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These articles from eSoft Planner’s blog will help you manage your softball facility with tips, stories, and the latest news.

esoft planner: best sports scheduling software, #1 in sports planning and athletic businesses

Best Practices in Sports Scheduling Software: How to Grow Your Business Effectively

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Introduction

Sports agencies, teams and other organizations use sports scheduling software to manage their business. It helps them automate tasks like scheduling games on fields, sending text alerts and emails, tracking player statistics, and much more.

To grow your business effectively, use eSoft Planner to automate sports scheduling, streamline business processes, eliminate admin work, create reports automatically, organize maps and reservation programs, and send marketing emails for increased player retention.

The benefits of using a sports scheduling software are numerous. For example:

  • Sports Scheduling Software Automates Sports Scheduling

  • Business Processes Streamlined Automatically

  • Admin Work Eliminated

  • Reports Created Automatically

Sports Scheduling Software Can Help You Manage All Your Games And Practices Easily!

1. Automate your scheduling process with eSoft Planner

eSoft Planner is the best online sports management software of 2023, and it’s easy to see why. It’s the most advanced, easy-to-use, and affordable sports scheduling software on the market. Also, eSoft Planner is an app for sports and facility management. It allows you to allocate resources effectively while saving time in the process!

2. Avoid scheduling conflicts, double-bookings and overbooking

eSoft Planner helps you avoid scheduling conflicts by allowing you to set a maximum number of teams that can be hosted at any given time. For example, say your facility has 20 ice sheets available for use and it’s already booked up with 17 teams on different days (and no cancellations). Then, eSoft Planner won’t allow another team to schedule a game until one of those other 17 teams cancels their game or gets moved due to weather conditions. This feature prevents double-bookings and ensures everyone gets enough ice time at your facility!

Additionally, eSoft Planner allows users to set preferences based on specific criteria such as age level (youth vs adult), gender (male vs female), or skill level (beginner vs advanced). This helps ensure that leagues are matched appropriately. So, they won’t end up playing against each other when one team may not be ready for competition yet while another might have been waiting months just for an opportunity like this one!

3. Streamline paperwork and avoid errors with standardized reporting.

Sports scheduling software can help you to organize your team’s games, track attendance, and even generate revenue. However, if you’re not using a robust system for reporting on these activities, it’s possible that you may be missing out on important opportunities for growth.

The best sports scheduling software will allow you to create reports that provide insights into how many people attended each event or game during a given period of time (e.g., season). This type of data helps managers better understand what works–and what doesn’t–when it comes to marketing their organization’s events online or offline. Also, it determines whether there are any discrepancies between actual attendance figures versus those projected by the team owners/executives beforehand, based off previous years’ experiences at similar venues/venues nearby without taking into account current conditions like weather patterns affecting travel times, etcetera…

4. Optimize sports facility usage with text and email alerts.

Text and email alerts can be a great way to stay on top of your sports scheduling. When you set up text and email alerts, you’ll receive notifications when games are scheduled and when you have to make changes. You can also use these tools to remind yourself of upcoming events, registration deadlines, payments due. It also works for anything else that’s important for your business!

5. Increase player retention and loyalty with marketing emails.

Marketing emails are a great way to keep players coming back to your facility. You can use eSoft Planner to send marketing emails automatically. Also, send text notifications to players who have signed up for text alerts.

6. Eliminate admin work with the best online sports management software of 2023

Sports scheduling software is a powerful tool that can help you save time and money. It eliminates the need for manual tasks like entering scores, tracking players, and creating schedules. However, not all solutions are created equal. Some are better than others at helping you accomplish your goals as an organizer or manager. With these six tips in mind, you’ll be able to find a program that fits your needs perfectly!

Stay organized by setting up different schedules for each season, league or time of year (e.g., high school football in the fall).

To stay organized and avoid confusion, it’s important to set up different schedules for each season, league or time of year (e.g., high school football in the fall). eSoft Planner allows you to do this by creating multiple schedules at once. You can also use eSoft Planner by multiple teams and leagues at once if they have similar scheduling needs such as baseball teams playing against each other during spring training.

Use eSoft Planner’s unique mapping feature to show where teams are located and reserve times with automatic notifications sent to administrators.

eSoft Planner’s mapping feature is an innovative, time-saving feature that allows you to show where teams are located and reserve times with automatic notifications sent to administrators.

  • View all schedules on one map

  • Easily reserve times from anywhere on the schedule by dragging and dropping your mouse over the desired location on a map. You can also click on any location in order to see associated schedules or view details about that team’s schedule.

  • Get automatic notifications when someone else attempts reservations at your favorite sports field or gymnasium.

Conclusion

eSoft Planner is the best online sports management software that helps you grow your business effectively. It’s packed full of features like automated scheduling, streamlining business processes, eliminating admin work and creating reports automatically. If you want to get started with eSoft Planner today, then request a demo here!

Use a lesson scheduling app to easily schedule your lessons online.

A Lesson Scheduling App Paves Way for Revenue Stream

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Lessons are a key player in a facility’s revenue stream. Whether it be baseball/softball, swimming, tennis, soccer, cheerleading, and even music and sewing – scheduling lessons is a huge presence in everyday operations. As a result, the more lessons you offer, the more revenue you bring in. But, with that revenue comes more opportunities for calendar confusion, double booking, and more. But here’s the solution – a lesson scheduling app. 

A lesson scheduling software with a web-based app included contains all of the benefits of the software, with the added bonuses of making scheduling even more on the go. Let’s get into some specifics: 

A Lesson Scheduling App Increases Cash Flow 

eCommerce Payment Options 

Within the lesson scheduling app, athletes and their parents can sign up and pay for lessons when booking. Learn more about Lesson Pricing Models here, if necessary. Your clients can even save their payment information in a secure account and pay with the push of a button.

24/7 Access

With more hours in the day, athletes and parents can book more lessons. Many times parents that are responsible for scheduling and paying for lessons have a lot on their plate. Having to call to schedule during business hours is nearly impossible for some, and easily forgotten by most. An app allows them to hop on their phone at any time of day, whether it be before they wake the kids up for school or before they turn the lights out to go to bed. This means less forgetting and more booking – resulting in more revenue for your facility. 

Cancellation and Refund Policies

Refunds and cancellations are a headache for every facility owner/manager out there. With an app requiring payment at booking, facilities are guaranteed revenue. However, some facilities do want to offer the ability to cancel or reschedule. Coupled with the app, facility managers can set restrictions and rules for these situations. These can include:

  • non-refundable booking fees (partial or all of the lesson fee),
  • time restrictions (cancel 48 hours in advance to receive a refund), and
  • lastly even special circumstances like doctor’s notes, team conflicts, etc. 

All of these rules can be adjusted based on your facility preferences. 

It Reduces Administrative Costs

eCommerce Payment Options

Additionally, giving athletes and parents the ability to pay online, means there is no need to pay staff to sit at the front desk. Even more, no one has to make phone calls to ensure the lessons are paid. So the instructor doesn’t need to chase after payments! This frees their time to focus on the lesson. 

24/7 Access 

Gone are the days of hiring someone to sit and wait for the phone to ring. The app lets you leave your phones unattended while the staff in the facility is running lessons or classes. 

Facility and Calendar Management

Above all, you get great facility management. You and your staff will no longer worry about:  

  • double bookings,
  • availability of space for lessons in the facility, or
  • time blocking and coordinating lessons with the instructors.

What’s more, just have the instructors put in their availability. Then you can set the hours each space is available on a given day. And finally. let the app do the day-to-day scheduling for you!

If you are on the lookout for a lesson scheduling app with a web-based app that fits all of your needs, learn more about eSoft Planner.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small businesses and organizations. Request your free demo today. See how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, and increase revenue.

Plus, Follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn to stay current on industry news and the latest from eSoft Planner.

Players Schedule through Sports Team Management

Sports Team Management Software Benefits Coaches and Players

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Managing sports teams is a full-time job. Sports team management software can help with all the coordination:

  • fields for practices, games, and tournaments,
  • collecting and tracking payments and paperwork, AND
  • sometimes handling rentals and lessons with team equipment or spaces (e.g., batting cages, nets, balls, etc).

That’s enough work to make your head spin. Not to mention, almost everyone responsible for all this has a full-time job and family to worry about. That’s why every organization, no matter how big or small, could benefit from management software. 

Here are all the things you should get to make the most out of an investment in this software: 

Custom Player Registration Forms

When a player signs up or accepts an offer after a tryout, a sports team management software does the heavy lifting. It handles setting up the player’s account and gathering all of their information through one online form (contact info, uniform sizing/number, etc). It’s also fully customizable based on the information you need. For example, for high school/recruitment-aged players, things like GPA, ACT/SAT scores, height, etc. would be important for a coach to have on file. But those things aren’t necessary, or even possible, for younger athletes. Through this form, all liability waivers, medical releases, physical forms, and team agreements can be submitted and signed. 

Team Agreement Signatures

No more file cabinets of paperwork and tracking who has and hasn’t signed. Your software will handle it all for you. It will notify each player of documents ready to sign, organize them into team folders, and let them e-sign from their devices – or straight from their registration form mentioned above. 

Payment Schedules 

Do you offer payment plans, one-time payments per season, or other options? Then sports team management software can keep track of it. Both parents and coaches can set recurring payments or even pay additional charges for lessons and clinics throughout the season, and more. 

Build a Budget

Operating a sports team is expensive. It’s essential that each team pays its dues to keep the organization up and running. Having a budget laid out that includes fundraising, player payments, and more can help organizations see which teams are paying their part, and which teams (or parents) need to do more. It is also a great option for transparency with the parents. They get to see exactly where the money is going, and the efforts they still need to make. Some software allows you to decide to show or hide the budget from the player’s accounts (or show just parts of the budget to the parents). A great software is fully customizable to your needs. 

Build a Team Schedule

A sports team management software makes the process of coordinating a team’s schedule and their player perks with all of the other teams in the organization a simple and on-the-go process. Coaches can see available times for courts, fields, cages, and more all from their phones (or PCs). They can then build out their team’s schedule without conflicting with other teams’ reservations or rentals. It can also allow players and their parents to go online and check the team schedule so that they can plan and coordinate with their day-to-day lives. 

Security

An online, protected software is the safest collection of information for the players, coaches, and parents. It offers secure payment as well as a safe storage platform for important papers such as birth certificates. 

Player Scheduling Capabilities 

A sports team management software can also open up your facilities and equipment for rental by the players for extra practice, lessons with coaches or other staff, and clinics you offer. 

If you are on the hunt for a sports team management software that fits all of your needs, learn more about eSoft Planner.eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small businesses and organizations. Request your free demo today. See how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, and increase revenue.

Youth organization scheduling for urban community athletics programs with baseball fields, tennis courts, and parking lots.

Youth Organization Scheduling Software Benefits

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A youth organization is a machine with many moving parts. What’s more, each part needs a volunteer (or volunteers) to ensure they run properly. With volunteer priorities focused on the kids, organization and facilities management can fall short. That is why investing in a youth organization scheduling software is highly beneficial to all key players in the organization. 

Whether your youth organization includes indoor/outdoor court scheduling, indoor/outdoor field scheduling, or all of the above, the benefits are endless. So take a look at a few things to consider when choosing facility management software.

1. Save Field/Court Coordinator’s Time 

A Field/Court Coordinator’s workload can be cut in half. With online scheduling software, they no longer have to answer calls, texts, and emails on availability and scheduling. And, they don’t have to organize and update the calendar to avoid double booking. As a result, they can focus on facility maintenance.

2. Give Coaches Flexibility

In short, a coach’s first job is not coaching. Creating ease and simplicity will prevent headaches. Let coaches focus on their passion – teaching kids to play their sport. Most youth organization scheduling software options include many features for coaches to schedule. This includes games and practices, as well as adding on details such as field maintenance and light requests. Coaches won’t have to worry about these details on game day and coordinators will be aware ahead of time. 

3. Customize and Organize

A field or court scheduling software can be customized to fit any organization’s needs. For example, some youth organizations give each team a set number of field/court reservations and games per season. But they don’t have a tracking system in place to keep count. Scheduling software can handle this tracking. In addition, the software offers features like:

  • special field hours,
  • restrictions on booking in advance, and
  • rules for the amount of notice needed for cancellations.

4. E-Commerce Capabilities 

No more checks/cash exchanges and bank trips. A youth organization scheduling software allows coaches from outside organizations to reserve field or court space, and pay for it on the spot.  

A Youth Organization Scheduling App Makes It Even More Mobile

Choosing software with an app brings even more benefits into the mix. Coaches will be able to see the field schedule 24/7 and book their teams from a phone or tablet. Finally, the app offers automated communication. That is, it sends reminders to coaches on their field reservations, any updates from the organization, and more. 

Do you run a youth organization? Are you looking to make everyone’s jobs easier? Learn more about eSoft Planner and how it can help. 

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small business owners. Request your free demo today. We can show you how to consolidate effort, save time, increase revenue, and grow your business.

Plus, Follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn to stay current on industry news and the latest from eSoft Planner.

Demo Days let athletes try out new equipment. Try Baseball and Softball Demo Days Today.

Baseball and Softball Demo Days: What You Need to Know

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Looking to take advantage of the holidays with an opportunity for an additional revenue stream and more? Demo Days are a holiday in baseball/softball facilities that just keeps giving. 

Here’s what you need to know – Baseball and Softball Demo Days are scheduled events at a facility where athletes (both members who regularly attend camps/classes and new athletes to the facility) come in and try out different bats, gloves, etc. in action. It gives parents a great idea for Christmas gifts making their shopping that much easier. Along with the revenue from the sales, this event can be a great recruiting moment for new athletes coming in to try out some equipment before buying. 

Overall, Demo Days will increase sales, expand facility exposure, and make customers happy. 

Here are some steps to take to get it all set up: 

Find Your Vendor 

For those with a fully-stocked, established pro-shop – go ahead and skip this step. 

However, if this is not previously set up, it’s time to do some research and start looking into vendors. Fortunately, most know about Demo Days and have information readily available. 

For those that don’t or facility managers unfamiliar with vendors, here are a few things to check before choosing a vendor*:   

  • Pricing 
  • Commission rates
  • Minimum inventory orders 
  • How they help on the day of the event 
  • How they help promote and sell the products 

*For facilities using eSoft Planner, we can introduce you to our wholesalers. It saves money on upfront inventory pricing and reduces time on this step of setting up a Demo Day.

Plan Your Baseball and Softball Demo Day

Once the vendor is set, pick a date and begin marketing. Just like any other camp, class, or clinic, the sooner the marketing starts, the better. 

Need help on that? Here are a few steps to follow: 
  • Contact Your Network: Use social media, email lists, other events, and anything going on in the facility to get the word out. Don’t just stop at one marketing push. Above all, send multiple reminders.
  • Reserve the Space: Like any other event, camp, or class in the facility, make sure spaces are available for the athletes to try out the equipment. 
  • Prepare Your Staff: Get the products and information to your staff before the event. The vendor may offer information or even a run-through with a rep to get all the details. All in all, this knowledge will help your staff make the sale as they speak to athletes.  

Launch Your Baseball and Softball Demo Day

With Demo Day approaching, get the facility gameday ready! 

  • Display Your Products: With equipment coming in different sizing, colors, etc. it is important to have a mobile device. This gives customers access to the vendor’s website for additional browsing. Don’t have a device for this? Use a QR code so they can do it on their own devices. Also, have a station or table with their branded cloth to display the test equipment. 
  • Prepare Your Order Forms: With orders moving toward digital, there’s another opportunity for a QR code. If there are extra devices in the facility, have the order form loaded up and the device fully charged for the day of the event. If you use eSoft Planner, you can use the Point of Sale feature to submit orders as they are made.
  • Promote the Facility: Along with the sales of equipment, your staff should treat everyone as potential new customers. Have them try to collect contact information (name, email, phone number) for future promotions. Also, consider offering coupons and discounts on other facility services such as lessons, cage rentals, etc. By all means, encourage them to come back! 

*Not going to be able to implement a Demo Day before the holidays? Use the upcoming spring season to your advantage instead!  

Learn more About eSoft Planner and how it can help your facility with Demo Days and more.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small business owners. Request your free demo today to see how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, increase revenue, and grow your business.

Plus, Follow us on Facebook to stay current on industry news and the latest from eSoft Planner.

Card Reader and Payment Methods

Venmo/Cash App Are Changing – Here’s How to Approach Future Payment Methods and Credit Card Fees

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There’s some big news in the world of Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and more peer-to-peer payment methods. Starting January 1, 2022, any seller of goods or services receiving more than $600 per year will receive a 1099-K and be required to report that income on their taxes. This is a game-changer for small businesses that use those platforms for all kinds of payments. 

Not only will the taxes increase on the business, according to an article covering the update, facility owner workload just increased. Owners/managers will need to print all transaction reports, sort through and distinguish each transaction from the peer-to-peer payment apps, and gather invoices and receipts as supporting documentation for the IRS. 

That is a lot of additional work, right in time for the busy season.

Alternative Payment Methods – Credit Cards (But Without The Crazy Fees) 

With credit card companies forcing facility owners into 2-3 year contracts, constantly changing their rates, and requiring monthly minimums – all topped with horrible customer service that will keep you on the phone for hours – payment methods and processing seem like a hopeless case. 

But here’s our approach… 

CardConnect/CardPointe

eSoft Planner’s partner CardConnect/CardPointe is the fix that facility owners are looking for. 

Here are the benefits our team negotiated for facility owners in need of a new payment method: 

  • 2.75% Flat Rate for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover
  • No Monthly Minimums
  • No Contracts 
  • PCI Compliance Check Ins from eSoft Planner – yearly reminders for facility owners
  • Customer Support through eSoft Planner – no bouncing from person to person, we can answer your questions.

Learn more About eSoft Planner.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small business owners. Request your free demo today to see how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, increase revenue, and grow your business.

Plus, Follow us on Facebook to stay current on industry news and the latest from eSoft Planner.

Offers on Spring Promotions

Spring Promotions for Your Facility

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Plan Promotions for the Spring Now

Happy busy season! While your facilities are full and business is booming, it’s important that you think of the future. Right now you need to be preparing revenue-building promotions that can take your facility to the next level, even in the slow season. A rule of thumb to follow all year round – always plan quarterly.  Planning and promoting three months in advance is a perfect way to stay one step ahead and beat out competitors to get your clients’ attention.

Plan In Advance

What is important to keep in mind with any promotion you run, whether it is for memberships, combines, or camps – always maintain a sense of urgency. How many times have you seen “Only six spots left!” on promotional materials? There’s a reason you see everywhere. It works! Make your offer desirable to your current or potential clients, but don’t let them think it will always be there.

The spring and summer are go-time for baseball and softball, so most of those clients will see you again in the fall. However, you don’t want to miss all of the other athletes out there that want to utilize their off-seasons to improve. If your facility offers sports performance, now is time to expand to other audiences, two of the biggest being football and soccer athletes.

Maintain Urgency

In my past experience owning DNA Sports Center, there were a few strong promotions we ran for the spring and summer that kept our facility busy, even on the most beautiful days. We ALWAYS ran a spring combine program in May to help athletes assess and improve their skills before entering tryouts, showcases, and important recruitment seasons. You hear May and think “oh I have plenty of time” but I am here to tell you differently. Begin promoting now! Run early-bird specials and get those athletes committed before another program can pull them in. Keep that urgency and remind your audience of the limited availability in the combine so they sign up early and confirm they have a spot.

Do the same with your spring and summer camps. Secure your instructor, figure out the schedule, and promote! Another benefit of planning early – if one camp fills up and you have more interest than you thought, plan another camp! You now have the time to adjust your plans to maximize your profits.

Camps and combines are fantastic opportunities to increase revenue in the slow season and bring in new clients, but you will want to make sure you keep a recurring income. Membership drives are a tactic I utilized every year to make sure DNA Sports Center had a consistent cash flow and a full facility during the spring and summer seasons. Offer discounted memberships or camp/combine membership priority to incentivize new clients to sign up. You need to create a sense of urgency here too. Make the offer run for a limited time, or restrict the deal to 10 memberships and continue to include that in your promotion.

Key Takeaways

The three keys you should take away from this are:

  1. Begin planning AND promoting three months in advance 
  2. Maintain a sense of urgency in ALL promotions 
  3. Keep a source of recurring income during the office season. 

Want to know how to properly promote the ideas I have given you above? I have you covered! Check out my blog post on how to build a marketing strategy for your sports facility here. Have more questions? Reach out to us via email at contact@esoftplanner.com or book a consultation with me. Also, request a demo of our sports facility scheduling and management software.

Employees Discuss Sports Facility Sales

How To Do Sports Facility Sales without Selling

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How to do Sports Facility Sales without Selling

Most people working in a sports facility don’t see themselves as salespeople. After all, many of them got into sports facility ownership because they were passionate about sports and seeing others achieve their athletic goals. Not to promote classes, memberships and lessons.

There are a few reasons that the word “sales” elicits this type of response. First, your staff probably have had some negative experiences with salespeople. We’re all familiar with the stereotype of the manipulative, pushy, slimy sales rep. So the word doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation for people with no business background.

However, even if your staff has no problem with the idea of sales, they still might see it as a mysterious or innate skill that they just don’t have.

The True Meaning of Sports Facility Sales

Everyone at eSoft Planner enjoys helping athletes reach their peak potential. They are passionate about the games we play – baseball, football, softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and other activities. But if they were asked to describe their strengths, the word “selling” would not be included in their response.

Now, here’s the funny thing about this situation. If you’re like us, you know very well that your staff can sell. Mainly, they have the most important characteristics of any sales rep:

  • they understand our clients’ needs
  • they’re passionate and knowledgeable about what they’re selling (athletic training)
  • they’re articulate about the benefits that our services provide

To remove the sense of intimidation that inevitably pops up whenever we speak of the concept of selling classes, memberships and lessons, we encourage our sports facility clients to use more easily digestible terms like branding and promotion.

If your staff is really invested in your programs and believes that they can help people live healthier lives, these efforts will be a lot more appealing to them.

Listen: Changing a few words around isn’t going to trick your staff into suddenly rushing out the door to hand out fliers on the street. Everyone wishes they could just skip the selling part of their work. Sales is difficult. It involves getting out of your comfort zone, making yourself vulnerable and risking rejection.

Yes, it would be nice if all your clients found you via word-of-mouth. However, that will never be the most consistent part of your business. If you want your business to be more than just a side income, you have to be proactive about getting new paying clients.

Conclusion

If you’re new to the idea of thinking of yourself as a salesperson, or if you just need help getting your facility staff and volunteers to understand how they can become better at branding and promotion, we would love to talk to you. Our staff at eSoft Planner come from a wide variety of backgrounds in multiple sports industries.

Click here and fill out the form to schedule a time to talk with us.

Equipment for Sports Facility Services

Adding Additional Sports Facility Services

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6 Great Ways to Diversify Your Sports Facility Services

Cash flow problems are almost always at fault when sports facilities fail. Unfortunately, most sports facility owners and managers don’t know that they’re putting their cash flow at risk by relying on too few sources for most of their income. So it is essential to add sports facility services to your business model.

Let’s say you run a softball academy, and softball lessons bring in 70% of your annual revenue. You can struggle to make ends meet during the slow season for softball, and a serious competitor could easily force you to shut your doors.

Sports facilities offering a variety of services that are helpful at different times and to different groups can minimize their risks. You can’t offer everything to everyone, of course, but there are simple, smart ways to diversify your business and still stay within your original mission.

Here are some common options that many sports facilities have used to diversify successfully.

1. Sell retail

One of our clients’ pro shops is so successful that it accounts for about half of its total revenue.

But you don’t need to open a full pro shop to take advantage of retail benefits. If you have good relationships with suppliers, you may be able to make orders on your clients’ behalf — giving them discounts and allowing you to make a commission on each sale.

These relationships can take time to develop, but you can have a good return once they’re in place. After all, your clients are already ordering uniforms and equipment. They might as well order conveniently and through someone they trust.

A sidenote: One of the biggest obstacles to retail sales in sports facilities is often the high manufacturer minimum orders. Speak to your eSoft Planner representative or sign up for our monthly webinars to learn more about ways eSoft Planner can help you gain access to low or no minimum ordering!

2. Sell concessions

Depending on your business model, a concession or smoothie stand can be a profitable option. But again, you can make money from concessions without adding a full kitchen. Consider offering a variety of energy bars, bottled drinks, or dietary supplements. As these products can be used all year long, regardless of specific sport or fitness goals.

3. Offer sports-specific fitness training

Today’s athletes need more than sports-specific training. They also need general strength, speed and fitness training throughout the rest of the year. Such sports performance training programs have many benefits, both to athletes and to your business, which is why Compound Sports in Tampa, Fla., is home to a Parisi Speed School franchise. If you don’t offer complementary services, you’re missing out on a big business opportunity.

4. Offer related services

Most sports facilities have a lot of success hosting birthday parties. If you manage them right and optimize for revenue, secondary services can be very profitable.

Another great example of a complementary service is college recruiting. The parents of high school athletes are often willing to pay for personal guidance through the process of selecting and getting noticed by college teams. If your staff is familiar with the world of college recruiting, you may be able to offer this as a professional service.

5. Diversify sports training options

This is an easy one: offer training for more sports — preferably ones that have the opposite seasons of your facility’s most popular sports.

This might mean recruiting new instructors or developing relationships with other programs that specialize in those sports, but the extra revenue and security can make it worthwhile.

6. Offer services to new client groups

Most of your clients are probably school-aged athletes. If so, it’s time to target a wider variety of ages and interests.

You can create dodgeball leagues for young adults, fitness training for adults trying to lose weight, or sports fundamentals classes for preschoolers. It will take some work to get the word out to your new groups. Plan ahead and use best practices for promoting your camps and classes for a successful launch.

eSoft Planner’s staff is well-acquainted with the process of establishing secondary services. With the software modules, adding a new offering requires minimal setup effort.

If you would like to discuss how eSoft Planner can help with diversification at your sports facility, we would love to talk with you. Click here and fill out the form to request a free demo.

Basketball Court in Indoor Sports Facility

The Pros and Cons of Opening an Indoor Sports Facility

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The Pros and Cons of Opening an Indoor Sports Facility

If you operate a softball or soccer league, you already know how amazing game day can be. There’s nothing better than being outside, relishing the bright, warm sun and the hum of excitement from the athletes and fans.

Owning and operating an indoor sports facility can be a great option to help you expand your offering beyond the warm and sunny months. Athletic training and practice can continue in a safe and comfortable space, at a time that is convenient for your clients. They are not restricted by the whims of mother nature.

Here are just a few of the benefits of indoor sports facility ownership.

Easier to Maintain Year-round

In the summer months, playability on outdoor softball fields can be affected by scorched grass. While early-spring soccer practices may be cancelled due to ice. And rain is an ever-present threat throughout the outdoor season. This can all have an adverse effect on your operations — and in return a negative impact on your revenue.

Indoor sports facilities are not affected by seasonal elements like snow and sun. Owners can set their own hours, and you don’t have to stop operations when the sun goes down. Clients will also be reassured of their personal safety with your state-of-the-art equipment and well-maintained surfaces.

Versatility for Off-season and Non-peak periods

While outdoor sports are less limited by space, an indoor sports facility allows owners to be much more intentional with their set-up. Walls can be moved, and equipment can be rearranged during non-peak periods. This versatility enables you to open your facility up to the possibility of hosting tournaments or weekend birthday parties or events.

Off-season training is a strong and growing business. As people see the value in one-on-one or small group instruction, having a place for these sessions can put your operations ahead of the rest. A flexible indoor sports facility gives you options and multiple avenues for revenue generation over 12 months. Rather than in season only.

The Trade Off of Owning an Indoor Sports Facility

These benefits provide a lot of upside to owning an indoor sports facility. But there are several things to consider before jumping in.

For example, people have different expectations for facility conditions. If an outdoor playing field is not perfect, clients will typically understand. Indoor sports facility owners do not have this luxury.

In addition, managing your time and space requires more precision and organization to ensure you maximize the ROI. You will need a way to control operations within your sports facility. And a reliable way to track and manage your facility usage.

eSoft Planner offers the ability for customers and staff to manage teams, track space availability, and communicate with customers.

When considering an indoor sports facility – as a new business or as an expansion of your outdoor organization – turn to the experts. Our team can help you streamline your operations.

If you want to discuss how eSoft Planner can help you start your own sports or recreation facility, contact us for a demo today!

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