Anyone for tennis?

Welcome to your July newsletter.

I love this month as, along with lots of other sporting events, the grass court tennis season is in full?swing (excuse the pun) and Wimbledon is on.? Yay!

My summer never feels complete unless I go and watch the tennis live and this year is no exception.

However, becoming a successful tennis player is not an easy journey and only a small percentage of those that start off will make it.

There are over 2000 rankings in the men’s game and some have only achieved 1 point from 13 matches to date this year.

The average career prize earnings of professional tennis players are around US$300,000. However, around 80% of them will earn close to nothing once they factor in all their expenses..?

It is a very lonely life and it is extremely difficult to break into the top rankings.

When we watch any tennis tournament all we ever see are the elite players who are living a very different life to others in their sport. ?

?We don’t witness the hard graft the lesser players must put in as they spend the entire year doing the rounds of Satellite & Challenger matches hoping to improve their ranking.

It is a lonely life going from place to place, living out of a suitcase hoping they can earn enough to keep going.

One of the main issues is finance, or indeed lack of finance. It is a very expensive sport and, unless you are in the top 100 or so, it hard to attract any kind of sponsorship or funding.

Once a player steps out on the court, they, and only they, are responsible for what happens next. Every decision they make from there on in will result in success or failure.

Of course, they have their support team who are there to cheer them on but they cannot decide what shots they should take in that very moment of play and they cannot dictate the game plan.

So, what has this to do with business I hear you say.

Well, frankly quite a lot.

Just stop for a second and think about your life as a solopreneur.

Creating a successful business is not an easy journey very much like that of a tennis player. It takes a lot of guts, determination and dedication to go it alone.

You, and only you, are responsible for the decisions you make. What you do and when you do it will have an impact on your business today and going forward.

Earning enough money to support yourself and your family is hard and, just like the 80% of tennis players that earn close to nothing, 80% of start-ups fail in the first couple of years.

Some of the reasons for this is lack of investment in themselves and their business, lack of business planning and underestimating how long it takes to launch and build a business.?

One way tennis players advance in their career is by hiring a coach, just like a lot of business owners do.

Working with someone who has experienced what you are going through can make a big difference and help you reach your goals quicker than going it alone.

If you think you could do with some help, feel free to send me a message and we can have a chat. I cannot guarantee I can improve your ground strokes or serve but I can help you with your business strategy!?

In the meantime, I am getting ready for an early night as I am off to Wimbledon at 4am to queue for tickets.

It’s not all strawberries and cream you know; you have to put in the hard work first so you can enjoy the result.

Last year I managed to get Centre Court tickets so here’s hoping!

Have a great month and see you in August.