Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial careers seem to be relatively common among athletes seeking to safeguard their financial stability, especially after retirement from sports. At a first glance, entrepreneurship may seem like the ideal career alternative to sports, due to the wide prospects it has to offer. However, it is important to start creating a realistic image of what entrepreneurship is actually like, that better reflects the truth, to allow athletes to understand which roles fit them best; aligning with their dreams and goals. Before deciding to take the risk of starting something new on your own; there are certain advantages and disadvantages which should be taken into consideration when making an informed decision.

Every athlete will eventually retire from the pitch and they will have to move onto the next chapter of their lives. Of course, this is a question that they have to ask themselves well in advance. Most athletes want to stay close to the action either as coaches, technical directors and the sort or in tangential roles; for example, as pundits or agents. However, there is simply not enough space for everyone. Not everyone can be the next Carragher and Neville of punditry, or the next Pep Guardiola of coaching. Your post-retirement plan requires some degree of imagination and creativity.

Elite athletes and entrepreneurs tend to have so much more in common than one would think. Elite athletes possess characteristics, habits and personality traits that help them succeed in sports, which can also be applied to the field of business.

Without a doubt, entrepreneurship has completely reshaped the traditional business landscape with innovative start-ups transforming work as we know it, creating a new meaning for business success. Entrepreneurship has also had an impact on the world of sports. We see great professional athletes making a transition from sports into the world of business, with entrepreneurship now being a significant part of the modern athletes’ mindset, and consequently redefining their lives. With the athletic career usually being more volatile and short-lived, relative to a career in any other industry, athletes need to find ways to safeguard their financial stability after retirement from sports, meaning that they need to shift their focus from how to spend to how they can build with their money. There are numerous success stories of elite athletes who have gone on to have successful business careers as startup founders and innovators, in fields outside of sports.