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M
ike Gallups is the owner and operator of American
Sports Center, a large court facility in Anaheim,
California. "We get a lot of phone calls from people
who want to start court facilities, and it seems
that there are a number of people wanting to start
businesses in towns where there's already an existing
facility."
COMPETITION: WHAT
WHEN A NEW FACILITY
Sadly, some new facility operators have little
knowledge or experience in the business.
"It seems like they walk into an existing facility on a
week night and see that the place is busy and say,
'Geez. This guy's making millions.'"
The next thing you know, they're opening a facility.
Some towns may indeed benefit from more than one
facility, as there may be a great need in the community
for more than one place to play.
For example, almost seven years ago, when Maxine
Appenbrink opened Players Indoor Sports in Naperville,
Illinois, the nearest facility was overloaded. "They
may have lost a few adult teams, but not many," says
Maxine.
She certainly never tried to take business away
from them. She never contacted their customers,
for example. "We knew we had plenty of good
stuff."
Maxine has a positive relationship with nearby
facilities. "They've sent me business, I've sent them
stuff."
But what are facility operators to do when the market
is saturated?
"If similar businesses are too close together, they
could put each other out of business, leaving the
community with no indoor sports facility," says Mike.
Here are three important ways for operators to handle
the competition.
CREATE LOYALTY
The facility that does not plan for competition,
even when it's the only game in town, is asking for
