Sports club management is all about the business, whether you realise or not
James Brooker
Strategic Business Manager, LoveAdmin
Change happens sooner than you think!
Are you on the committee of a football club? Did you stumble into helping out for a couple of hours doing some admin when you got home from work, but now feel responsible for 6 figures of revenue and hundreds of players? It’s time to acknowledge that you are a business, and that’s okay!
The words “business” and “commercial” are swear words in this scenario, because it’s just a Sunday League football club, right? Wrong, and it could have a massive impact on how the club is run, and the potential growth you could achieve in the future.
Changing stereotypes
Volunteer committees running sports clubs up and down the country are some of the kindest and most generous people out there, I’m sure you’ll agree. This, however, becomes a straitjacket when it comes to change and making difficult decisions. Grassroots sports clubs can be left for decades with paperwork up to their ears, spreadsheets for everything and the most inefficient processes known to man, but it’s okay, because it’s not a business, right?
We would argue that by embracing some of the ideas of being a business, whilst still retaining the kindness, generosity and community spirit at the heart of all successful football clubs, is the perfect recipe to ensure that your role on the committee is as enjoyable as possible. Thinking like a business can help you to think differently and see change and progression as positive things. Without it, the only way is down.
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
Henry Ford
Where do I start?
Operating as a business does not need to be about the cliches of profit and margins, these are in fact distinctly unhelpful things in the world of community sports. Instead, it’s the element of efficiency where real opportunity lies.
By embracing a software system such as LoveAdmin, you’ll no longer have paperwork by your ears, and those spreadsheets will melt away. The efficiency you’ll gain by adopting a “business” software system will free up your time to focus on what matters, making sure your players enjoy playing football, and that your club is set up to thrive long into the future.
Feel inspired to change and get out of the volunteer straitjacket? Want to go back to this being for fun and not an extension of your full-time job?
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