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Sports Facility Operating Strategy

One important step in your sports facility business plan is your operating strategy. This step in your sports facility business plan has two parts: the physical building and equipment and the facility’s human resources or staff. Read our blog posts to learn more about creating your own operating strategy for your sports facility.

Refund Customers Using Instore Credit After A Purchase

Maximizing Revenue: The Benefits of Instore Credit for Sports Facilities

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Facilities are always looking to enhance customer loyalty and boost revenue. One popular (and effective) strategy is implementing in store credit systems.  This strategy encourages loyalty among your customers, as well as increases your cash flow. In this blog post, we discuss the different benefits and strategies for adding instore credit at your sports facility. 

Types of Instore Credit

Credit Via A Refund Policy

One of the ways that a facility can utilize instore credit is by building it into the refund policy. For many facilities, their biggest problem is their clients canceling at the last minute. It can be hard for some owners to say they can’t have a refund at all, especially when it’s for unavoidable situations. Instore credit allows the business to give a version of a refund. This can be beneficial for your business in many ways.

First, this will keep customers happy and able to come back in the future to book another service. 80% of customers redeem their store credit within 2 weeks of receiving it. Also, it lets facilities keep the revenue they would have otherwise lost. Think of it like cash – it can be used for anything within the system. Another benefit of this refund policy is that it lowers credit card processing fees. You’ll get charged for each transaction. If a client purchases a service, you refund them, and they rebook a service later on, each transaction will cost money. Keeping the credit instead only charges you for the first transaction. Our scheduling app utilizes this approach so that facilities can benefit. 

Credit Using Prepaid Accounts

Using prepaid accounts is a great way to work with point of sale, especially for swim clubs. Use your instore credit to fund your account to a certain amount and use it elsewhere in the facility. Most swim clubs use it for concession stands. A great example of this is a kid’s lunch at school. A parent will put in a certain amount and the kid will use that account to purchase their lunch. 

Prepaid accounts are really good for increasing your cash flow. That prepaid amount is in your account from the beginning. The credit can then be used at any time, by any member of the family within the account. One of the biggest benefits of this type of credit is that it can create a cashless system. Our software can utilize this type of system for your facility as well. 

Conclusion

Using instore credit can be incredibly beneficial for your business – that’s why our software implements it into our processes. It encourages repeat business and offers flexibility while streamlining your payment processes. To learn more about how else eSoft Planner can increase your cash flow, request a custom demo of our software. 

Sports Facility Operating Strategy on Court

The Third Step in Your Sports Facility Business Plan

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Creating a Sports Facility Operating Strategy

This is the third in a series of posts on creating a business plan for a sports facility. This is about creating a sports facility operating strategy

You’ve already established a summary of business objectives and details of how you plan to introduce your sports facility to the community. It’s time to describe your facility’s operations. This step in your sports facility business plan has two parts: the physical building and equipment and the facility’s human resources or staff.

Part 1: Infrastructure

The Space – Describe your ideal physical building for your sports facility. Make sure to include:

  • The facility’s square footage
  • A few sentences about what makes it ideal
  • A list of both monetary and temporal costs of the purchase or rental and maintenance of your physical facility (including cleaning, estimated repairs, and utility costs)

If you don’t have your site finalized yet, you can put estimates into this section.

The Equipment – Describe the equipment you will need to run the facility and discuss how you will use it. List estimated costs, both upfront and ongoing, including taxes, shipping, maintenance and installation.

Here’s an example of an introduction to the infrastructure portion of your operations plan:

DNA Sports Center’s facility features an open turf field that can be split into various pitching tunnels and batting cages. It also features a strength training room, a staff office and a WIFI-enabled waiting area for parents. Because we are operating out of a previous fitness facility, our physical costs will be kept to a minimum by taking advantage of existing resources. The following equipment will need to be purchased and installed: (include a list of equipment and costs).

Part 2: Staff

Describe the staff positions at your facility. Make sure to list the job titles and include:

  • Specific job duties
  • Weekly hours for each position
  • Wage ranges
  • Staff payment methods

Certainly, you should briefly note your sports facility’s hours of operation and describe when services would be offered to maximize revenue.

Here’s an example of an introduction to the staff portion of your operations plan:

DNA Sports Center will hire qualified candidates for the following positions: Office Manager, Speed and Agility Program Director / Sales Director, Director of Baseball Operations, Director of Midwest Prospects (an elite baseball team). The rest of our staff, including sports-specific instructors, will be considered contractors. (Include the list of roles.)

Conclusion

Your sports facility operating strategy does not have to be elaborate, but it does need to support your vision. By following the steps for describing your operational strategy, you are well-positioned for the next step of your business plan – developing a financial strategy.

The expert team at eSoft Planner has worked with thousands of sports facility owners just like you. We know what it takes. Our implementation team excels at helping you use the tools to make your dream a success. We love to hear about your plans, and we want to be a partner in your vision.

Start the conversation today! Contact us for a custom demo.