I'm writing this in the hope you might find it useful (if you read it - or Gary passes it on). It's only my view but . . .
I've been dithering for the past two weeks about sponsoring you - from an 'outsider' viewpoint, I like your story, you, your tennis . . .
But I see quite a lot of seed funding projects (again just one guy with a dream, trying to make a go of things - different domains but the principle is the same).
And my problem with yours is that you've got a spiel on your page that's OK - but it stops there.
Since you put the pledge thing up, you've won the Aegon team thingy, got knocked out (very unexpectedly) in the singles and doubles in the latest 15k, withdrawn from Dublin . . . And yet there's been no feedback from you at all. NB I'm not expecting specific info re injuries (if that;s the case) - it's private.
But if you're asking the public to join in your journey, you have to involve them in your journey.
All you're doing is tweeting asking people to join in, but not giving them any reasons to do so.
(You could use a different twitter feed if you want, a 'business' facebook, whatever you want).
Equally, your spiel has no business plan at all. Not even a 'baby business plan' one. I'd like to see exactly what your aims are for the next 12 months. You're asking for 10k - it's a lot of public money - it's not just a game.
And I don't mean just 'I want to be in the top 250 this time next year'. I mean, things like: what's your 50m sprint time at the moment ? bench press weight/rep ? What do you intend them to be in 2 months time? What's your training regime to get there ? Where are the updates as to what was achieved this week ? Are you above or below target ? These goals are things that you should have anyway (at least at some times of the year).
Equally, you've not put up any financials. Again, you may say this is private, and they don't need to be highly detailed. But I've no idea if Gary is paying your complete costs for next year, just a part, if your parents chip in, what your expenses were, the LTA's bonus awards, etc. etc. It makes a difference.
You can adapt it as you see fit, but simply giving a friendly waffle about wanting to play more challengers so as to get to Wimbledon next year is not really a plan. And I really don't see why your situation should be treated much different than another 23 year-old guy with a dream, albeit in tech or whatever. It' simply a question of appearing professional.
I hope this doesn't sound harsh. And, to be honest, I'm still dithering because I'd like to help. But a little bit of me is holding back . . .
Some great stuff in that post from CD, especially about involving fans and keeping people fully updated on what you are doing.
If I may cite the examples of Dominic Thiem and Borna Coric. Both of these players post a short review of every single match they play on Facebook. Doesn't matter if they have won or lost, played great or had a stinker, within a few hours of every match they play they are sharing a few thoughts about their match with their fans. People appreciate that; if I am going to enthusiastically support a player I want a little bit of communication, and not just a nice photo of them holding a trophy after a good week.
Furthermore communicating a few thoughts after a defeat actually forces a player to think a little about why they lost. To pick the topical example of Oli Golding I would think it might benefit him if he felt compelled to write a few sentences for his fans about why he has collapsed from a winning position for a third match in as many tournaments. After a particularly bad performance very early in the year Thiem wrote "Fallen back to my dumbest most childish phases of 2010 and 2011", does anyone think that a similarly honest appraisal from Oli at the moment could be anything other than beneficial.
Good points CD and hope Willis doesn't take this the wrong way. It's good advice.
Many cheques are thrown around to youngsters early in their careers from LTA as well as parents without proper accountability - often not great for learning lessons in life. If money keeps coming without proper management and accountability it may well be detrimental to personal progress in the long run.
However, I don't blame players for not providing great business plans if they haven't been taught or mentored to do so and admire the enthusiasm and initiative too.
I'm with CD on this, I've so nearly thought I'll just give £25 to Marcus, as I like him and any cash would help. BUT I'd also like to see an attached blog, where he noted down his training etc., and analysed his performances on the court. Maybe wrote down his objectives, and how he was going to achieve them. I'm not really interested in a mention on social media or a tennis lesson etc.,, I just want our most talented tennis players to train hard, play hard and maximise their potential.
-- Edited by philwrig on Monday 21st of July 2014 05:19:41 PM
