13 minute read
Keep Your Office With You
Ladies Vantage
This is Not a Parent Trap
By Meg Bandy and Emillia Viljoen, USPTA Elite Professional
What do you want to maximize? Perhaps it’s as simple as your lesson base, time on the court, earning potential, or time off the court. Whether your office consists of four wheels and an iPhone or four walls and 24 tennis courts, the business end of the tennis racket is often times far more than teaching forehands and backhands. With the drive towards a more touch free environment, more tools are at our disposal than ever.
A tennis specific business environment can be difficult to navigate, but here are some tips to find those user-friendly digital tools.
The first step when looking to purchase any app or digital tool (software), is figuring out your need or problem that you want to solve and making sure they’re aligned with your business model and goals. Identifying the problem that is holding you back, helps you narrow down the type of digital toll you need. Start with a specific business goal-driven issue for e.g. “I/We need our coaches/pros to be able to take roll on the court and bill the club member accounts directly.” If you’re not sure where to start, talk to your team of pros or customers to uncover current problem areas. Have several conversations to identify the underlying issue, not just the symptoms. Your business may be spread over several apps already and you may want to consolidate under one umbrella. Also, reach out to other pros in the industry to see if they have experienced similar issues. Talk to a pro or coach with a similar business model or organization structure.
The second step is to define your software requirements. There are likely dozens of software products and apps designed to address the problem you’re having. You need software or apps that will match your specific needs closely. Knowing what you want to get out of the software or apps, will help you get closer to the right choice for your business. Here are some things to consider: 1. Does it have all the features to performs all the tasks you need it to do, and does it solve your digital problems and support your business? 2. Would you need separate accounts for each user, and does it meet your future growth needs? 3. How user-friendly is it? Does the software have good reviews? Are the reviews relevant in the evaluation of the software or app. Are testimonials credible? If it is an app, does it work well on both IOS, Android and other operating systems. 4. How will the software or app interact with other software you use for your business? Does it replace or can it co-exist with your current software? 5. Define a budget and how much you’re willing to spend on the software or app. Many apps are free initially, with additional purchase for features. Consider the cost of add-ons.
You’ve done a lot of research by this point and you are likely ready to make a final selection from your shortlist. There are however, a view additional things to be aware of: • If the software requires a contract, make sure you’ve communicated with the vendor ahead of time about the terms of your contract. • Does your business qualify for any discounts e.g. a nonprofit organization. • If you have not already discussed payment plans, ask about discounts for paying annually instead of monthly. Some vendors or apps will have the option already built in, but some do not.
• If it applies, discuss what the software vendor will be responsible for post-purchase. If it is an app, it may just be as simple as making sure you and your customers receive notification of updates regularly.
Some apps and tennis specific software are easily found in online searches. Here are a few of the dozens we found:
Tennis Locker: Great for managing your academy, club or facility, player progress plus much more. This is pretty robust.
Team Snap: Works well for the individual pro or school coach looking to manage a group of players. The administrator is charged a monthly fee.
MindBody: For the individual pro looking to have scheduling and online payment for group or individual lessons. MindBody will list your business and promote from their site. In-app purchases and add-ons are available.
Serve Tennis: The USTA released Serve Tennis in 2020. If you are on a tight budget this is worth looking into and could help you grow business with a free website, member contact and communication, and online lesson booking. You will be included on listings and searches on USTA. com as a tennis provider.
SquareAppointments: Customizable booking, scheduling for businesses. Take payments in one digital place. In-app purchases and add-ons available.
The Written Word
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Tim Ferris
Review by Pat Whitworth, USPTA Master Professional
Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/ advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. The Observer and other media have called Tim “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads.
Tim has been invited to speak at some of the world’s most innovative organizations, including Google, MIT, Harvard Business School, Nike, Facebook, The CIA, Microsoft, and Palantir.
Tim declares that he is an obsessive note taker. His goal is to learn things once and use them forever. He gives the example of when he was into body building. Now 10 years later, he looks at a photo and decides he wants to look like that again. No worries, just go to the notes from that time and follow the diet and workout.
This book is a collection of interviews and notes from over 100 top performers in health, wealth, and wisdom. Tim calls this a buffet, and skipping around makes sense. Everyone will have different sections that resonate to their current situation.
People interviewed include Ed Catmull (Pixar), Kevin Costner, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Malcolm Gladwell, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Shaun White, Rainn Wilson, and hundreds more. Many are involved in projects or businesses that we instantly recognize but are not aware of the connection.
The first section is Health, and Tim discusses a lot of alternate training, eating, and life styles. Learn how to really get into the Keto state, how to meditate, ultimate flexibility, and some of the best strength training techniques. Tim interviewed many top athletes, some included here, others on his podcast or the Four Hour Body book. He used these questions, which can work for any sport. • Who is good at (SPORT) despite being poorly built for it? Who’s good that should not be good? • What are the most controversial or unorthodox athletes or trainers? • What are the most impressive lesserknown teachers?
• What makes you different? Who trained you or influenced you. • What are the biggest mistakes and myths you see in (SPORT) training? Biggest wastes of time? • What are your favorite instructional books or resources on the subject?
Wealth is the next section, and the first interview person is Chris Sacca. Chris was an early stage investor with dozens of companies, including Twitter, Uber, Instagram, Kickstarter, and Twilo. He was the cover story of Forbes Midas issue in 2015, and he has been a recurring guest Shark on Shark Tank. Chris is very much against meetings for the sake of meeting. Even though he is a Silicon Valley investor, he lives in a cabin in the mountains and will invite prospectives to stay the weekend. HOWEVER, Chris does find it important to go to as many high level meetings as possible early in your career. Chris was able to show up at Google meetings, even with the founders, and offered to take notes. It worked and he became a regular. A signature style of Chris is that her wears somewhat ridiculous cowboy shirts. People certainly remember him and it helps create a reputation. A final quote from him is “Good stories always beat good spreadsheets”.
Others advise to say YES to most everything when starting out, then learn to pare down your time later in life and only say YES to projects that really move you. A funny story was told about ‘slow down and smell the roses”. Derek Sivers liked to bike, and had a path on the Santa Monica beach of about 25 miles. He would push it, and make the round trip in 43 minutes. Eventually he became less enthused at the pain and hard work, so he decided to just chill and do a fun ride. He was able to check everything out, see dolphins jumping, and it was a great ride. Upon returning home, he checked his watch, and it took 45 minutes. His lesson: it is not necessary to maximize every second, every dollar, every part of his life. He knows lives with much less stress, and is basically as productive as before.
Wise is the last section. Jocko Willink is a lean 230 pounds, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and served 20 years in the U.S. Navy and commanded SEAL Team Three. His mantra is simple “Discipline Equals Freedom”. If you want freedom in life, be that financial freedom, more free time, or even freedom from sickness, you can only achieve these things through discipline. Another common expression amongst SEALS is “Two is One, and One is None”. It just means you have a backup, and this is another common thread from a lot of the successful people interviewed. If you have two of something and it breaks, you have a backup. If you have one and it breaks, you have none.
Samy Kamkar is one of the most innovative computer hackers in the U.S. He is best known for creating the fastest spreading virus of all time. Recently he created SkyJack, a custom drone that hacks into nearby drones allowing the operator to control a swarm of devices. Tim asked Some of his advice included: • Put tape or a cover on your laptop camera. • Use a PIN on your smart phone to encrypt the date locally. • Don’t ever use the same password twice. Samy uses long passwords, sometimes from song lyrics. A long password, even if mostly English words, is typically stronger than a short password with random characters.
This section continues with a 4 Star General, Doctors, bestselling Authors, Professors, Actors, and Investors, sharing their start, what is important, and quotes that have inspired them.
The book is a buffet of concepts and ideas for success. It does make sense to skip around to make sure you read what you enjoy and have a positive effect on you. I see this book as one to keep close by for referring to on a weekly basis. There is no way to absorb all of the information and wisdom with a cover to cover read, so allow it time to absorb. Surprisingly, my favorite section was Wealth, and I expected to like Wisdom better. It seemed to be wiser in the Wealth section, and hit home. I highly recommend this book for a younger professional as well as the veteran professional.
Southern Officers The “Standard” is the official newsletter for the Southern Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.
President Kevin Theos theos@sta.usta.com 205-790-7256 1st Vice President Tom Parkes pvcctennis@gmail.com 910-233-4755 2nd Vice President Kaitlin Flaherty-Bisplinghoff kflaherty07@gmail.com 832-656-4472 Secretary/Treasurer Ken Andriano kandriano@theriverclub-ga.com 336-541-5876 Past President/Regional VP Todd Upchurch tupchurch1@gmail
Directors at Large Bill Riddle tennisun@aol.com 615-243-6698 Jason Hazley usptala@gmail.com 225-247-3028 Executive Director Pat Whitworth pat.whitworth@uspta.org 800-438-7782 (phone/fax) Head Tester Ron Gwyn rgwyn@haigpoint.com 843-341-8114 ALABAMA John Beaube jbeaube@green2grocer.com ARKANSAS patmalone67@gmail.com GEORGIA Bill Anderson banderson@capitalcityclub.org KENTUCKY Tim McCollum mccollum@sta.usta.com 502-709-0021 LOUISIANA Bill Bryan billb1481@gmail.com MISSISSIPPI Emilia Viljoen stayplaytennis@gmail.com NORTH CAROLINA Fred Pfuhl usptanc1@gmail.com SOUTH CAROLINA Mike Pollard mpollard@wexfordplantation.com TENNESSEE Meg Bandy mbandy@mccallie.org
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C
— Todd Upchurch
— Edward Simmons
— Teddy Roosevelt
— Kevin Kelly
—Jane McGonigal FAST FACTS Homecoming Games
Why did I choose this as a topic? We are in a time of turmoil and unrest in our country today. I felt like talking about something that we all missed last year on college and high school campuses that doesn’t matter what sport we all love. We call them “Senior Nights” or “Home Coming” games. The only fast fact this time is the origin of “Homecoming/Senior Night”. We can look all the way back to 1911 with the University of Missouri. The tradition of homecoming has its origin in alumni football games held at colleges and universities since the 19th century. Many schools including Baylor, Southwestern, Illinois, and Missouri have made claims that they held the first modern homecoming. The NCAA, Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy!, and references from the American TV drama NCIS give the title to the University of Missouri’s 1911 football game during which alumni were encouraged to attend. It appears to be the first homecoming-like event which was centered on a parade and a football game, such was the response and success it became an annual event. This made me smile and I hope it does you too!!!!
USPTA Welcomes Our New Members
Guerrero, Steven...............Columbia KY Hyatt, Caleb...................Asheville NC Koonapareddy, Chak .............. CARY NC Perry, Jason .................... Atlanta GA
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