Business Plan
Business Plan
Page 2
Business Plan
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4
2. Executive Summary............................................................................................................ 4
3. Mission, Strategies, etc. (Company, Strategy and Management Team) ........................... 5
3.1. Vision........................................................................................................................... 5
3.2. Mission ........................................................................................................................ 5
3.3. Keys to Success ........................................................................................................... 5
3.4. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs) ................................... 6
3.5. Strategies .................................................................................................................... 7
4. Products and Services ........................................................................................................ 7
5. Revenue Sources ................................................................................................................ 7
6. Future Growth Opportunities ............................................................................................ 7
7. Marketing Plan ................................................................................................................... 8
7.1. Market Analysis........................................................................................................... 8
7.2. Competition ................................................................................................................ 8
7.3. Customer Profile ......................................................................................................... 9
7.4. Market Size, Sales & Share Projections ...................................................................... 9
7.5. Strategies for reaching or exceeding your targeted sales levels ................................ 9
7.6. Sales Strategy ............................................................................................................ 10
7.7. Advertising and Public Relations .............................................................................. 10
8. Operations Plan ............................................................................................................... 10
8.1. Location..................................................................................................................... 10
8.2. Production..................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
9. Management & Administration (Organization Plan) ....................................................... 11
9.1. Company Ownership ................................................................................................ 11
9.2. Managerial Style ....................................................................................................... 11
9.3. Management............................................................................................................. 11
9.4. Administration .......................................................................................................... 12
10. Financial Plan ................................................................................................................. 12
10.1. Projected Cash Flow ............................................................................................... 12
10.2. Start-up and Operating Budgets ............................................................................. 13
10.3. Operating Budget ................................................................................................... 13
10.4. Accounting and Inventory Control System ............................................................. 13
10.5. Cash Flow Projections ............................................................................................. 13
10.6. Funding Requirements ........................................................................................... 14
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1. Introduction
Advance Pro Basketball (ABP) was established since April 2014 and has been running its own
analytics operations since Feb. 2015. It is the first Dutch based basketball analytics brand to be
registered as of March 2017; its website is dedicated to basketball analytics focused on Europe. It
aims at providing a service to general consumers and clientele on improving the understanding of
analytics across Europe as well as aiming at working with teams/clubs, coaches, players in order to
improve their performance based on numbers and data and giving everyone a better chance to win.
2. Executive Summary
Basketball Analytics, is a sports data science that quantifies data gathered from in-game statistics,
boxscore information (points, assists, rebounds, steals, turnovers, etc.) and added technology that is
used on the court during practice as well as competition to draw empirical conclusions about players
that are then relayed to decision makers (primarily coaches and executive club staff) in a simplistic
and plain format so decision making for basketball becomes much more effective.
While there is a general interest from consumers due to the understanding that comes from betting
across Europe. The notion that analytics can help make the decision making process much easier is
only recently catching on and enlightening the general audience is a must in order to have a better
understanding spectator as well as as follower of the game.
On the other hand, unfortunately 90% of coaches in Europe are uninformed/unaware of how to use
basketball analytics to their favor. 5% of coaches try to stay on top by making use of video analysis
and editing tools thorugh utilizing their assistants (staff) thinking this might be enough.
Video analysis/editing is considered to be 35% of basketball analytics. While the remaining 5% of
overall coaches making use of video analysis and player development systems they obtain from or
hear about form abroad; in order to improve player development. The fact is that basketball
analytics done properly to scout player across Europe is not fully effective and in the hands of player
agents which is considerably biased needs to be well explained and much more developed.
Moreover, the European market is still wide open and through the course of this document, it will
be shown just how Advanced Basketball Pro will go to work and operate in this market. Advance Pro
Basketball feels the need to attain a wider consumer base and spread the word that basketball
analytics is the future of smart basketball in Europe.
3. Mission, Strategies, etc. (Company, Strategy and Management
Team)
3.1.
Vision
Advanced Basketball Pro looks to become the main source of information for European basketball
primarily for men’s basketball and later on aiming to expand into women’s basketball.
Through developing and maintaining a proprietary method to look at players as well as teams
through an application that can be used to track players and respective teams.
We will not only improve the basketball understanding of general spectators and consumers of the
game but additionally allow players, coaches and executives around Europe to get a better
understanding of how analytics can improve the game as well across domestic and pan-European
leagues.
3.2.
Mission
Advanced Pro Basketball's mission is to make a difference within the basketball community on all
levels ranging from its general user to the professional executive that deals with the sport on a daily
basis.
3.3.
Keys to Success
In order for the business to succeed, we've identified the following factors:

High Quality Content. All website(s) will emphasise content which is of the
highest quality to the target audience.

Value. People will only go to our website(s) which offer information and
critical insight. Our website(s) will emphasise key value in the content and
services provided.

Community. The success of this business depends greatly on the building of
communities attached to the basketball world as well as by any means
necessary through networking as well as online. Because the revenue
sources are from advertising maximizing traffic on the website(s) is critical to
its success. By building communities around these topic specific website(s)
the site(s) will generate traffic and links from other sites.

Credibility. Since the website(s) being developed are in specialized fields and
targeted towards consumers and professional, credibility is a key success
factor.
3.4.

Reputation. The website(s) need to generate organic traffic on the Internet
through referrals, word of mouth and through the current basketball
community established. Establishing a reputation as subject matter experts
and providing high quality services and products is key to the success of this
business.

Usability. Providing products and services people want, even if it’s free, only
works if the users can easily find what they’re looking for. Ensuring the
usability of the website(s) adds to the likelihood of success in the business.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs)
Strengths:

APB has a unique perspective when it comes to basketball analytics

Delving deeper into how general consumers can grasp basketball
analytics much faster will make it easier to convert users to paying
customers

Wide network of professionals in this area that we have contact with

Filling a niche space within the sports analytics industry
Weaknesses
 Funding is limited for this start-up.
Opportunities
 There are a limited number of websites which have similar content in
Europe.
 Content based websites is still at its infancy, this is a growing field in
profiting from the Internet.
Threats
 Larger and better funded companies can duplicate our products and
services easily.
3.5.
Strategies







First of all build a website (http://advanceprobasketball.com) to be able
to attract general users and consumers to the understanding of
basketball analytic.
Link social media accounts (facebook, twitter, linkedin, instagram) and
grow a following.
Generate regular and unique content and spread the word of how
different methods can work for different situations.
Build a scalable application that will cover various leagues (13 different
leagues) ranging from domestic to pan-European leagues where in simple
player data/statistics as well a premium player data/statistics will allow
its users to play around in a FANTASY BBALL APP
Expand the range of content through the app and link to the website and
social media users.
Expand into womens basketball in to certain leagues (domestic & panEuropean)
Partner up with probable content developing sites and marketing
partners as well
4. Products and Services




Advance Pro Basketball website (http://advanceprobasketball.com)
Advance Pro Basketball social media accounts
Advance Pro Basketball app (to be developed)
Advance Pro Basketball infographics generator (to be developed)
5. Revenue Sources



Website advertising
App premium services & insights for premium clients
Infographic generation services for premium clients
6. Future Growth Opportunities



Expanding beyond the European market – China, Middle East
Improving on services and content generation by growing company structure
with professionals that have similar know-how
Creating events and organizations that will further grow the understanding of
how basketball analytics can improve individuals and teams dractically in an
adequet time frame.

Create a system that will allow custom basketball infographics to be generated
for media use by anyone interested in advanced statistics of basketball (a
probable niche that can be delved further into in the future).
7. Marketing Plan
Marketing is key to the success of this business. The company’s operations will center
around the marketing and image plans. Through our marketing, we will strive to be
visible. This will be accomplished by investing in our image and building equity in it. The
company will set standards which will be adhered to, through these standards the
company will become credible. Becoming visible and credible are the two main goals of
our marketing plan.
Added Websites that will be activated upon gaining funding will be
http://advprostats.com as well as http://advprobball.com which will be acting mirror
sites to our main http://advanceprobasketball.com site which will house our app online
as well as be the acting B2B site.
7.1.
Market Analysis
A market analysis has not been performed, this is not required initially since we
will be selling products which are already on the market. We will perform
market analysis for new product lines which we will be developing. Market
analysis for these products will include surveying stores in our area, surveying
consumers, and researching demand for items through other sources.
7.2.
Competition
An analysis of the competition has not been performed. During the initial startup of the business, an analysis of the competition will be performed.
Information to include in the analysis includes;

Identify the five nearest direct competitors.

How do they advertise?

What are their strengths and weaknesses?

How does their product differ from ours?
We will maintain a file on each of the five competitors. In this file we will keep
copies of their advertising and promotional materials, their pricing strategy, and
any other information which can be collected.
7.3.
Customer Profile
Each of the three websites will target a different customer with no overlapping
of customers between the sites. Here we provide a high level profile of the
target audience:
Players
Coaches
Front Office executives
General basketball consumer/user
7.4.
Market Size, Sales & Share Projections
The market size for basketball across Europe is ever expanding due to the growing interest
in the sport on an annual basis. While the initial figures gathered from FIBA Europe state
that there is a base of 750,000 general consumers/users that are present this fluctuates to
anywhere between 1 mil. to 1,5 mil. general consumers/users overall.
Sales as well as share projections based on the above information state that while parallel
products and services such as team based analytics and other basic fantasy basketball
related sites and application attempt at reaching only 10% of the market size there is no
true informative source that covers all aspects of the full market potential. It is therefore a
highly viable option to consider becoming a major market share holder within the first 3
years of establishing all necessary product lines and growing recognition further.
7.5.
Strategies for reaching or exceeding your targeted sales levels
The primary method of gaining new consumers/users as well as maintaining our
current base will rely on generating unique content. This would mean
establishing a clear difference from any competition in terms of the content we
provide. Aside from this based on funding that is sought after in the figure of
70,000 Euros APB is aiming at designing and launching a unique application that
would allow its consumers to be able to take part in educating themselves and
further developing an appreciation for advanced statistics within European
Basketball.
It is critical to note that the application will be a key point in the sales process
to consumers as well as B2B clients.
Here is a breakdown of the package sales structure for the application aimed at
consumers as well as B2B clients.
The above will also allow us to spread unique insight through referrals on the
web as well as through the basketball community.
Eventually anyone that would either visit our website(s) or application, services
would allow us to reach and exceed our targeted sales overall.
7.6.
7.7.
Sales Strategy

Advertising through short videos on the web

Reaching out to current consumer base

Partnering up with other basketball content generating websites and
services

Social media
Advertising and Public Relations
The advertising budget will be well funded. Advertising will consist of online
registration with search engines, email and direct mail to established customers,
trade magazine advertisements,
8. Operations Plan
Advanced Pro Basketball will operate out of the house of the sole proprietor of the
corporation. This base of operations is located at Stadionweg 188-2 Amsterdam, NL.
Since this is an online business, this facility will house only the computer equipment
needed to reach the Internet and the company records.
8.1.
Location
As the business grows, there is no geographic advantage to locating it at one
location over another. This is because the business is a completely online
business with no requirements to be tied to a specific physical location. As such,
it can be managed and operated from any global location.
9. Management & Administration (Organization Plan)
9.1.
Company Ownership
The corporation is owned solely by the business owner.
9.2.
Managerial Style
Decisions Making. Ermay Duran will be the final decision maker for all business
decisions.
Project Management. Project management will be according to the PMI PMBOK
standards and will follow that process. Gantt charts will be used for schedule
management.
Record Keeping. We will use QuickBooks to manage our financial records.
Other electronic means will be used to track records which cannot be captured
in QuickBooks. Whenever possible, all records should be made web accessible.
Communication. Communication within the company will be primarily oral or
through emails. For any communications for which a record is desired will be
made through emails. Communication external to the company will be primarily
through emails.
9.3.
Management
The management team consists of the sole owner of the company. The other
management posts will be: the President, Director of Finance, Director of
Marketing and Director of Information Technology and Director of Operations.
The President is responsible for overseeing the overall operation of the
company. The President ensures that the company’s vision is pursued, that goals
are set and followed and the company’s strategy is followed. The President
reviews the Business Plan periodically to confirm that the plan is current, still
applies to the company’s needs, and that the company is following the plan.
The Director of Finance is responsible for maintaining all financial records,
ensuring that the company complies with all tax laws and provides financial
reports to management.
The Director of Marketing is responsible for the marketing of the company, it’s
products. Marketing includes product development, creating and distributing
newsletters, link building and any other marketing needs that arise.
Director of Information Technology (IT) is responsible for developing and
maintaining all IT systems including; website, desktop/laptop computers,
applications and search engine optimisation (SEO).
The Director of Operations is responsible for the day to day operations of the
business. This includes ensuring that inquiries are answered, content is
maintained on the websites and the overall operations of the business continues
in an organized and proficient manner.
Figure 9.1 Organizational Chart
9.4.
Administration
Since this business is being managed and operated by two persons,
administrative responsibilities will overlap. Primary areas of responsibility and
associated tools are listed in figure 9.2, Administrative Responsibilities.
10. Financial Plan
This financial plan conservatively projects the overall finances of the corporation.
Although many of the projections are based off pilot programs and statistical averages,
the projections are merely approximations. The success of this business is determined
by its ability to offer enough free products such that the websites generate enough
traffic to result in substantial advertising revenue.
10.1. Projected Cash Flow
The projected cash flow is based on the assumption that there are no sales
in the first 12 months of business.
10.2.
Start-up and Operating Budgets
The company will be funded by an initial investment of €70,000. The costs
associated with the start-up of the business is listed below in Figure 10.1,
Start-up Budget.
APB/GSA App Ask
Task
UX Design
App Development
Customized Marketing Campaign
Additional Features (V2)
Reserve for adjustments
APB website, social media content maintainance
(jncl. İnfographics and visuals) x 3 months
Total
Resource
Eli Zager (GSA EDGE
Designer)
SkyCap Technologies
(PT (EDGE Tech Team)
Sponsorship,
Partnerships (TBD)
Usage
10.000 €
20.000 €
7.000 €
10.000 €
11.000 €
12.000 €
70.000 €
Figure 10.1 Start-up Budget
10.3.
Operating Budget
The monthly operating budget is based on known operating expenses on a
monthly basis. The costs associated with running the business is listed
below in Figure 10.3, Monthly Operating Budget.
10.4. Accounting and Inventory Control System
We will use QuickBooks Professional accounting software to maintain our
accounting and inventory records.
10.5. Cash Flow Projections
Cash flow projections presented here are based on known start-up and ongoing
expenses. The cash flow projections does not project sales and the cost of the
merchandise sold, rather it shows the financial operational health of the
company. Expected cash flow projections are presented in graphical format in
Figure 10.4, Cash Flow Projections.
10.6. Funding Requirements
Funding for the start-up and first year of operations will be provided by the sole
owner of the corporation. Initially an investor will provide the €70,000 for the
initial start-up. No foreseeable additional funding will be required afterwards.