Looking to start a referee business, any idea's ?

[tjones1]

Originally posted by Back In The Saddle
Get a digital camcorder and charge officials a game fee to video them during a game. Burn the video to DVD and mail it to them.

That'd be one expensive DVD. After all the traveling fees and labor. But as they say...I'm sure at least someone would buy it!

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally posted by tjones1

That'd be one expensive DVD. After all the traveling fees and labor. But as they say...I'm sure at least someone would buy it!

There would be some expense up front for the equipment, etc. I haven't tried it yet, but I would imagine that once you got the process down, you should be able to burn a DVD from digital video fairly quickly.

Travel would be an issue. However, most officials work in a variety of locations. So you might restrict your services to a certain geographical area. For example, there are five high schools within 10 mins of where I work. Assuming 3-4 games, twice a week per school, and two man crews, that equates to 60-80 potential clients per week with virtually no travel. Most officials will pass through that area a few times during the season.

Or if you want to cover a much larger area, you might plan to be in certain areas on certain days. Then there are camps, tournament, associate training session, pre-season training scrimmages, and probably many other situations where you have a lot of officials and/or a lot of games in one place. I don't think the travel issue has to be a huge issue.

You could increase profits and reduce costs by scheduling clients at consecutive games (e.g., soph, JV, & varsity all at one school). You could cut an entire crew a small price break if they all order a copy of the DVD.

Labor would be an issue. If you're willing to do all the filming and production yourself, you're probably good. If you grow the business beyond just the owner, finding good, reliable help for cheap would be tough. But then, there aren't that many officials, so it would probably always be a small business.

Just thinking out loud, mostly

[ChrisSportsFan]

Originally posted by Back In The Saddle

There would be some expense up front for the equipment, etc. I haven't tried it yet, but I would imagine that once you got the process down, you should be able to burn a DVD from digital video fairly quickly.

Travel would be an issue. However, most officials work in a variety of locations. So you might restrict your services to a certain geographical area. For example, there are five high schools within 10 mins of where I work. Assuming 3-4 games, twice a week per school, and two man crews, that equates to 60-80 potential clients per week with virtually no travel. Most officials will pass through that area a few times during the season.

Or if you want to cover a much larger area, you might plan to be in certain areas on certain days. Then there are camps, tournament, associate training session, pre-season training scrimmages, and probably many other situations where you have a lot of officials and/or a lot of games in one place. I don't think the travel issue has to be a huge issue.

You could increase profits and reduce costs by scheduling clients at consecutive games (e.g., soph, JV, & varsity all at one school). You could cut an entire crew a small price break if they all order a copy of the DVD.

Labor would be an issue. If you're willing to do all the filming and production yourself, you're probably good. If you grow the business beyond just the owner, finding good, reliable help for cheap would be tough. But then, there aren't that many officials, so it would probably always be a small business.

Just thinking out loud, mostly

Keeping in mind that if you're the one filming everyone else, it'll be hard to continue your officiating schedule.

[BlackFox40]

Hey there Mr.Back in the saddle, I just might be back in the saddle if you continue to come up with good ideas.

To all who view this thread, keep in mind that one day you'll reach your pinnacle in officating to where someday
you'd like to start some type of a business, so please continue to send in your Idea's. Thanks again fellow members.