Business Plan

[fencerX]

Originally Posted by Mergs

5 Division 1-A coaches never played football, but have built sucessful programs.

Not exactly.

The USA Today article didn't say that the 5 coaches "never played football". It said only five active Div 1-A coaches "didn't play football in college". That's quite different from never playing football.

Nor did the article say the 5 have built successful programs. Kansas' 6-7 record doesn't exactly scream success.

Of course Div 1-A football has nothing to do with fencing, business plans or what Joe asked about, which was:

I would very much like to see things like floor plans, monthly ledgers and marketing strategies that various salles have developed. I'm hoping that the fencing community will be open in this regard.

Floor plans? Well here's a fencing floor plan:

http://www.applebyte.demon.co.uk/epicentre.htm

Probably not exactly what you're looking for though.


Joe's original post also said:

It's pretty obvious that a club needs to be financially healthy in order to produce quality fencing over time. Which clubs would you say are "healthy" financially, as an example to shoot for?

What clubs do people know are actually healthy financially and therefore potential role models? What made them healthy and how did they accomplish it?

btw, has anyone seen or used the USFA's "Club in a Box" kit? Was it useful at all?

[Mergs]

Ha! Made you look! Point being, that these guys are working as coaches of major programs and didn't compete at the level they are coaching at.

[oiuyt]

Originally Posted by fencerX

Not exactly.

The USA Today article didn't say that the 5 coaches "never played football". It said only five active Div 1-A coaches "didn't play football in college". That's quite different from never playing football.

Not playing in college certainly seems to be at least equivalent (and probably more so) than not earning a rating as a fencer.

You'll also find a number of NFL coaches that never played at the NFL level. Not sure that there are any that never played at the collegiate level and am not bored enough to wade through the 32 teams to find out.

-B :)

[lochinvar]

Originally Posted by wl02ac

Isn't there already 2 academies in Grand Rapids?

Yes, there are. I belong to one of them, and I wouldn't dream of trying to compete with them.

However, there is a vast hinterland of places within an hour's drive of GR that don't have any fencing available--rec centers, athletic clubs, school continuing ed programs, community colleges, etc. Those all represent potential markets.

Which was why I was floating the Traveling Salle idea...seems to me if you could transport the instructors and equipment easily from place to place, you might be able to tap into some of that pool.