Radhika Rajgarhia’s Post

Taking a feather (or a hair) from the Springbok Team's cap (or hide) I struggle to celebrate the "small" things because I am always looking at that which still needs to be done. Working in the development world means that there is seldom, if ever, a solid start and end to any endeavour, and the result of your efforts can seem infinitely small against the need and envisaged end state. Yet being part of the Rugby World Cup Final build-up, the game and the festivities around it has made me realise that we are all in need of acknowledging the small wins and celebrating them as steps to the big wins. And as raised before, small things can make a big impact. The following post was sent to me by one of my clients - and it resonates deeply with me. "Our boys have proven to everyone why they are world champs & deserve to retain the trophy... ...from beating the hosts, who were the 2nd best team in the world, to almost beating Ireland, which was the best team in the world... ...to beating a spirited England, while playing their worst game of the tournament. Those are true champions. But, I want to raise this: It is unfair of us ordinary South Africans to keep demanding the Springboks to give us hope through their victories, when we don't meet them halfway. After they've won the world cup, and the hype has died down, how will you show that you've learnt from them in your own life? Will you work your hardest in your job? Will you push your hardest in your business? Will you be a world class public servant? Will you roll your sleeves up & help to fix & build this nation? Will you vote for the best political leaders to run this country? Will you buy from local businesses? Will you stop paying bribes or accepting It's time you start treating yourself like a Springbok. It's time you start working in & building world class teams. It's time you start putting in your best efforts in your job. It's time you start serving the public as if you're competing with the best in the world. It's time you speak positively about this nation. It's time you work with other races to build a champion nation. It starts with you.. the Springboks have given us everything... now it's up to us. Let's build a Springbok Economy Let's build a Springbok Society Let's vote for Springbok Politicians We have the power to turn South Africa into the best country on earth... we all need to start believing that we are Springboks & put in the work to show it. " #Penuel #theblackpen Thank you to the Springbok Rugby Team for creating a (winning) moment to reflect on these matters. And all the best for the hard work that lies ahead - being (yet again) defending champions in a few years is an enormous expectation to prepare for and live up to in the next few years. At IDEA, we are working with you in building up for what lies ahead for our nation, believing in its winning future with a Springbok attitude.

Professional Tennis is broken. Unless you’re a top 50 player. If you're the 350th best player in the world in football, basketball, baseball or american football, you're (easily) earning over half a million USD, with expenses covered. If you're the 350th best tennis player, you're losing money or heavily reliant on family/friend support alongside finding creative ways to keep playing. How is that possible? Players make money in 2 ways: - Winnings - Sponsorships Every tournament has a prize pool, and the money is distributed based on how well you play. The size of the prize pool depends on the tournament. Grand slams have the highest prize pool, while the ITF world tour is the lowest tier. If you’re the 350th ranked tennis player, this is what can you expect: 30k-50k USD in prize money for the year (See link in comments for data) Sponsors are hard to come by, unless you’re a top 50 player. You might be able to get your gear and equipment for free, but that’s about it. This is why you see tennis players be the first users for products that help with crowdfunding & future earnings payout. All in all, 50k USD a year in earnings (if you’re playing well and injury free) and not having to buy any gear & equipment. But how much will you need to spend? In tennis, you are self employed. You are responsible for paying for your own transportation to and from tournaments, accommodation at tournaments as well as covering all expenses for support staff who travel with you, including coaches and physios. It’s estimated to cost you ~100k USD for a full tournament year with access to coaching and physios. You might be able to bring this down with part time coaching. But you’re still losing money. Something’s got to give. The ATP has launched Baseline - a program designed to make tennis financially sustainable. Golf had a big problem, and LIV came in. In all likelihood, we’re going to see something very similar. The journey to becoming a tennis professional is even tougher, but that’s for another day. How would you restructure tennis? 👇 #sports #sportsbiz #sportsbusiness

What I love about working with business owners is the shared connections I worked with Neil Millar today - a Consultant Solicitor specialising in dispute resolution As well as upskilling Neil on all things LinkedIn we chatted about - Running and Cycling - Music - lots of music including the massively underrated band Echobelly - Old school pubs like The Roebuck and Malt Shovels It's good to talk as they say #linkedin #training #connections

HPP Open 2023 - a memorable success There's nothing quite like sports when it comes to bringing people together. A good example of this is the HPP Open, ATP Challenger 125 tennis tournament, organized in Helsinki in the beginning of November. The one-week event was a great success as a record-breaking number of tennis fans swarmed to Tali Tennis Center to watch live world class tennis. It was great to see our local tennis stars Emil Ruusuvuori, Otto Virtanen and Patrik Niklas-Salminen on home courts.   The week in numbers: -over 7000 tennis fans -over 150 volunteers -over 60 matches -over 50 players -over 30 side activities -over 20 partners On top of this, the event received considerable national media coverage during the week. The Finnish tennis boom is real!   What does it take to successfully organize a professional tennis tournament in Finland?   First of all, it requires sponsors to cover the costs of the event. The major expenses are related to the players (prize money alone being 145K €), then staff, courts and marketing promotion. A suitable venue with enough seats for spectators is needed. A smooth running event typically requires more than 100 volunteers (ball kids, line umpires, catering staff, ticketing sales staff etc.). In addition, it requires a dedicated organization with experience in organizing international tennis tournaments. It requires teamwork, flexibility, and passion for tennis. Teamwork The old saying, “teamwork makes the dream work,” is also true for organizing a successful tennis event. With the right team in place, full of motivated and knowledgeable tennis people, it’s possible to achieve the desired results. In equal measure, the volunteer team is very important. The volunteers spend hours of working without being paid. They are a very important part of the team as they also act as ambassadors for the event. At the HPP Open we try to give our volunteers tasks in which they feel valued. We also make sure they get the chance to watch tennis in their moments of rest.   Flexibility Organizing a big tennis tournament requires flexibility. We organizers are very busy just before and during the event. There are many things to be taken care of and last-minute changes and unforeseen things happen all the time. By being adaptable, resilient, and change-responsive we are able to keep the event exciting and memorable for the players, spectators, partners and our volunteers.   Passion for Tennis Finally, you got to love tennis to succeed in this job. The planning of a big tennis event starts months before. The event itself lasts for one week and during this week we spend 12 hours per day at Tali Tennis Center – for the love of the game!   This year we had a truly fantastic time uniting our tennis community, showcasing our passion for the sport, sharing laughter, friendship, and unforgettable HaPPy moments. Thank you to all who made HPP Open 2023 a memorable success! HPP Open HPP Attorneys Suomen Tennisliitto

I started playing tennis when I was in the third grade. My Uncle Jim gave me my first racquet, taught me a few fundamentals, and I ran with it. I played under my parents' carport for so many years, breaking lights and windows, driving them crazy as I smashed a tennis ball against the utility room door. I played tournaments, I worked with an awesome coach, and I played as often as possible until I was a junior in high school. Over the years, racquet technology changed quite a bit. My first racquet was made of wood with a standard sized head; then over time, graphite became the thing, and eventually head sizes increased dramatically. With each advance, the player would gain power, spin control, and maybe a few more wins. I watch a lot of old 80's tennis matches between my heroes like John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg and I am amazed at what they could do with those little tennis racquets. But if you could have 80's McEnroe play against, say, a late 2000s Roger Federer, I think the wooden racquet would have a hard time against the new stuff. As an #entrepreneur, I'm faced with a steady stream of inflection points that require a change in how I do things. I think about how reluctant I was to let go of my wooden racquet as a teen; I am less reluctant these days since the rate of change is faster and more frequent, but there is always a part of me that wants to keep things as they were...simpler, nostalgic, and slower-paced. But I know that I can't do my best work with nostalgic tools, no matter how much I love them or how comfortable they are in my toolbox. I have to keep innovating, trying new things, changing up the tools I use. My #smallbusiness owners require and expect that of me. As we embark on some large changes within our firm, it's becoming more and more clear that my role in the firm will soon change. In some ways, it scares the crap out of me. I want to hold onto my nostalgic wooden racquet, but I know I need to upgrade and expand my mind. I know I need to let go of what is comfortable and exchange that for something new, maybe gain some strength from a new tool. When I change how I think about it, that fear turns to excitement! Don't let your nostalgia for how things were cloud your view of how things need to be in the #future. The people who depend on you deserve your best, and our best sometimes requires new tools. #change #growth #entrepreneurship #lifestylebusiness #businessownership

Serena is arguably the best tennis player of all time. She won 24 solo grand slams, second only to Novak for the most by any player in the open era. Unlike most singles champions, she also backed it up with her sister in the doubles arena, adding 14 double grand slams - making her the most decorated tennis player of the professional era. I recently read a breakdown of why she was the best, and it turns out that whilst she was good at a lot of things, she wasn’t the best at any one thing. What she had was optionality. When she played an opponent who was faster than her, she could rely on her serve, accuracy, or power to overcome them. If the next opponent had greater accuracy, then she could combine speed and serve to overcome them. This story resonates with me because it represents a recent shift in thinking about what “good” strategy is. During a recent company strategy day, Rhys said it best, “good strategy should make you feel a little nervous”. To paraphrase Roger Martin, good strategy is about knowing what “winning” looks like - a byproduct of that is that you will know when you have lost. This definition, whilst true, also presents a paradox for challenger brands. You have limited knowledge, experience, and resources with which to define and pursue your strategy. If you narrow yourself too quickly, the odds are that you are probably chasing something that (a) won’t make the impact that you think you will if you succeed or (b) you have miscalculated the situation and are grossly underprepared. Similarly, if you go too broad, then you’re likely to lose focus and end up as some boring, amorphous brand with an offering that nobody wants. But if we approach strategy like Serena did tennis, then I think there is a way forward for challenger brands. For those of us without every piece to the puzzle in front of us (i.e. pretty much all of us), the combination of optionality + outcome becomes key. What outcome are we trying to drive? This is typically a problem solved in a way that drives a heap of revenue. At InvestorHub, the outcome we’re driving is to make the listed experience better for public companies. So what options do we have to get there? Product people might ask this question as, “is this a feature or a product?”. We ultimately want a product, service, and business that has as many conceivable ways to achieve success as possible. If we have a very narrow path to our outcome and incomplete information, then our optionality is low. For InvestorHub, we have a robust product roadmap that gives us incredible optionality as to how we succeed (if you represent a listed company then I encourage you to come talk to us about this, we use customer input to help guide our roadmap). If we can treat the formula as strategy = outcome + optionality, then we can apply the “play to win” approach to strategy that allows our challenger brands to gain the benefits of good strategy whilst simultaneously building, testing, and learning.

There are two kinds of tennis/pickleball clubs in the US. 1. The first are the ones that believe tomorrow will be just like today. These clubs stick to traditional methods, relying on what has always worked. Their owners are focused on the status quo, making tiny tweaks, and keeping costs down. They see their main competition as other clubs just like them, and their goal is to get a larger share of the same pie. These clubs might upgrade their facilities, improve their court surfaces, or add a few new programs, but fundamentally, they are playing it safe. Their growth is slow and steady, and their impact is limited by their reluctance to innovate. These clubs compete for the same players, the same events, and the same recognition. They’re focused on today’s profits and yesterday’s successes. 2. The second kind of club—the ones that are changing the game. These are the clubs that see the future differently. The owners understand that the world is changing, and they want to be at the forefront of that change. These clubs embrace new technologies, innovative management practices, and forward-thinking strategies. They don’t just want a bigger piece of the pie; they want to create a whole new pie. At CourtReserve, we’ve had the privilege of working with many of these visionary clubs. They don’t just adapt to the future—they are actually helping shape it. And, they use our comprehensive club management software to do it all. These clubs are not just adding more courts or better facilities; they are reimagining what it means to be a tennis or pickleball club in the 21st century. - They are building communities. - They use data to make informed decisions, - They’re mobile first & keep members connected. Forward-thinking clubs understand that to stay relevant, it’s about evolving. They take risks, try new things, and push the boundaries of what a tennis or pickleball club can be. They recognize that the future of the sport lies in innovation and adaptability. 📌Here's my biggest takeaway: these clubs are not competing with others—they are creating a NEW standard. They dare to dream big and act boldly. At CourtReserve, we are proud to support these trailblazers. So, if you’re a tennis & pickleball club that’s ready to embrace the future, join us. ___ Give this a repost ♻️ to help others & follow me at Tim Owens for more on tennis & pickleball club management.

From packed courts to fashion runways, tennis is experiencing a major renaissance. The U.S. Open is just around the corner, and the numbers speak for themselves: Ticket sales are soaring, participation is booming, and the "tenniscore" aesthetic is dominating. But what's driving this sudden surge in popularity? While we might not have a definitive answer for every trend (remember fidget spinners?), in the case of tennis, we can pinpoint a few contributing factors: 🎾 Tennis offered a safe, socially-distanced activity during lockdowns, sparking renewed interest. 🎾 High-profile players like Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu have captured the world's attention, inspiring a new generation of fans. 🎾 The "tenniscore" aesthetic has infiltrated mainstream fashion, making the sport more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. 🎾 Tennis content is thriving on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, fueling the trend and creating a sense of community. In this post, we'll dive deeper into these factors and explore how brands like Alo, Lululemon, and Free People are riding the tennis wave. Whether you're a seasoned player or just love the look, tennis is having a moment. From influencer impact to pandemic popularity, see what’s fueling tennis’s rise in our detailed trend analysis.

Exciting sponsorship opportunities