Sporting Goods Store Business Plan and SWOT Analysis

Sporting Goods Store Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory

The Sporting Goods Store Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start a Sporting Goods Store business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.

Your Business Planning Package will be immediately emailed to you after you make your purchase.

Product Specifications (please see images below):

  • Bank/Investor Ready!
  • Complete Industry Research
  • 3 Year Excel Financial Model
  • Business Plan (26 to 30 pages)
  • Loan Amortization and ROI Tools
  • Three SWOT Analysis Templates
  • Easy to Use Instructions
  • All Documents Delivered in Word, Excel, and PDF Format
  • Meets SBA Requirements

Although many people now seek to purchase sporting goods online, brick-and-mortar sporting good stores still remain popular. This is primarily due to the fact that these businesses are able to cater to people that want to come directly to a store in order to purchase specific types of fitted sporting equipment. Although many retailers have suffered given the rise of online e-commerce businesses, sporting good stores have remained strong within this market. The startup costs associated for a new sporting good store can vary substantially depending on the initial scope and size of the entrepreneur wants to start.

Generally, sporting goods towards typically have a price range from $100,000 to $1 million depending on a few factors. The cost can be significantly higher if the owner is seeking to acquire the property that will house the business. Additionally, some sporting good stores in order to remain competitive will operate within a highly specific niche. As such, fewer inventory will be carried and thus will have a lower startup cost. However, on average the startup cost associated with a new sporting good store is around $500,000 to $750,000. One of the nice things about owning and operating a sporting goods store is that many of the inventories that are carried typically are provided by the manufacturer and are held until time of sale. This is reduces the amount startup capital necessary for these types of businesses. The gross margins generated from sales typically ranges anywhere from 50% to 70% depending on the specific type of product being sold. It should be noted that many people that enter the sporting goods store market will typically hire an attorney beforehand to determine whether or not any specific licenses outside of standard sales tax licenses are required in order to launch operations.

A sporting goods store business plan is always developed especially if the individual entrepreneur is going to be seeking capital from a private investor or from a financial institution. This business plan should feature a three-year profit and loss statement, cash flow analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page. As it relates to the number of companies in the industry, there are approximately 40,000 sporting goods store companies that own or operate one or more locations. Each year these businesses generate about $50 billion in revenue and provide jobs for about 300,000 people.

When developing any new type of retail operation, a thorough demographic analysis is going to be required. This includes taking a look at the population size, population density, median household income, and the percentage of people that are actively engaged in sporting activities. A thorough demographic analysis discussing the youth sports should be included as well as many parents will go to sporting good stores to purchase these products for their children. A competitive analysis is and was always included given that this is a highly competitive market. This competitive analysis should take a look not only at standard brick-and-mortar retailers but also online competitors as well.

A sporting goods store SWOT analysis is typically produced as well. As relates to strengths, sporting good stores remain one of the few types of retail locations where people continue want to go on an ongoing basis. The barriers to entry are considered to be moderate in the gross margins from sales are moderate as well.

For weaknesses, as discussed above – competition from both highly established brick-and-mortar retailers as well as online sellers has squeeze the margins for most sporting good stores. As such, the entrepreneur that starts this business is going to need to find ways in order to properly differentiate their products and services from that of the overall market. Again, one of the ways that this is done is by maintaining a specific niche.

For opportunities, these businesses can readily expand not only by establishing new locations and expanding inventory but also maintaining an expansive online sales presence. Almost all online retailers of sporting goods also maintain a brick-and-mortar location. This can rapidly expand the revenues of the business at the onset of operations.

For threats, a major economic recession will definitely have an impact on the top line income of the business. During these times, sporting good stores must find ways in order to weekly turnover in demand inventories. This is a risk faced by most sporting good stores.

A sporting goods store marketing plan is also developed in order to ensure that people can find business quickly. Prior to the onset of operations, many sporting goods store owners will typically distribute flyers and coupons within their specific target market. Additionally, in order to be part of the community many sporting goods store entrepreneurs will donate substantially to elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, community colleges, and their athletic programs. This will significantly boost the visibility of the web of the business from the onset of operations and will drive people to location. Many sporting goods stores will also seek to develop ongoing purchase order relationships with municipalities especially among cities that directly manage their educational institutions sporting programs.

A presence on the Internet is also extremely important given the fact that now people search online for pretty much everything. The company’s website should be mobile friendly and listed among all major search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Many sporting goods store owners will frequently integrate e-commerce into their operations in order to ensure that people can quickly make purchases from anywhere in the world. This is especially important if the sporting good stores can operate within a specific niche like skiing, football, or a not often played sport. Many sporting good stores for numerous will also maintain pages on third-party sales platforms including Amazon and eBay in order to ensure that there can be a rapid turnover of in demand and slow to move inventories.

Sporting good stores have remained one of the mainstay types of retailers in today’s economic climate. Although rapidly changing technology has allowed e-commerce businesses to thrive – brick-and-mortar retailers that specifically focus on sporting good stores have remained strong. Again, this is primarily due to the fact that these are very expensive pieces of equipment and a buyers going to want to come directly to a store in order to have a proper fitting. Additionally, people still want to talk face-to-face with someone especially comes to the purchase of expensive sporting goods equipment. The growth of this industry will mirror that of the general economy. Sporting good stores can be lucrative small business to medium scale business opportunities for entrepreneur that has significant experience in the retail industries.