Case Study
Local entrepreneur has a need for speed
As a sprinter and someone who needs to train speed to be successful in their sport, local athlete Dean Adams decided to put his 9 years of experience into action and set up his own speed coaching business, Speed Solutions and since then no one has been able to catch him or his business.
“I noticed that although speed is a crucial part of the majority of team sport gameplay, not many coaches/players work on this and know how to improve it and find a solution to the speed flaws, so I decided to fill this void and help individuals /teams improve their speed on the pitch and court.”
Dean is no stranger to the sporting world having been British Athletics Event Group Sprint Coach, worked with Joel Copper of Oxford United Football Club as well as having the opportunity to work with numerous other team sport athletes in a range of sports including football, basketball, rugby, GAA, cricket and netball.
Dean started his business back in 2018 on a part time basis and due to his hard work, commitment and dedication he has now turned it into a successful full-time business and feels this is down to having effective communication, people, organisational and time management skills.
“Starting my business has had its challenges, particularly in relation to the marketing side and when to promote my programmes and how to spread the word on social media which is why I decided to ask for help”
To support his business development and help overcome these challenges, Dean availed of support under Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s Business Start Up Coaching Programme and was assigned a business coach who he described as helpful, interesting, and honest.
How has the programme helped you?
The programme has helped me to be more aware of how my business is perceived from members of the public – and not to assume that I’m being clear in some of what I post and use to promote what I do. I’m now more aware that I have to view what I put out as if I am seeing it for the first time and put myself in the customer’s shoes
What are your key achievements to date?
I see every opportunity as a learning experience and never a loss and it’s because of this that my business continues to grow, having developed my own “Get There First” beginner speed programme and “Speed” workshops, which have been a great success and now I am in the process of developing online programmes and more advanced versions of my programmes.
What advice would you give someone starting a business?
Although daunting at first, you will get the hang of it and learn something new every day that will add to your business becoming more and more successful! Put yourself out there to learn from others who are ahead of you!