1

STARTUPBUSINESSPLANEVENT
BedfordHighSchoolOhio
BedfordHighSchool
481NorthfieldRd
Bedford,OH44146
KamerenTurner
2March2016

I.

Executivesummary
FlareFinancialisafinancialadviserforprofessionalathletes.Ourcompany

headquartersarelocatedinChicago,Illinois.Weplantoexpandandhavemultiple
buildingsaroundthecountryinthemajorcommercecenterssuchasLosAngeles,
NewYorkCity,Miami,Seattle,andDallas.Myemployeeswillhavedegreesin
financefromcompetitiveschools.Ionlywanttohirethosewhohaveanexpertise
inhowtomanagefinances.
Mybusinesswillprovidefinancialadviceforathletesgoingfromcollegeto
professionalsports.Wenotonlywouldbeworkingwithathletesgoingtothe
NationalFootballLeague,butalso,athletesgoingtotheNationalBasketball
AssociationandMajorLeagueBaseball.WewillpartnerwiththeNFL,NBA,and
MLBtohelppromoteandgetincontactwithourcustomers.Thegoalofmy
companyistopreventathletesfromwastingalloftheirmoney.Researchshows
that78%ofathletesintheNFLwerepoororstrugglingfinanciallyaftertwoyears
ofretirementandwithinfiveyearsofretirement,60%ofNBAplayerswereinthe
samepredicament.
Wewillteachourclientshowtobudgettheirmoneyandhowtoinvestitin
otherthingsthatwillmakethemmoney.Ourclientswillbehelpeddevelopinga
planforretirementatayoungage.Thatwilllowertherateofplayersstruggling
afterretirement.Mycompanybelievesthosenumbersarewaytoohighgiventhese
athletesmakesomuchmoney.Thereare1,696activeplayersintheNFL,496
activeNBAplayers,and224activeMLBplayers,sothemarketisdecentinsize
andhaspotentialtoprovidealargeprofitformycompany.

II.

Problem

Thereare3challengesthatmybusinesswillbesolving:
1) Thepercentageofathletesthatarestrugglingorfinanciallypoorafterthey
retirefromtheirrespectivesports.ForNFLathletes,thepercentageis78%.
ForNBAathletes,thepercentageis60%.
2) Lackofknowledgeofhowtomakeproperinvestmentsthatwillendup
makingthemmoneyinsteadoflosingmoney.Manyoftheseathletesliketo
gooutandbuyallthesecarsassoonastheygettheircontracts.Inanarticle
calledHowtoblow$5millionwrittenbyTomFarrey,hegivesan
exampleaboutaplayerthatopenedhiswalletforhislocalMercedesand
Lexusdealersandspent$40,000dollarsatafurniturestore.Hedidallof
thisbeforesigninghiscontractwiththeBaltimoreRavens.
3) Mycompanywillteachathleteshowtobudgettheirmoneywhentheyget
theselargecontracts.Whenaneighteenyearoldsignsacontractworth
millions,theytendtospendalotoftheirmoneybecausetheylikelyhavenot
hadthatmuchmoneybefore.Mycompanywillbeabletohelpthembudget
theirmoneyoutandhelpthemmakeproperdecisionswhenitcomestowhat
theyspenditon.

III.

CustomerSegments

Listofattributesofourtargetmarket
Male
1825yearsofage
Athletemakingthetransitionfromcollegetoprofessionalsports

Lacksknowledgeofhowtomanagetheirmoneycorrectly
Playsfootball,basketball,orbaseball
Camefromafamilythatwasnotwealthy

IV.

UniqueValueProposition
Whatmakesmybusinessuniqueisthatitdoesntjustadvisetheclienton

theproperfinancialdecisions,itteachesthemouttobudgetandhowcertain
investmentswillmakethemmoney.Mybusinessactuallycaresaboutmakingsure
theseathletesneverhavetostrugglefinanciallyduringoraftertheyaredone
playing.Weknowthatitisntjustabouttellingthemwhattodo,itsaboutthem
gainingtheknowledge.Ourserviceswithourclientsdoesntstopwhentheathlete
isretiredormaybe5yearsaftertheyretire.Ourservicewillbeprovideduntilour
clientnolongerbelieveswecanhelpthemwiththeirfinances.

V.

Solutions

3featuresofmyservice:
1. Employeeswillhavedegreesinfinanceand/orsportsmanagement/industry
fromcompetitiveschools.Wewantourclientstohavethetoppeople
advisingandteachingtheseathletes.
2. Wewillcontinuebusinesswiththeseathletesevenaftertheystopplaying
sports.Mycompanywilldevelopgoodrelationshipswithourclients,sothey
willwanttoworkwithusevenaftertheyretire.

3. Therewillbeservicelinesthatourclientscancontact.Beforeapurchaseor
afinancialopportunity,myclientscancontactanagentandconsultwith
themabouttheproperdecisionsforthemselves.

VI.

Channels
Mycompanywilleventuallyhavebranchesofmybusinessinmanycities

suchasNewYork,Miami,Dallas,Seattle,andLosAngeles.Wewillreachoutto
theseathletesandexplaintothemwhytheyneedusasanadvisorforthem.My
companywillpromoteourselvestotheseplayersbytellingthemwhatmakesus
unique,whichisthatwecareabouttheirwellbeing(finance,retirementplanning,
transitionalliving).Wewillalsohavesomeemployeesthatwillmeetupwiththe
clientattheirhouseoratapublicplace.Mybusinesswillbeveryflexibletobetter
meettheneedsofourclient.Eachclientcancontactafinancialadvisorwhothey
arecapableofconsultingwithbeforeabigpurchaseoropportunity.

VII.

RevenueStreams
Ourclientswillbepayingforourservicesaftereverymonth.Their

paymentswillcoveralloftheservicesweprovideforthem.Thecustomerlifetime
valueforabouta3yearperiodwillbeabout$9,600.Eachclientwillpay$3,200
eachyearoveramonthlyperiod,aftertheymakeaninitialpaymentof$200when
decidingtoworkwithus.Chargingourclientsatthispricewillhelpbuildaprofit
whilealsopayingforallexpensesandpaychecks.

Years

#of
customers

#of
employees
(including

Revenue

Expenses
Gross
andsalaries Margin

me)
Afteryear
1

100

960,000

895,000

6.77%

Afteryear
2

225

20

2,160,000

1,880,000

12.96%

Afteryear
3

350

30

3,360,000

2,680,000

20.23%

VIII.

CostStructure
Thecostoftheofficespacethatwillbepurchasedis$295,000andafter

doingsomeresearch,alltheutilitiespermonthareabout$15,000.Utilitiesinclude
electricity,water,gas,andInternet/phoneservices.Myemployeeswillmake
$80,000andIwillbemaking$100,000.Theaverageagentmakesbetween11,000
and600,000perplayer.Thecosttoreachouttotheseplayersisincludedinthe
Internetandphoneservicesbecausewewillreachouttotheseathletesviathe
Internetorphonecalls.

IX.

KeyMetrics

Numberofclients:Thenumberofclientsthatwehavewillhelpus
determinehowsuccessfulthatourbusinessis.Themoreclientsthatwehave
willshowusthatwhatwearedoingistrulyhelpingtheseathletes.Thiswill
bemeasuredaftereverymonth.
Clientfeedback:Aftereverymonth,wewillaskallofourcustomersto
giveusfeedbackonourservices.
X.

CompetitiveAdvantage

Ourservicewillnotbeeasilycopiedorboughtisbecausemyservicesdo
notstopwhenmyclientretires.Myserviceswillcontinuefromthetimetheyleave
collegetogotoprofessionalsportsandevenpastretirement.Thatisonething
makesusuniquealongwiththefactthatweteachourclients.Wedontdowhat
wedotojustgetmoney.Anotherthingthatmakesmycompanyuniqueisthatwe
actuallycareaboutourcustomers.Mycompanyisnotjustworriedaboutthe
moneythatwillbemade.Wedonotwanttheseathletestobestruggling
financially.Ourcustomerswillbecomebetterwillmanagingtheirfinances.Thatis
whatmycompanywillprideitselfon:OurcustomersgainingknowledgeMy
companyalsoworkswithathletesfromthethreemajorsportsinAmerica.Most
companiesworkwithjustoneofthem.
XI.

Conclusion
Mycompany,FlareFinancial,isafinancialadvisoryforprofessional

athletesgoingfromcollegetoprofessionalsports.Wenotonlyworkwiththese
athleteswhentheyentertheirrespectiveleagues,butwealsoworkwiththemwell
afterretirement.MycompanywillbelocatedinChicago,Illinois.Mycompanyis
fulfillingaseriousneed.Toomanyathletesarebecomingfinanciallypooraftera
fewyearsafterretirement.Thisneedwillhelpmycompanygenerateaprofitafter
thefirstyear.Iwouldliketomakearequestof$300,000andtobepartownerand
own20%.

MKNOTES:

Dontbeoffended,butyourbusinessisnotallthatdifferentthanwhatiscurrently
onthemarket.Youneedthinkabouthowyouaregoingtotrulybringvalueto
yourclients.Howcanyoubetrulydifferent??

Youarealsomissinghugedatapoints:
(1)howbigisthemarket?
(2)canyoutalkanecdotallyaboutanyofthecurrentNFLorNBAdraftees?
(3)howwillyourstaffbreakthroughtoreachtheseathletesconsideringyourthe
DavidtotheGoliath?
(4)whattypeofathletewillyoutarget?
(5)howwillyoumarketyourbusiness?
(6)thenameisnotverymemorableiwouldchoosesomethingelsethatwill
stickouttothejudge.
(7)youdonthaveanycostinginformationhowmuchareyougoingtospendon
rent?
(8)whereveryoucan,youwanttobringindatafromothersourcesandstate
accordingto
(9)willyoupartnerwithformerathleteswhowentbroke?
(10)howwillyouhelpathletesintegrateintopostgamelife?