BUSINESS PLAN

 

  1. Executive Summary: The First Ball To Last Tennis Mental Health and Wellness Program is a pioneering initiative aimed at fostering holistic development among young tennis players. Recognizing the vital role mental well-being plays in athletic performance and overall personal growth, our program integrates emotional intelligence education, emotional support, and tennis training to empower young athletes to thrive both on and off the court.

  2. Business Description:

    My name is Barry Buss, I am the creator and sole owner of First Ball To Last, a subscription model program to be purchased through a downloadable APP via smartphone.

    The Problem in need of solving: I direct you to my PowerPoint presentation for far greater detail. We are in the midst of a National Teen Mental Health Crisis. Being a teenager is stressful, playing competitive tennis is additionally stressful. Combining the two, the junior tennis life is extra-challenging, with high rates of burn out and drop out permeating our sport. First Ball To Last aims to be proactive and preventative, giving our youth the tools needed to best navigate the demands of the tennis journey.

  3. Products or Services:

    Develop a unique Mental Health and Wellness program for youth tennis to be delivered through an APP, where if successful, be able to expand the program to college and adult players as well as professionals, with aspirations of scaling our program up to be used in other youth sports besides tennis. Smartphone users spend 90% of their phone time on Apps as compared to the web.  Developing a high-functioning stylistic APP is the play.

  4. Market Analysis:

    Target market analysis: The Tennis Industry Association (TIA)  reported in 2018 there were 2.40 million junior players ages 6 to 12, 2.24 million players ages 13-to 17, and 17.84 million total tennis players in the U.S. According to the latest data from the  ITF,  (International Tennis Federation) there's a market of close to 20 million youth tennis players worldwide as potential customers for our program. With a To The Parent's Component to be built into my program, our potential customer base would instantly double.

    Additionally, with tennis' steady popularity, a constant infusion of new players enter the competitive tennis space annually. One of our goals is to develop enough content for competitive players to make use of the APP through all their competitive years, with the junior/college career span often reaching 10 years if not longer

    Why an APP over a web=based program? Never has it been easier to reach so many so easily. The concept of having an all encompassing tennis health and wellness APP at one's immediate disposal will be invaluable. What I would have given to have had a program like this during my tumultuous playing days.

    Teens currently spend 90% of their phone time on Apps as compared to the web. Our goal is to make signing up easy via a monthly subscriptions model, making instant cash flow a mere double-click away.

    Recently, few business sectors have seen stronger growth than the mental health and wellness space, with ubiquitous self-help websites as well as an endless array of Apps ranging in content from Mindfulness to Meditation to Therapy and Recovery. A Mental Health and Wellness program for youth sports is a natural extension of the industry's recent upward trends.


  5. Organization and Management:

    As of now, officially you're looking at him. Again, in my PowerPoint presentation I detail the offers of support I've received from industry heavyweights Patrick McEnroe, Kelly Jones, and current tour player Tennys Sandgren. I've had preliminary discussions with various other tennis and business luminaries about becoming involved in my program as it goes forward. I have little doubt I will be able to leverage my extensive contacts throughout the tennis industry to assemble a high-profile organization of advisors and content creators. Depending on scale of project, I will build an Advisory Board, Content Creation Staff,  Content Editor, Social Media, Sales and Marketing. All easily attainable and not expensive (loaded spaces to hire from)

  6. Marketing and Sales Strategy:

    Different strategies depending on scope of project. If initial product appears sharp and successful, no reason not to pour fuel on the concept, major promotion/advertising blitz, get the big names of the sport to promote, curate sharp ads for Tennis Channel, flood the market with an aggressive rollout plan to dominate the market space right from the start. Go big, be big, discourage competitors from even entering the space. I have no doubt I'll be able to assemble the pieces of the puzzle for maximum impact.

    Tag Line: First Ball To Last: Performance enhancing as well as Life enhancing, all for the cost of a private lesson.

    Utilize All the Social Media. Easiest/quickest/cheapest way to reach a broad diverse market almost instantly. I plan to utilize the sport's marquee players as well as tennis' sharpest digital content creators.. Looking for that viral campaign to supercharge interest/sales. The talent is out there. Bring them in to our project.

    More Organic Sales Strategy: Hit all the Conventions, USPTA, USPTR, Tennis Congress. Get Coaches, Academies and High school teams on board. Advertise on UTR, USTA, Zoo Tennis, Tennis Recruiting sites.  


  7. Funding Request 

    Two Phases: 

    Phase 1: Build out with requisite content to have fully realized APP, tested and ready for public release;

    Estimated Costs: 25 week timeline: 125-150k

    Breakdown: App Development  50-60k, 


    Salaries 50-60k, 

    Myself: 50k. 2k/week for 25 weeks. My full time 60-70hr/week involvement in getting product ready for market

    Additional 10k for miscellaneous work needed. Set design, Content editing, etc

    Content Creation 20-30k.. Estimated 1k/week for Whiteboard Creation, Animation, PowerPoint creation, Logo refinement, APP artistic design flourishes etc.

    Phase 2: Public release/Marketing Blitz. All depends how confidant we are in our finished product and how aggressive we'll want to be. Numerous options available to us. Timing could be ideal for full-scale blitz

  8. Financial Projections:

    Potential here is enormous. If we execute. We will be the dominant program in this space for some time

    Monthly/Annual Subscription Model: I like the concept of a year's membership all for the cost of a private lesson. Double click, Easy to sign up for, Instant Cash flow.

    Additional Revenue Concepts: An annual book with the year's content within. Not going to get rich, but excellent marketing tool.

    Mentorship Programs: If subscribers would like more intensive one-on-one work, we provide a mentorship for fee program. 

    In App Merchandise: We should be able to come up with unique program-related merchandise that we can advertise/sell within the APP

    In APP advertising: If our numbers get up, either through our free promotional shots we provide, getting corporate sponsorship for our presentations should be attainable

    Care Package Idea: I've had this idea for years, called It Starts With Love.  In the concept of BarkBox or FabFitFun, every 3-4 months have Tennis Care Package subscriptions. What parent/grandparent wouldn't sign up for tennis care packages full of unique stylish seasonally appropriate gear (hats, wristbands, dampeners, grip tapes, sunblocks, etc) Put it in a First Ball To Last logo-ed Box. Huge potential market for this in time

  9. SWOT Analysis:

    Strengths: First to Market, Nothing like it out there. And Myself: I have lived this life. I have shared my experience strength and hope in print. I have instant credibility in this space.

    Weaknesses: Subject matter can run a bit dry and professorial. My talents lie in taking the mundane and making it entertaining, educational and inspirational. I have included numerous sections on my website explaining precisely how I will do this. Please review in time.

    Opportunities: I've been in the tennis world for over 50 years. I've been a part of all the major movements in tennis: Popularity, Professionalism, Equipment, Coaching, Training. The mental health and wellness of those who compete at our sport is the next big wave, I am certain of this. In what form this wave occurs is not quite clear. I believe my APP program will fill a growing necessary need in our game.

    Threats: There are challenges in being a visionary. The primary one is being able to communicate your vision in a manner such that others can see it too. People are busy. My cause may not be their cause, but I push forward undeterred, committed to making my program an accessible reality for future tennis generations to come. 


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