The company was formed in 2008 by three highly passionate sports coaches and has now grown to a strong network of 30+ franchisees across the UK.

Chris Anstey, Director of SportsCool West Essex was kind enough to take time out to discuss his first year of being a franchise partner, and what a year it’s been…

My First 3 Months…

The Training:

“For someone in my position who had a deep passion for sport but didn’t know how to direct this into a business, the initial training was completely integral to my business getting up and running. I could have sat down on my own and done it alone, learnt a process and made a plan, but I couldn’t learn all the parts of the business-like HR, safeguarding, how to sell to a school and delve as deep into a business plan. If I did this on my own it wouldn't have been anywhere near the quality of what SportsCool HQ have provided.”

“At the initial seminar, I remember sitting down and hoping this would help nudge me onto the right path to running a successful business, what I experienced though, was so more than that and so fundamental to all the success we have enjoyed at West Essex. I genuinely believe I would not have known where to start if I wanted to succeed on my own and I knew I needed that help which is why I chose to invest.”

Sales Support:

“Libby and Sam were incredibly helpful in establishing early relationships with both schools and nurseries. This meant that we had five contracts in place at the end of month 3. Crucially though, we had been accepted for our first HAF club to deliver in the winter 2022 holidays which really helped to set ourselves up for future holiday clubs and the capacity our clubs are now running at nearly a year later.”

Months 4-6…

Contract development:

“By month 6 I had around 7 or 8 schools in place however, a lot of our focus around this time was preparing for our longest stint of holiday clubs where we had now been accepted to run 3 separate HAF locations across my territory, which was just brilliant.”

On-going Support:

“Despite everyone being very busy, I have never not been able to speak to anyone within the SportsCool family. Everyone will pick up the phone and make sure they communicate with you no matter what. There is and always has been someone on hand to help and support on any part of the business when I need them.”

Months 7-9…

“My expectations before starting the franchise were hopeful, but had been exceeded massively by this point - by month 9, the areas we have had major success in and been more successful than I could have ever hoped.  The challenges I had at times, do feel more challenging - but I believe everything is a balance and I would have 100% taken that before I started back in 2022”

“I think that you will naturally need support less as the months go on as you become more confident in decision making, problem solving and thriving in an independence that has been gained from the initial hard work and training period. However, I absolutely know that if I needed anything from any of the team at SportsCool HQ, I know I could contact one of them at any time. I feel at a point in the business now that I have naturally found I need less support, and I think this is testament to the SC team.”

End of year 1…

Chris’s Reflection of Training and Support in the Last 12 Months:

“I can’t stress enough how much I needed the initial training and how valuable it has been to me. For example, we have had so much success with HAF, and aside from that too I wouldn’t have had the ‘foggiest’ on how to approach a school or how to have any kind of conversation about sports provision – in just those two examples, it has been absolutely integral to my first 12 months and continuing performance.”

“I’ve been really happy with my first 12 months with SportsCool. It’s important to note that each franchisee’s experience at SportsCool is and will be different. I have had great success with HAF and after school clubs, some neighbouring territories to me may have more lunch clubs and PPA work. Franchisee’s skill will differ across the board, so it is difficult to outline exactly where you will be successful, but I do believe that what I was told by SportsCool in this process, was as accurate and honest, and it absolutely accounts for the landscape of what my first 12 months has been and will hopefully continue to be.”

Start-up Costs and Financial Forecasts:

“I know I keep mentioning HAF, but it is important. Due to our successful HAF applications, we naturally spent more time on the great delivery of our HAF clubs. This did mean that we were not able to drive the core part of our business model (such as extra-curricular and PPA) as much as we would have liked, but that was a necessary example of ‘adaptability‘ which is the core value at SportsCool. We would have been stretched ‘too thinly‘ if we tried to be ‘all things to all people‘, so I believe this was a necessary decision to make within the interests of the business at that time, and I was definitely right to make this decision.”

If you share Chris’s ethos and would like to bring sports activities with a twist to your local community…

Click below to find out more about becoming a SportsCool Franchise Partner!