It’s Time for you to Get Ahead in Business

We all know that transitioning into a new career after or alongside sport can be daunting. As amazing as being at an Olympic Games and being part of the Olympic Movement are, when you leave, your sporting career you will face a different reality.

 As an Olympic athlete, you’re very passionate about what you do, and it can be difficult to find something else you’re similarly enthused about. You are all extremely successful, but when that new period in life begins, you start from zero again. The key is to be prepared.  

That’s why the IOC Athletes’ Commission is continually looking at new ways to help you navigate this transition. Our latest, exciting addition to the suite of resources available to you is the Athlete365 Business Accelerator, a three-part course on entrepreneurship that focuses on helping you utilise the unique skills you already have to turn an idea into a business plan. The transition is a tough one but committing to something you’re interested in helps massively. I think you can only be successful when you truly believe in something, something personal to you, which is what the course focuses on.

Starting up a business requires patience, perseverance and hard work ethic. These are things you take forward from your time as an athlete. Being an entrepreneur requires these things because success is not immediate. It’s a process, but you already have the skills you need. It’s vital to remember that, as an athlete, you are respected not just for what you have done on the field but also for what you have learned – your success in your sports career remains there. Everybody acknowledges and values that you’ve trained extremely hard and you’ve sacrificed so much; with that you don't just gain respect but you gain experience.

 In sport, there are obvious pinnacles that – if you work hard – you can achieve. In a business career it is different; you have smaller goals and it’s more difficult to spell out a clear path, but it all remains achievable. In business, there are so many things that can change and you have to learn to adapt. Understanding that can be frustrating sometimes, but you have already proved that you know the value of resilience and working hard. An athlete’s life is full of ups and downs, and probably contains more failure than success. Even dealing with success can be a challenge, but it’s all learning and experience that you utilise in your career after sport. These are the types of transferable skills that the Athlete365 Business Accelerator explores further.

 Equally, a key part of setting up a business is making the most of networks, and the course focuses on utilising the relationships you have developed in your sporting career. Even in an individual sport – like mine – you have people around you. You’re always working with people and if you didn’t have that ability you wouldn’t be a successful athlete.

 As an athlete, with the right business plan you have a great opportunity to create change, to create strength within a community, and to create the possibility for people to come together – as well as earn a living for yourself.

Regardless of which stage you are at in your career, whether you already have a business idea in mind or just want to explore the options available to you, I encourage you to take the course and to unleash your inner entrepreneur.

To learn more about the Accelerator, visit https://www.olympic.org/athlete365/business-accelerator/