Entrepreneurial Thought and Action On the Squash Court
What would my summer internship be without recognizing the ways in which ET&A is employed? Babson has it ingrained in me to assess opportunities with an entrepreneurial lens. Surprisingly, I found those elements present at the squash startup.
Traditionally, squash was available only to those few who could afford to join clubs, and tournaments seen only by members of those clubs, but in recent decades we have moved in to a new era, where the joy of squash is accessible to everyone, from every walk of life.
With increased accessibility, there is still a separation among those who enjoy the sport. On one end of the squash business model spectrum is urban squash, which is created to support the underserved youth, to increase their opportunities of higher education and beyond. On the other end of the spectrum is commercial squash, which is the traditional, membership driven way of going about the sport.
The founder and President at the squash startup created a hybrid of the two, where both elements of urban squash and commercial squash are integrated. The membership fees support the urban squash program, making it the first community squash organization.
This squash startup represents a lot of what is going well in the sport right now. This integrated squash model allows for both groups to have a multitude of opportunities to learn from one another. It has breeded a place of belonging. Belonging is different than acceptance, tolerance, and diversity.
Connecting back to ET&A, the founder looked at the current squash business model landscape, and iterated upon it. The lesson here is that there is always room to change something if it already exists. You limit yourself by accepting things as they are.