Are you an athlete?

I say ‘athlete’ because once an athlete, always an athlete. Do you own your own business? How do the two go hand in hand? Are there similarities between being an athlete and business owner? We often hear success stories about an athlete who was successful on the court or field who then becomes wildly successful in business.

I personally grew up as a nationally ranked tennis player in U.S. Junior tennis. I went on to play college athletics at the D1 school, Northwestern in the B10. I’ve learned over the year what has helped me in business and what has held me up. As I continue to recognize habits that hurt my progress, I am able to review them and improve upon them.

Do You Find Similarities Between Being an Athlete and Business Owner?

Michael Jordan: NBA Champion and Business Owner

Michael Jordan won six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls! He created his own brand, Air Jordans, by partnering with Nike. Today he is principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets and 23XI in the NASCAR Cup Series.

David Beckham: Footballer turned Team Co-Owner

Another example is David Beckham, a former English professional footballer turned co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. He is the first footballer to win league titles in four countries – England, Spain, U.S. and France.

Serena Williams: Tennis Professional and Fashion Designer

A third example is Serena Williams, who is still actively on the tour; while winning Grand Slams, she also started her own designer label, Aneres; started a signature collection of handbags and jewelry, called Signature Statement; and most recently launched the first collection of her sustainable clothing line, S by Serena. This was all while playing on the tour, getting married and having her daughter Olympia.

What do these three athletes have in common as business owners?

1. Time Management: Athletes are phenomenal at managing their time. Many are in school, working out, and playing their sport. An athlete learns to do whatever it takes to get it all done.
2. Determination and Focus: Athletes are driven to be better, compete stronger and to do whatever it takes.
3. Outside the Box Thinking: While some athletes may simply know how to excel at their sport, many have that mindset that anything is possible and they create the life they want to have.
4. Building a team: Each of them has built a team to do what they do. While they may have determined the idea, the team is what helps them to implement.

Are all athletes great business owners?

There are other examples of athletes finishing their sports career, turning to business only to find that they fail themselves? Is the influence of sports always positive? We have plenty of athletes in the world today that maybe aren’t the very top in their sport but they create a solid career. Maybe they play college football but aren’t quite good enough to make the NFL. We have tennis, soccer, baseball, hockey and more where an athlete may excel to a certain level but not make it to professional status. This does NOT diminish anything they have done in their careers. In fact, kudos to each of them for being in the elite group for their sport. Sometimes athletics teaches us some negative habits that if we are aware of, we can improve.

1. Overcommit: most of us who are athletes put more and more into our schedule and continue to excel. Our time management skills are off the charts. BUT sometimes this can lead to overcommitting and burning out.
2. Going it alone: There are plenty of individual sports like tennis, gymnastics, ice skating, skateboarding and more where we don’t rely on a teammate to accomplish our goals. In high school or college, these sports may be considered a team endeavor but ultimately, you are on the court or the mat or the ice alone.
3. Mental game of business: we all hear about the mental game of a sport. That player choked. He or she let the team down. How do our challenges in a sport translate to business? Being an athlete can be a high-pressure time of your life. Maybe your team is relying on you, or a parent is pushing a child too hard. Can that impact your business negatively as an entrepreneur? Of course!
   1. As an entrepreneur we must always be improving and growing. That is not that much different than an athletic endeavor. As we grow, we observe what might be holding us back, how to improve and ultimately how to blast things out of the park.

While our background in athletics can impact each of us differently, it is ultimately up to us to recognize if something is holding us back. As an entrepreneur and business owner, we should continue to learn, grow and improve personally and professionally.