Tell you a little story – I call this “living below your revenue” story: I know a small club owner in another country.
He operates his club in a town of 10,000, competing at a third or fourth level of competition. Promotion and relegation is a constant but my friend concentrates on successful runs in cup competitions, being relevant in the community and occasionally on selling promising young players to wealthier clubs. His family has done this profitably for nearly 30 years now.
How does he do it? He never gambles his club’s future on one player, he is frugal in player compensation but very willing to share 60% of cup revenue with playing and coaching staffs. He was never tempted to moving to a bigger stadium, prefers full house (2,000 capacity) than playing in a more expensive 5,000-seater 10 miles away.
Women’s football in the US could learn a lesson from my friend. You can either “rent” the “highest” possible club and players you can afford on a day-to-day basis, or you can organically operate way under income, increase revenues until you can grow your club and increase your spending.
It takes time, there is no such thing as instant success.
Sometimes, people forget the value of hard work, sweat, and planning long-term.
For all of us involved in women’s football we have simple tasks on our journey: Collect as many good experiences (and memories) as possible, take a long term approach, develop sound strategy and be patient.
Getting trapped into the baseline spending is dangerous stuff and always ends badly.
We all know clubs spending $2,000,000 and struggling to survive, yet I occasionally run into women’s club owners operating successfully on $100,000 who really “get it” down at a core level. You can only spend it once.
Given a decade or two of hard work it’s absolutely amazing what skills/ experiences a person/club can accumulate. The secret is in doing it organically.
Oh! And Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year of the Big Dreams variety.
