Maxwell Bregande, Kayla Casucci, and Ryan Visgauss

SPM 452-601

Executive Summary
Second-Hand sports will be a new business that will be opening up in the

Cortland community May 2017. Second-Hand sports will be ran and managed by Ryan
Visgauss, Kayla Casucci, and Max Bregande, three sport management majors that attend
SUNY Cortland who plan to graduate in May 2016. One year after graduating, May
2017, we plan on launching our grand opening. Throughout our college career we noticed
that college students were in need for cheap and affordable sporting goods. Athletes of all
levels, from intramural to club teams, are in need for sporting equipment and goods,
however most college students are on a tight budget. Students for the most part cant
afford to pay full price for equipment season after season. Stores in the local area such as
Action Sports, Olympia Sports and Wal-Mart all sell new sports equipment such as cleats,
baseball mitts and baseball bats, but none of them sell those used for a cheaper price. This
what inspired us to open this business here, next to SUNY Cortland. If you're a SUNY
Cortland student who wanted to get used sporting goods you would have to travel 40
miles to Play It Again Sports located in North Syracuse. When we realized this, we saw a
ton of untapped potential that was not being utilized by anyone in the Cortland
community. Not only could SUNY Cortland benefit from our business, but also the
neighboring high schools and men's league in this community. Intramural and club sports
are huge on the Cortland campus. The Intramural Sports Program is very popular
among students, with close to half of the undergraduate population participating in at
least one intramural sport. - SUNY Cortland Webpage. Flag football, softball, floor
hockey, 3 v. 3 basketball and soccer are among the most popular. There are also over 30
club sports on campus, 20+ varsity sports, and 8 high schools in a 15-mile radius. When
students first start intramural sport as freshman, they realize that in order to win and be
competitive they will need cleats or a nice softball bat or wide receiver gloves. However,

when ever they go to a sporting goods store in Cortland they cant stand the prices that
are being asked for these items that they will only use a dozen times per year. This is
where Second-Hand Sport steps in and brings affordable products. Our sporting goods
store will offer affordable sporting goods that the average college student can afford. The
way we plan on stocking our inventory is through donations that athletes dont have use
for anymore. With several colleges surrounding Cortland, including Syracuse University,
Ithaca College, Tompkins Community College, SUNY Broome, SUNY Binghamton and
Cornell University the room for growth is tremendous. We know that a lot of seniors at
these colleges who will be graduating that have equipment that they will not use after
college. This will be a key target market for us. We will place drop off bins at these
colleges next to a popular landmark, where students can drop off their unwanted
equipment. These bins will be just for straight donations, however if they come to our
store and drop it off we can give them discount to our store or some kind of incentive to
make them come back. Seniors who are graduating will most likely not need their
intramural baseball mitt or cleats anymore and will be eager to get rid of them. We will at
first ask for donations and then analyze what we have. Our donations are not just limited
to college students, who ever has an item that we can sell, we will accept. We come to
terms that not every college student will be willing to pay our prices, no matter how small
they are, but for those who accept our price and need/want sporting equipment, those are
the people we are targeting. We have selected a location that is close to the SUNY
Cortland campus and offers easy accessibility for all students. With efficient planning
and an effective marketing plan, we intend to reach a profitable level within the first five
years.

Mission
Secondhand Sports is a start up company that seeks to bring affordable athletic
equipment to consumers throughout the world. We understand the comradery that sports
can create amongst communities, however affordability is often a problem for some. We
plan to end that by offering lower prices to people who are in need of sporting goods.
Business Structure of Organization
We feel that a general partnership would be the most effective way to operate this
business. By doing so we will equally split the operating, managing, and controlling of
this company. Also in doing so, all profits and liabilities will be shared amongst the three
of us. We feel that this form of partnership has several advantages pertaining to us. One
major advantage being that there will be a combination of managerial decision making
which can enhance the effectiveness of our company. Another advantage of a general
partnership of more than two parties is the increased access to starting capital we will
have over a sole proprietorship. Being a start up company, we will have limited access to
capital, and we will need to contribute our own personal funds to the company. It will
also be cheaper to split personal donations three ways. Thirdly, profits made by general
partnerships are only taxed once, thus proving another benefit of this style of
proprietorship. A written contract will be drawn up regarding the finite details of our
partnership thoroughly examining all details pertaining to the company. This will include
job responsibilities, liability agreements, buy-out information, and details of how our
profits will be split amongst the partners.
Upon the opening of Secondhand Sports, Kayla will take care of promotional and

marketing aspects of the business while Ryan will cover the financial aspects. Ryan's
responsibilities will entail payroll details as well as accounting, such as creating a balance
sheet and a pro forma budget. Kayla will create in depth marketing plans that are
specifically tailored to the demographic of the area that we will target. Max will take care
of the in-store management. He will be dealing with customers face to face and will be
responsible for the upkeep of the store making sure it is a clean and well-organized place
of business. These business responsibilities are not permanent and if assistance is needed
in any aspect of our organization it will be the responsibility of the partners to ensure the
other parties needs are met.
We look forward to meeting with key members of the local community to build a
relationship that will be beneficial to both parties. By doing so we will visit local colleges
and high schools throughout the state speaking on the behalf of the people that they can
directly help by donating. Assessment of the effectiveness of our campaign will be
completed after the first year of operating. Also upon completion of the first year of
business we will look to hire an unpaid intern looking to gain experience in the field. We
would prefer this person to be a SUNY Cortland student so that as graduates we can help
out people of our alma mater. Ideally we would like this person to either be a business
major or a sport management major. We feel these two majors would directly pertain to
our type of business. Knowledge of sports will also be a factor in our hiring process due
to the demographic our business will be targeting. We want to be as knowledgeable and
helpful to our customers as possible.
Industry and Competitive Analysis

After researching other sporting good stores surrounding Cortland, we found that
there is not a similar store to Secondhand Sport in Cortland, but our one major competitor
would be Play it Again Sports located in Syracuse. Although the products we will be sold
at a lower price, some may prefer sporting goods from other places.

Cortland competitors would be Wal-Mart, Olympia Sports, Action Sports, and

Geared 2 Sports. Taking into consideration other surrounding areas such as Syracuse,
Binghamton, and Ithaca, the amount of competition will increase. There are still no stores
that have the same idea and concept of Secondhand Sport, however there are bigger
sporting good stores. In Syracuse there is a large shopping mall, Destiny USA, which has
a few sports stores within it. Syracuse has Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority,
Champs Sports, and several small local sporting good stores. Our major competitor is
Play it Again Sports is located in North Syracuse. This store has a similar concept, but
has a broad spectrum of equipment. They have cleats as well as workout equipment such
as treadmills. With such a variety of product, it can seem overwhelming and similar to
places such as Dick's Sporting Goods. We will have equipment used mostly for
intramural and high school sports. Binghamton also has a Dick's Sporting Goods, but the
other stores that are in this area are mostly geared towards skiing and snowboarding, and
lack a variety of equipment. The same goes for Ithaca. Most of the stores in this location
are for specifically extreme outdoor sports, such as hiking, biking and skiing. They do
have a Dick's Sporting Goods, which would be our only major competitor for this area.

The difference between Secondhand Sport and our competitors is that we will

have quality equipment, for a lower price. Not only can you purchase our equipment, but
you can rent it as well. When accepting donations, we will make sure that what we
receive and sell to our customers is reliable and good quality. Having good quality, and
even better prices, will draw customers to our store. Instead of paying $150 for a baseball
glove, you can buy or rent one for significantly less. Having colleges close by makes
renting equipment another thing we can offer that our competitors do not have. Rentals
can be useful for intramural sports, or any type of tournaments that the surrounding
colleges decide to host.
Marketing
Getting Secondhand Sports name out to the public will be very important upon
the opening of our business. To make our target market aware of our new store, we will
be visiting the local colleges. We would like to meet with the sporting departments,
specifically the head of intramural sports. Spreading the word face to face would be a
good way to give students the opportunity to ask questions, and learn more about
Secondhand Sports. It would be ideal to do this at the beginning of each semester, just so
that before the new season of any sports starts, students are well aware of our business.
We will also be going to high schools as well. We would specifically target high schools
in underprivileged areas. Showing the kids that we have equipment available to them at a
good price would entice them to visit our store, especially in areas where parents may not
have the funds to pay for expensive equipment.
At these visits, we will explain what Secondhand Sports is, and will offer a
voucher for 15% off of their purchase. This will give potential customers a reason to visit
the store. We will also create an Instagram, Twitter and Facebook page. We will offer an

addition 10% off your next purchase for following all three accounts, and offer specials if
you "retweet" our twitter account, or like out Facebook post. These additional deals can
make our product even more attractive for those who are struggling to purchase
equipment, or do not want to spend much money.
Our goal would eventually to be able to become a sponsor for high school teams,
and eventually colleges, especially SUNY Cortland, with the store being located in
Cortland. We will also have a sign with our logo and information about Secondhand
Sports posted in displays at the local high schools and colleges.
Target Market
Secondhand Sports will be looking to target two different groups we will be
mainly focusing on high school and college students, which would be around ages 15-24.
These are the kids who may not be playing Varsity sports, and instead are playing club or
intramural sports. They would not need the new equipment that Varsity athletes look for.
Again, this would be geared towards college students in Cortland, Ithaca, Syracuse, and
Binghamton. Not only would they be able to purchase, but they could also rent. Another
age group that would be interested in buying or renting would be parents. This might be
for kids who are just starting a sport. Instead of buying brand new expensive equipment,
they can be purchased at Secondhand Sports instead. This can allow for the kids to try a
new sport, and if they like it parents can invest further in it, but if not, at least the parents
did not spend an excessive amount of money on equipment. This target market would be
parents ages 30-50.
Location

We plan to take over the vacant building at 42 Main Street in Cortland, formerly
known as Logo (Appendix A). We chose to use this space because it is a space that is
close to campus, so that students on campus are able to walk to it, and close to students
off campus as well. It is in a high traffic area, and nearby to places such as the YMCA,
YWCA, and a local dance studio in the Market Place Mall on Main Street. Having
buildings such as these nearby are beneficial for Secondhand Sport because it is where
kids are frequently attending, and parents are dropping their kids off, so they will be
passing by this area. Students are also walking down Main Street quite often, whether it
be for food, or entertainment, they will walk past several stores. This high traffic area will
allow for word of our business to quickly spread, as it always does when a new store
opens up in Cortland. This will be beneficial to Secondhand Sport.
Drop off location/ Business Hours
We will plan on being open 7 days a week when we first open. We realize that
during the week students tend to be busy, making it more difficult to stop by so we will
have longer hours on the weekdays, 11am-9pm. On the weekends since students are
available all day we will close earlier, 11am-6pm. We do not want to loose any potential
customers especially at the initial opening stage so we will need to work long hours every
day, which is something we are willing to do. After the first year we will no longer be
open on Mondays in order to try and cut down utility cost. We will also have drop off
bins at local colleges next to a popular landmarks or highly populated areas on campus.
This will allow students to be able to donate goods easily. Also at the end of the year we
will drive a van and park it in campus promoting our business and accepting donations.

Financial Analysis
For our first year of business we will utilize a $10,000 budget. We believe this is
an ample amount to begin with considering during the first year we will largely be
targeting local SUNY Cortland students needs as well as the community surrounding the
college. $5,000 of this budget will be used for purchasing goods to be sold in our store.
We realize that within the first months of operation the donations may not come at an
adequate pace to be re sold; therefore we must adhere with this cost to start up the
business. We feel this is a good amount to sink into the business due to the fact that we
will be receiving donations, which we can then sell for a margin of profit of 100%.
We agreed to focus on various sizes and styles of cleats or shoes as our main
product to be sold. We figured that many college students playing either club or
intramural sports would have a need for various types of footwear. We estimate we will
have around $2,500 worth of footwear to be sold within the first year. The amount of
money we will re-sell the footwear for will vary based upon the condition that they are
brought to us in. We figure that we will have 100-150 pairs of cleats or shoes to sell, with
an average price range of $15-$30 depending on condition and brand.

Our second largest product we will focus on will be jerseys, or shirts that can be
used for club or intramural activities. We figured that since teams will most likely have to
pay an expensive fee using an alternative company to create jerseysd that this would be
an area of interest for us to exploit. This would eliminate the cost of creating jerseys, or
paying the gamely fee for intramural jerseys from the Student Life Center. We plan to
have $1,000 worth of jerseys available in our inventory. The price of the jerseys will vary

10

based on the size of the team with an average price of $10 per person.

Our third largest product of focus will be baseball and softball gloves. For this we
will allocate $750 for inventory to be sold. They again will be sold based on brand and
condition. We plan to have 50 gloves in stock, 25 being baseball gloves and 25 being
softball gloves. We plan on selling the gloves for a minimum of $30, again pending the
condition they are brought to us in. Due to their extended amount of use this will be our
largest profit margin. A negative of their long usage is that they will be sold more
infrequently than other items.

These items round out our big three areas of focus. However we are willing to sell
any type of sporting good that will be donated to us. Anything that will be brought to us
will be placed on sale in our store. The smaller items we plan on selling include:

Golf Clubs- $20-$125

Lacrosse Sticks- $10-$75
Basketballs- $5-$15
Footballs-$5-$15
Baseball Bats- $20-$100
Tennis Rackets- $5-$15
We will have these items in the store but less time and money will go into
promoting them. These will be available in the store to compliment our main areas of
focus. These items could include, mouth guards for football and lacrosse, golf tees and
balls, tennis balls. We intend to purchase $750 worth of these goods to have in our store.
This is meant to be a quick and easy way to add onto the revenues we already expect to
obtain.

11

The largest expense will run into during this venture is our own salaries. We each
plan to make $20,000 each in the first five years of operating. Marketing will be the most
expensive thing we will have to pay for. We intend on utilizing $2,500 to help market our
business within the first two years. We figure that after these two years our name will
begin to implant itself within the community and we will need to spend less locally. A
positive about running a business like ours is that the depreciation of our inventory will
be minimal. The reason being is that by the time the inventory reaches us it has already
depreciated in value. We estimate that after the five-year mark some of our goods will be
completely outdated and unable to be sold. We only estimate that this value will be equal
to $100 worth of goods. We also estimate rent will be $2,000 with all utilities included.
This adds up to a total of $24,000 annually. We have miscellaneous cash set aside to
cover any liabilities we may incur, or if we need some more money in a different area of
our business plan.

When forecasting our business in the short term we realize that we might lose
money when we first start out. We intend to minimize our losses within the first five
years of operating as much as possible. We plan to generate more revenue streams year
after year, thus decreasing our losses as time goes on. We project that five years into the
business operating that we will break even and make profit for ourselves.

Our long term forecasting starts with the fifth year of business operations. Once
we begin generating more revenue we intend to pay off our previous debts that
accumulated during the first few years of operating. The positive thing about having a

12

proprietorship with three partners is that it is unlikely for us to need another paid
associate to assist us with everyday business operations, thus keeping the salary cost at
the same rate. This will save us money to put towards the business so that we can put an
adequate amount of money in to allow for growth.

To jumpstart our business we estimate we will need $300,000. We have each

agreed to individually contribute $20,000 to cover start up costs. Using loans from
multiple banks we will need to accumulate $240,000. Looking at the amount of money
we projected our business to lose before breaking even and making profit after the 5-year
mark obtained this figure. This loan will allow for our business to operate for this period
of time, which is estimated to be four years and making profit after the 5-year mark.
Budgeting
A very strict cash flow statement must be upheld while conducting business. This
will ensure the success of our business as we start out. We must not panic at our high
fixed cost that we accumulated at the start of our business. We must look forward to the
long term where we will be making profit. As long as we follow our intended business
plan we are destined for success. We intend to begin to pay off our loans after 10 years of
operation once we make a substantial amount of money. We will need to adjust that figure
into our net profit by creating an accounts payable section in our balance sheet.
Regarding our future growth, we intend to start out locally in the Cortland Area. As we
begin to grow we intend on beginning our statewide expansion. If we must relocate due
to storage issues there are options for us to move to either Binghamton or Syracuse. We
would in turn target all of the surrounding schools and youth programs in the area as a

13

target market for operations. If all goes well from here we intend to expand regionally
along the East coast moving into states like North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. There
are numerous schools and underprivileged youth throughout these states.
Ideally if all goes according to plan, 15 years down the road we would like to
initiate a scholarship for students that fit into certain criteria. We will be looking for
outstanding individuals who have either donated to our company or volunteered their
time within their communities to make a difference. We will allocate $5,000 for a
selection of two students to receive a scholarship of $2,500 each. As our business
continues to grow we intend to increase our scholarship amount so that we can continue
to give back to communities.
Goals and Objectives
We know its not going to be easy to become successful, and that a lot of hard
work is going to have to put in. Since we realize this and we have a strong desire to
succeed, we intend to each put in $20,000 dollars each of our own money. After carefully
looking over the numbers we calculated that we determined that we will need
approximately 300,000 dollars to jumpstart the business. We will have $60,000 starting
in cash, and we will be asking the bank for $240,000, which at first might seem like a lot
to give away to three college kids out of college, however, if you look at our projections,
we will be bringing in profits within a few years, leaving the risk minimum. With a
proper business plan we truly believe we will get the loan. We also have several goals in
order to increase our capital. Some of those goals would be efficiency; customer service,
retention and growth, which are all connected to each other.

14

In order to be efficient you need to be effective in time management, budgeting,

loyalty, and dedication. If we have those tools and use them efficiently our first year will
become a success. The more effective our business is, the more likely will bring along
more customers. Which then leads to strong customer service, which is going to be key.
This business is all about satisfying the customer and making their experience in buying
our product more enjoyable. We look to become friendly with customers and let them
know how grateful we are for their donations. This will be essential in improving our
customer relationship. With that will come retention, the most important part of a
business. We need our customers to keep coming back and referring others, and that will
only happen if they enjoy their experience with us. We will always welcome new
customers. Once they step into our store our mindset will be to retain them and make sure
they come back. Once we build up a loyal customer base, more doors will open for us.
We can expand to another store in a town that is too far away for us to reach, or move to
another building in town that is bigger and we can hold more inventory. We aspire to not
only impact the Cortland community but also all of New York, then all of the nation. The
sky is the limit for us and we plan to go all the way. We have our attention focused to the
future, but in order to get there we need to succeed here and now. We know what it's
going to take to make the business what we want it to be, and with hard work and
dedication we will make it happen. We have built the roadmap to help us succeed all we
need to do now is execute the plan.

15

Pro Forma Budget

16

Income Statement

17

Summary
We hope to see Secondhand Sports grow, and become a very successful business
in Cortland. We want to be able to truly be an asset to not only Cortland, but the areas
surrounding as well. We want to give back, and give athletes the ability to buy sporting
goods at an affordable price. With times being economically tough, this will be very
helpful to those underprivileged communities. This will also benefit college students who
dont have many sources of revenue. It will allow them to be able to be active and play a
sport they love.

18

Appendix

19