Having run multi-sports holiday and weekend clubs, ‘stay and play’ and primary school PE sessions since 2021, Daniel Papper and the team are eyeing the next phase of Jumping Juniors and want expert guidance to get the business ready for expansion.
“We want to expand our business and open a soft play, so that’s going to be a substantial amount of money. But we want to make sure we’re financially viable and that we’ve got a robust business plan. There’s only so much research you can do before actually having a conversation with someone who’s got the experience,” Daniel said.
“We’re really fortunate with our board; we’ve got a really diverse group. Someone’s got a HR background, someone works in logistics, there’s a school business manager who understands the education side, and someone who’s been in business for a significant number of years.”
Establishing business basics
In their first meeting, Daniel and the board tackled some fundamental aspects of running the organisation.
“We’re looking at our mission statement, our ethos and making sure people know we’re a family-run business. We’ve also discussed hiring an apprentice, because we want to enhance our staff but finding sports coaches is really difficult, so we’re working on the apprenticeship idea with a local college,” he explained.
A significant change that came from these initial conversations was starting to work with the right accountant.
“I go to accountants online, but there were too many people looking over our accounts and things were getting miscommunicated. Companies have glossy websites and guarantee you a lot, but the board said ‘You need to go and see your accountant in person’. Because it’s not just your accounts, it’s looking at your business plan and how you can get more funding,” Daniel said.
“It’s saved loads of time on following up emails, because he’s based where we live, so we can go to his office to have conversations in person. It’s really going to help grow the business – I think the right accountant drives your business in the right direction.”
Incentivising repeat customers
Daniel explained that one of Jumping Juniors’ main challenges at the moment is encouraging repeat business.
“One of the board members has incredible knowledge about reward schemes, so we spoke about how to keep people coming back. We’re now looking into reward systems for stay and play to help the effects of money being difficult this year and people not wanting to be indoors when the weather is nice.
“We’re looking at an app where we can give out rewards, like 10 per cent off your next session, as well as get reviews which will obviously enhance things. Going forward, we’ll probably do what a lot of businesses do, and offer a bribe like a free coffee in exchange for a review.”
Daniel also hopes to pay forward the value he’s already gained from the board’s expertise. “I’d love to be part of that in years to come. If there’s a young entrepreneur that would want my advice, I'd want them to email me, so I'm hoping the relationship I build with Be the Business will be key to that,” he said.
We’ll be following Jumping Juniors’ six-month journey with the programme, so stay tuned for updates.
Be the Business can connect you with an advisory board of four experienced business professionals, to receive six months of personalised business support – find out more here.
