The Ownership: The company is structured as a limited liability company (LLC).
The Management: As of right now, management positions have not been filled in the company. Nonetheless, there will be a Chief Operational Officer and Chief Finance Officer in place by the time the company becomes fully operational. Once responsibilites are allocated to them, they will be immediately tasked with hiring and putting others in position to help maintain the companies day-to-day operational flow. These positions could include, but are not limited to: Director of Cyber Security, Tech Support (Customer services operations) and regional management positions. As the company grows, more positions may be added but this will be an important starting point.
Goals and Objectives: Players United LLC is a company that seeks to continue uniting people through the power of social media. While there are many platforms that exist that have been doing this for quite some time, our approach will be different and unique in it's own way. The goal is to help every user that becomes a part of our community to feel like they have power over their environment, health and their own lives. How we intend to achieve this goal is by implementing features on this mobile app gives you a variety of great features that will enable you to have detailed info on your health, see and interact with other users as they post their highlights, workouts and dedicated sports topics, workout routines and successes which, we think, will contribute to influencing positive behavior and habits.
The Product: "Oases" will be a part of the juggernaut that is the social media industry. We will fall under the service industry or "communications business" bracket. The apps primary focus is creating a platform that condenses the world of sports and fitness into one community.
The Target Market: For us, our target is as clear as day because of what the sheer nature of what the product will entail. Our users will come specifically from the crops of athletes, aspiring athletes, workout warriors, sports enthusiasts and all things in between. Understanding that these are the people that will make up the bulk of our user base is important because it allows us to move in a way that caters specifically to the crowd we attract.
Pricing Strategy: In an era where nearly all of our social media apps are free to download, we will not look to stray from that strategy either. We want our users to enjoy our product in its entirety without worrying about being charged for the usage itself. Any updates or changes to the product will come at no expense to the customer themselves. We want to bring in as many users as possible; not hinder them from making, what should be, an easy decision.
The Competitors: Whenever you speak of doing anything for yourself business wise, there has to be a firm understanding of who your competition is. That being said our competitors are any company that are apart of the communications business via social media. That being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and sports apps such as ESPN, Bleacher Report, Homecourt, NBA.com, NFL.com or any other sports branch that offers social media. I want to make it clear that the company is fully open to working with any of these powerhouse companies and that our views and how we will operate does not reflect any intentions to deviate from collaborating moving forward.
Capital Requirements: The biggest hurdle to jump right now is finding an investment to help propel the company into the desired stratosphere. Without the backing of an investor, this will be a long, complex and, potentially, fruitless road. As it stands the company needs an investment of anything between 300K-500K. The money will be split between building the software and marketing & advertisement. Certain licenses also need to be achieved in order to have the product launched on various platforms. These are all loopholes that have to be hurdled.. Otherwise, we find ourselves backed into a corner.
Company Goals and Objectives: Players United LLC is a company that seeks to continue uniting people through the power of social media. While there are many platforms that exist that have been doing this for quite some time, our approach will be different and unique in it's own way. The goal is to help every user that becomes a part of our community to feel like they have power over their environment, health and their own lives. How we intend to achieve this goal is by implementing features that will enable giving users a product that focuses on the harmony that sports and fitness brings us which, we think, has a chance to contribute to influencing positive behavior. If we focus on our similarities, rather than out differences, than we're capable of finding the synergy necessary to unify. Meeting on common ground helps us, as humans, to pound out any objections we may have about one another.
Ownership Background: My name is Kenneth J. Tisdale. I am the CEO and founder of the Players United LLC. As it stands, I have no prior experience being an owner of a business and I have no "formal" training. Nonetheless, I believe that those two things can only carry you but so far without having a passion for what you're doing. Even as a start-up, I am driven to make my company as successful as it can possibly be. I was born and raised in Baltimore City, MD and that's currently where I reside. I've spent 9 years in the work force and im fully prepared to do something amazing for the world.
Organizational Timeline: My expectation is that, with the appropriate advertisement and marketing, "Oases" can come out of the gates hot. That will give the company the foundation to build upon and continue to progress through the years. With more users, more opportunities are bound to fall down the pipeline. How do we intend to bring users to the app? Commercial advertisment will be our primary weapon of choice but in select markets. We'd like to use major platforms such as NBA games, NFL games, MLB games, Youtube and other social media apps out there to get word out of our product and how it will function. Initial projections are that within the first 3 years, the company could potentially usurp millions in revenue. The number is unclear as of right now but our target is $15M by the 3rd year mark of the company being fully operational.
Future Products: With the success of the company, ideally, I'd like Oases to be intertwined and synonymous with the world of sports. Eventually, I'd like for the company to branch off into a sports agency, functioning as a conglomerate, allowing prolific athletes and high profile clients to be represented by the business.
Location Analysis: Players United LLC is located in the DMV area. It goes without saying that this is a place LITTERED with athletes, sports enthusiasts and people who generally love to workout on a regular basis. In fact, Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia were ranked 6th and 1st, respectively, as the most fittest cities in the United States at the end of 2019. That's not even mentioning the surrounding sports teams that include the Baltimore Ravens, Philidelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Orioles, etc. This place will give us a tremendous starting point to jumpstart our business and grow our user base as it can double as the base for a beta test run.
Advertising •Primarily, this product will be aimed at catching the eye of athletes of many different age groups, parents of athletes, workout warriors, sports enthusiasts, people looking to change their diets and way of life as it pertains to their overall fitness, personal trainers, coaches, scouts, general managers of ball clubs, club owners and more. It’s for any and every one that loves sport, fitness or anything in between. For Oases to reach its full potential, we must make sure that we spare no expense in the process. We know that this can be a great addition to an outstanding chain of mobile apps moving forward. A lot of these numbers listed below are based on national averages. With those averages we have compiled the following information to support our marketing strategy: •Local Commercial Advertisement: $5per 1K viewers/ 30-second commercial •National Commercial Broadcast: $115K/ 30-second commercial •NBA Finals Commercial/Advertisement: $760K/ 30-second commercial •Superbowl Commercial/Advertisement: $5.25M/ 30-second commercial. With these current numbers we can deduce that the cost to market the app on the scale that we believe would be most effective is going to range anywhere between $100K and $5.5M. The goal is to maximize on the number of people we have viewing the product to increase profitability. With that in mind, our top goal is to run a commercial during the super bowl. We feel that gives us the opportunity to maximize on reaching as many viewers as possible at one time and would prove to be the most effective way of gaining users. This would be a great starting point. •The total cost for this ranges between $5.2M and $5.5M. Reaching the very top is not always possible in one go around. However, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible by other means. There should always be a plan-B ready to roll. Our secondary option, which we consider to be the “middle ground” is to run advertisement during the NBA Finals. This, also, has an outstanding reach and would create the mystique we need to get the app off the ground as well. •Total cost for this ranges between $1M and $1.5M. We also have what we consider to be our “floor”, which would entail running a simple commercial add over a national broadcast. This method could prove to be very valuable as well. The back draw is that we feel that it would take much longer to reach the quantity of people needed to get the kind of start we’d like. While we’re open to a “brick-by-brick" approach, we feel that the other options provide a much stronger foundation to stand on. •Total cost for this ranges between $250K and $300K.
SWOT Analysis (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats): Strengths The thing that will give Oases a competitive advantage over some other companies is the nature of the software itself. Currently, there are no other social media platforms that will function the way ours will: which will be connecting the world with the use of sports and fitness by allowing its follows to converge on our platform. Being able to stick out in a crowded market is no easy feat., but by establishing the difference between you and the field, you give yourself a real shot. The product will come with a variety of features ranging from a messanger system, to a "timeline" which is more traditional and also the ability to follow and unfollow people. where we seperate ourselves is by clarifying what the timeline will feature, which is the ability to get in touch with people if you have business inquiries, a parental connectivity alert system and a locater which will essentially allow you to determine the location of other users in proximity to you (with proper authorization) and the ability to see which parks, recreation centers and gyms are open for you and your friends/followers to converge on the agreed upon location. Some of these features will not be a part of the initial release but they are sure to be a part of the product soon afterwards. Weaknesses- It can prove to be a mortal wound if users open the product and decide that this is a part of the same old stuff. We don't want to roll out any software that his heavily comparible to anything out currently. Ideally, we'd like to stick out as much as possible. That being said, there is a reality that the company may fall flat on it's face if the user base is not appealed enough due to the simplicity of the opening product. Funding, right now, is the major weakness. We lack the funding to have the product completed. That's the biggest obtsacle at this point. Should we find a willing investor, this problem will be void. Opportunities- The greatest part about all of this is the sheer upside of what the company could be facing. With there being no shortage of athletes around the globe, the user base could be absolutely tremendous. This could easily open doors to collaberative opportunities with companies all over the world. From mega companies like Under Armour, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, there does not appear to be any shortage of opportunity for lucrative deals all around. The sky and beyond is the limit. Threats- With there being so many dominant figures in the social media battlefield, some people may question why it is that they should download our product in the first place. I don't think that the threat is other social media platforms: its convincing people that this is a viable product for them. That said, with our current marketing strategy in place, that focuses on targeting sports and fitness rich environments, I don't believe that this will be a huge obstacle to leap over either.