takedowns for The Stunners Gym. For the second strategy, on the other hand, I will use social listening to monitor and analyze my social media channels so that I receive all the heads-up on all the perspective issues and have enough time to halt them going viral and blowing up into full-blown crises. Although many facilities can be used, I will use Talkwalker Alerts to create notifications for keywords such as scam, breached, fraud, and hacked for my gym. In catching up with counterfeiters and fat-fingered typists, I will generate alerts for the misspellings of my brand, logo, and products.

Testing the Feasibility of the Gym Business Idea

The feasibility of my Gym Business Idea can be tested in five steps namely product/service evaluation, customer base evaluation, resource evaluation, personnel evaluation, and growth potential evaluation.

Product/Service evaluation

In this step, I will analyze the purpose of my gym’s products to understand consumer behavior and purchasing habit. If I learn of similar products and services in the market, I will differentiate mine in terms of purpose and target audience.

Customer Base Evaluation

Here, I will try to understand the customer base of my business. I will seek to identify my business’ potential customers to determine its profitability. I will analyze the needs, requirements, and expectations of my clients from their point of view.

Resource Evaluation

The main question I will seek to answer here is what resources will I need? I will identify and list of all the essential resources I will need to convert my business idea into a legitimate business. The list will include the critical assets I will require in training and exercise spaces and offices and will show their estimated costs as well. In this way, I will be able to approximate the investment cost of my gym, and hence, the comparative feasibility of the whole business.

Personnel Evaluation

I will seek to identify who I will need for my business idea at this stage. I will make a list of all the exercises and fitness trainers and consultants that I will require for my gym to operate smoothly and profitably.

Growth Potential Evaluation

Different business ideas have different growth potentials depending on the type of products and services available in the market and the type of industry or sector in mind. Here, I will seek to understand how big my gym can grow and for how long. In other words, I will identify the growth rate of The Stunners Gym to get an insight on ROI as well as its feasibility in terms of revenue generation.

Strategies to Incentivize the Founding Management Team

As a startup, broader responsibilities, flexible schedules, and rewards will form the pillar of my management team’s incentive plan. While corporate workers are usually limited to small job obligations, Stilwell (2016) professes that startups, because of their small-unstructured natures allow workers to gain valuable job knowledge, skills, and experience beyond their business colleagues. Thus, by working with my startup, I will let my management team understand that they will be more desirable to many companies in the future because of their wealth of skills.

On the other hand, I will let my management team understand that as a startup, The Stunners Gym will have one of the most flexible schedules in business. Usually, startups are not limited to bankers’ schedules like many businesses according to Stilwell (2016). Without colossal officialdoms, The Stunners Gym will be capable of accommodating employees’ personal lives with split shifts and compacted schedules. Lastly, I will use rewards to ensure that hardworking workers continue with the spirit while the average ones are enticed to put in more efforts.

Estimated Budget of the Startup

References

Chambers, J. O. H. N. (2019). Connecting The Dots: Leadership lessons in a start-up world. Place of publication not identified: HarperCollins Publishers.

Entrepreneur Media, Inc. (2016). Start your training business: your step-by-step guide to success. Irvine, California: Entrepreneur Media, Inc.

Pride, J. (2018). Unicorn tears: Why startups fail and how to avoid it. Milton Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Stilwell, J. (2016). Small Business Ceo: Strategies to Navigate the Four Stages of Growth from Start-Up to Success. Cork: BookBaby.