This is literally one of our favorite topics to cover recently just because that’s what everybody is saying and believe in, that athletes have an advantage when it comes to business.
It is an age old saying and is it really true? If you succeed in sports, does it mean you would succeed in being rich when you start a business? If you are not a sports person, does that mean you are at an disadvantage compared to the others if you decide to become an Entrepreneur?
To answer this comet sized belief, we need a comet sized entrepreneur, a billionaire to be exact. But not just any Billionaire, but a self made one that also happens to own a sports team, Mark Cuban.
Self made Billionaire Mark Cuban has an estimated net worth of about US$3billion with the bulk of it being made during the dot com boom when Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo. He has since ventured into multiple other businesses but of which, he was most commonly known for the ownership of NBA team, Dallas Mavericks, in which he purchase bulk share since 2000 for $285 million. So in that sense, I guess it’s safe to say that Mark Cuban knows a little bit about both starting a business and sports.
So when asked about whether he thinks Athletes have an advantage in business, Mark Cuban says he doesn’t think so. He explained that he can see why people would think this way as Athletes have to work extremely hard in their own particular field, but the fact of the matter is that to be able to play at the NBA or NFL level, one has to be so physically talented and gifted that it already gave you an unfair advantage at the get-go. He elaborated that a lot of such NBA and NFL stars didn’t have to work extremely hard to get into the league, although he did clarify that staying in the league and excelling is in fact a whole different story.
The primary difference between sports and business according to Mark Cuban is that “in sports, theres a season, theres a game then it’s over and you go on to the next game and every season you get a re-do. In business, it’s non-stop“. “Business is a sport that is played 24/7 by 365 by forever. There’s always someone trying to come out and compete with you.”
And there you have it right from the horses mouth, Mark Cuban on his take on the difference between athletes and business. It’s interesting to know because I’ve personally heard this saying a thousand times, on how if you succeed in sports, you would succeed in business. But if you really stop and think about it, if that was true, would not all entrepreneurs be fit and strong? Looking down the forbes list, the pictures of the richest people usually tell otherwise.
In my own experience, I feel that while the ability to focus does help in Business, being able to run a successful Business takes more than just the ability to focus. There’s so much to think about and consider other than perfecting your craft when running a business, things to look out for and the ability to spot opportunities for example. Often, unlike being in a race, in business, you most likely don’t even know who you are up against that’s why there’s no off-season, because you never know when somebody’s gonna topple you from the #1 spot.
What do you think? What are some of your experience transiting from sports to business? Share with us in the comments below.
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