I Just Dropped $2,500

People always want to know a little bit about the expenses in starting up an agency, and more specifically, what I have gone through to get to where I am today.  Here is an example of how you have to put your money where your mouth is if you truly are committed to establishing yourself as any kind of force in this industry. 

While Dynasty did not have any clients in the 2008 NBA Draft, we picked up quite a few clients afterward and have been in the process of finding them playing opportunities abroad and within the United States. This past week we spent roughly $2,500 to send three players to various domestic tryouts in an effort to place them with a new team.

Last weekend, Brian Graves tried out for the Vermont Frost Heaves, the 2007 and 2008 ABA Champions who are now a part of the Premier Basketball League.  Flights at the last minute from Norfolk, Virgina to Burlington, Vermont are quite expensive, but nothing like a flight from Chicago to Bakersfield, CA. I just booked Royce Parran out to Cali for about $900 round-trip. 

And we are experiencing economic problems? 

But the worst experience of all relates to the NBDL’s antiquated procedures relating to payment for tryouts. With Royce, I had to go to Publix (a Southeastern supermarket) to purchase a money order and send it to Bakersfield.

It wasn’t all that bad, but did you notice that I said money order? I have a business AMEX card, check card, etc.  Why a money order? The NBDL requires its member organizations to accept only cashier’s checks or money orders for all free agent tryouts. That fact made yesterday real interesting.

After three hours of temple and after over twenty hours of no food or drink, I was running around trying to figure out how we would get payment in to the Erie BayHawks for one of our clients, Aaron Nichols.

He has a tryout in Cleveland this weekend and the team needed the payment by today. Western Union was no fun. They could not write the order out to the Erie team. Believe me that it took about forty-five minutes before we could settle the entire thing.

Anyway, I now have a full stomach, but a more empty wallet. I am investing in my clients because I believe in them. Let’s hope that they make the Dynasty family proud.