Striking Similarities Between Baseball and Starting a Franchise
In my house, Spring starts a new season full of hope and excitement – baseball season! Growing up in Michigan I spent many sunny days at Tiger Stadium – the original Tiger Stadium. I have fond memories of sitting in those warm blue seats, eating stadium-sized peanuts, and listening to the Tiger and the crowd roar for big plays. I loved the sounds of the crack of the bat, the guy behind me yelling “hey batta batta batta”, and my mom and I laughing and taking in a day at the ball park. This is where I learned to enjoy and appreciate the inner workings of baseball and realize it was so much more than just hitting a ball.
As my husband and I were watching the Tigers game the other night I realized baseball is a lot like starting a new business. With baseball, like business, there are many ups and downs coupled with a multitude of nail-biting moments.
- Opening Day is full of excitement! The beginning of a season is like the beginning of a business. There is a lot of excitement for what’s to come. Baseball fans dream of World Series Championship rings and business owners dream of successful and profitable businesses. Hopes are high and dreams are bigger!
- The stuff dreams are made of! How many little boys lay in bed at night thinking of hitting the game winning home run or being the
next Babe Ruth? Baseball is known as the Field of Dreams for this reason. A new business is your own field of dreams. Taking your passion and coupling it with hard work and determination builds that field. Remember, “If you build it, they will come.” - Choosing the right franchise makes all the difference. As a player, it is important to choose the right baseball franchise, you want to make sure you’re signing to the team that will invest in you and believe in you. You have to ensure this team will coach you to your strengths and help you overcome your weaknesses. These same requirements hold true in choosing a franchise for you to partner with.
- It’s hard work! In baseball there are 162 games played in 180 days! This leaves little time for down time and rest for the players and staff. When starting a business you get very little downtime. As a new business owner you are directing the marketing campaigns, hiring and training staff, managing all aspects of the business and are acting as your own GM and Owner. Whew, it can be exhausting! But….
- It’s worth it! If you ask any baseball player about the rush they get stepping up to the plate, hearing the fans yelling their name, the cheers and the excitement I imagine they will tell you this feeling is what propels them for 162 games. For business owners, when they can look back at where they started and see where their business is now, that same rush coupled with a sense of accomplishment washes over them. Is there any better feeling than knowing you’ve put your own mark on the world?
I think Al Lopez summarizes it best, “Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it’s business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don’t love what you’re doing and you can’t give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You’ll be an old man before you know it.”
