Soccer Disruption with Ricky Diaz
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In the 15th Episode of the GDMS Podcast, we have an in-depth interview with Ricky Diaz, who runs the Youth Soccer Club Strikers O’hare Athletic, right outside of Chicago. We also discuss:
- The new app Nearby that is trying to help Small Businesses compete with Amazon
- What niche Nearby is trying to fill
- Marketing Minute with Matt on Social Stories
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In our in-depth interview with Ricky Diaz one of the owners of the Youth Soccer team Strikers O’Hare Athletic we discuss the following:
- Ricky’s inspiration to start and run his own youth soccer team
- How long it took Ricky to build a winning team
- How many kids are typically a part of a season
- How Strikers O’Hare has become a disruptor in the Youth Soccer Leagues around Chicago
- How Ricky uses Social Media channels to increase brand awareness, and attract more kids to his teams
- What forms of content have worked best in his social networks
- Ricky’s most effective forms of marketing to gain new players
- The importance of community relationships to his coaching and attracting new players
- How the pandemic has affected his business
- Any business strategies that he plans on keeping once the pandemic is over
- What is your favorite scary movie both A list and D list
glorious marketing of the week
The Effects of the Pandemic on Small Businesses
Since the beginning of the Pandemic, many small businesses have been forced to limit their capacity and some have even been forced to close their doors.
Large corporations with strong digital presences like Amazon, Jett, and Walmart have been reaping the benefits, as they have been able to fill the voids left by these struggling local businesses.
To be fair, things were trending in this way well before the pandemic, but the pandemic has forced this evolution into hyperdrive.
This has left the remaining small businesses to struggle to compete, as consumer habits are trending away from in-store purchases and interactions. Many have even been forced to close shop.
Nearby App to the rescue
April Underwood, the CEO of the Nearby App, realized that there was a gap in the market space for local small businesses. Realizing the opportunity she created the Nearby App, which helps deliver local goods from local small businesses directly to your local doorstep.
The Nearby App helps to fill multiple voids that the traditional small businesses are struggling to fill right now due to limited earnings due to the pandemic:
- It gives these businesses the ability to make deliveries
- The ability to create a crafted digital online presence
- A way to connect local customers to local businesses
- An online digital inventory system and digital market place to sell their goods
Can it Compete
Nearby faces competition from many different digital fronts.
The local eateries and restaurants have a gluttony of options to choose from when it comes to food delivery services. Such options include Door Dash, Uber Eats, and Grub Hub.
If they are trying to fill the gap of being able to provide odds and ends to their local consumer Amazon is the main player in that field. With endless amounts of capital, ruthlessness, and existing infrastructure, Amazon has the ability to compete with local businesses and even put them out of business.
If they are trying to fill the void of local conveniences of picking up a 6 pack of beer and some ice cream, apps like GoPuff are around to fill that void.
Even with all this competition, Nearby can compete as long as it finds its own unique void in the market place to fill.
Ricky Diaz
Ricky Diaz Owner of the Youth Soccer Team Strikers O’Hare Athletic