Advantage business!

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Sitting down for the tennis at Wimbledon? You'll appreciate that the tournament is big business as well as a great sporting spectacle. Jonathan Brown from our audit team, looks at parallels between the grass court grand slam and some of the issues that you might want to address in your own SME. Ace!

If you happen to be someone like Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek or Coco Gauff, the Wimbledon tennis championships are all about peak fitness and performance on court. The world's eyes are upon you for what is arguably the most prestigious of the four major grand slams. For those of us involved in the world of business though, it's worth taking a step back and thinking about how The All England Lawn Tennis Club manages its £multi-million operation so successfully.

Here are just some of the principles we could apply closer to home:

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Generating multiple revenue streams

Just as The Championships will have a diverse range of revenue streams – from broadcasting rights, ticket sales, sponsorship all the way down to selling pots of strawberries and cream– it's important for you to look at ways your own company can diversify. Are you too dependent, for instance, on one source of income or one client?

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Managing risk

At Wimbledon, there will have to be a lot of contingency planning for scenarios that everyone hopes won't happen, but which are not beyond the realms of possibility. Will they have enough staff on duty to maintain the highest standards of service? Are plans in place for severe weather or public transport strikes? It pays for all of us to think ahead and – where necessary – make sure we have appropriate mitigations and insurance in place.

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Thinking about brand

The Wimbledon brand is one of the most powerful and long-lasting in the sporting world, but it hasn't come about by accident. This is more than just the familiar green-and-purple colour scheme of the All England Club, but also about consistency in the experience of visitors and the seamless efficiency of the tournament. Some marketing experts argue that your brand is the promise you make to your customers. You have to ensure you deliver!

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Forging partnerships

Wimbledon doesn't exist in isolation. For over half a century, the luxury watch brand Rolex has sponsored time-keeping at the tournament, for instance, while IBM has taken responsibility for IT since 1990. The association with Slazenger goes back to the beginning of the 20th century! Are you maximising the opportunities for partnership and collaboration in your own business? It is often very mutually beneficial.

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Looking at metrics

With tennis, we're used to all kinds of stats related to players – from serve speed in matches right through to the overall world rankings, based on track records at official tournaments. As a £multi-million concern, Wimbledon will, however, also be concerned with a great many business metrics too – working with partners and advisers as appropriate to ensure that financial objectives are being met. You need to be conducting exactly the same kind of reviews, even if your own business doesn't yet compare in size.

If you're looking to close out your business game, why not talk to one of our professional advisers here at Page Kirk? You can contact us by email on enquiries@pagekirk.co.uk or call us on 0115 955 5500.