Starting a basketball training business

I have a passion for basketball and I have a passion for youth as well. How would I go about starting a basketball business? I know a lot about basketball drills, but can you give me so information about turning my passion into a business?

I think it comes to what makes you successful in anything...

Work hard, learn and study, show perseverance, develop relationships, be positive, be ethical and honest, be proactive, help others, and follow your passion.

If you do those things you'll be successful in any profession you pursue.

Learn everything you can about the game. Get a mentor. Read books and watch DVDs. Then teach and provide a million dollars worth of service. I realize you are probably looking for specifics. But there is no blueprint or specific way to do things. We just applied the core values above and with years of perseverance and hard work, it eventually became a reality.

Here are a couple pieces of advice that have stuck with me and I think are very true in business and life...

- If you want to make a million dollars, provide a million dollars worth of service. There are no short cuts.

- If you want to succeed, always under promise and over deliver.

dwight -

Do you have something specific in mind already (e.g. private lessons, running camps, running a league)?

Jeff laid out some great principles for starting and running a business of any kind. One of the key components would be researching what is currently provided in your community for youth basketball (e.g. leagues, camps, one on one lessons, physical training). If you can find something that isn't provided, that might provide you with an opportunity for a niche of some kind. You might also run across something that is being provided but you have ideas to make it better. I'd talk with some coaches or parents and see if you can pick their brains on what is needed in the local basketball community. If you find something you like, for example, running mini-camps, ask some folks who've done this before. How did they get started? What start-up costs were involved? How did they get gym time? What are some of the pros and cons?