People Before Profit
I just finished a podcast from Simon Sinek’s A Bit of Optimism featuring Jesse Cole, the founder of the baseball team, the Savannah Bananas. The team was founded in 2016 with a passion for elevating the fan experience, but they sold only two tickets during the first three months. Cole and his new wife had to sell their house and sleep on a mattress to bootstrap the team’s beginning. It was a rough start. This year, the Savannah Bananas will play in 75 stadiums across 45 states in front of over 3 million fans.
The Bananas play a variation of baseball they call Banana Ball, which emphasizes showmanship, fan participation, and fast-paced games. Players regularly interact with fans, dance, perform comedic sketches, and create unique moments between and often during innings. They have become the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball.
Jesse has made it his mission to run his business from the fan’s point of view rather than from a pure profit motive. He calls his approach “Fans First” and applies a disciplined focus to ensure fans feel included, joyful, and valued. The game is highly entertaining, and home-field tickets are affordable, each including all the hot dogs you can eat. Players arrive early and stay late to connect with fans and sign autographs. Banana Ball is truly a fan-centric version of baseball. The result is an exploding fan base with a waitlist of over 4 million people for tickets.
This is a refreshing example of a company that is not solely focused on profits. Jesse Cole is maximizing his “triple bottom-line” by delivering results to fulfill his purpose, serving and adding value to people, which has led to healthy profits.
If you want a thriving, long lasting business, it is essential to take care of the people that your business touches. This includes employees, vendors and customers. The dividend is deeper loyalty and long-lasting relationships. Oh yes, and likely healthy profits.
Here is a link to the podcast; https://youtu.be/3JBn76zlC5E?si=bEM12PMy0sSplPHA
Rick Wickizer is a trained and ICF credentialed business coach and a successful entrepreneur. Rick has served the building industry for over 30 years and is dedicated to adding value to all he works with. For information about coaching services provided by Rick, go to: https://www.RickWickizer.com
To subscribe to this blog, go HERE
