Women in Small Business Spotlight: Rachael Preston and Sarah DeLucas, Major League Bocce
Rachael Preston and Sarah DeLucas are co-owners of Major League Bocce, an online platform for organizing local leagues for people to play bocce ball.
Kabbage talked with Rachael and Sarah about what they’ve learned from their entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us a bit about your business.
Major League Bocce is a sports and recreation company that provides entertainment and networking to urban professionals by organizing and promoting participation in the game of bocce ball. Bocce ball is Italian lawn bowling, a game that can be casual and competitive, is accessible to people of all physical abilities and ages and is naturally social as opponents and teammates stand together when they play, rather than physically opposing one another.
Major League Bocce’s main activities are securing appropriate and convenient locations to host bocce leagues, providing equipment appropriate to the playing location and space and recruiting players and teams through marketing the league. Players register for an eight-week bocce season at the location of their choice. Major League Bocce provides a schedule and facilitators for game nights, tracks and publishes scores and standings and negotiates post-game food and drink discounts for players at nearby bars and restaurants.
How did you come up with your business idea?
Major League Bocce originated as an alternative to more traditional recreation leagues for kickball, softball, volleyball, etc. Having previously participated in social kickball leagues, we sought to create a more accessible experience for busy urban professionals. Bocce ball fits the bill. Players can join games in their work clothing (no gym bag needed), games are organized in locations convenient to work or home because we are not limited to formal game fields and players of any ability can join and contribute immediately.
What are your biggest challenges as an entrepreneur?
Our biggest challenge has been securing financing for expanding our business. We have grown from one metropolitan market to 11 solely by reinvesting our revenue back into the business. We would like to expand further into new markets and acquire complementary businesses. To see a return, we require capital to be available to us for a 12–24 month period.
How has Kabbage helped your business?
Kabbage has provided our seasonal business with capital to cover key marketing and operating costs during our slowest time of the year (November to January). This money has allowed us to keep our operations robust and revenue strong at the beginning of each year for 2 years. This, in turn, has helped our business grow for the rest of each of the years in which we have borrowed money, rather than play catch-up from ground lost in the first quarter.
We used Kabbage business financing to pay for online marketing to promote our winter seasons in eight markets where we host leagues that begin in January. We have paid for travel from November to January to plan expansions for our spring seasons in March to May, which is our busiest season of the year.
From your perspective, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in entrepreneurial roles?
The biggest challenge we’ve faced is being able to let go of stigmas around certain behaviors and communication styles and be able to go with what you know will be the most effective the most quickly. For example, as women in the sports industry and in the bar/restaurant industry, it is difficult to be taken seriously. For example, giving ultimatums is a highly stigmatized form of communication. It does have its downsides, but if you understand them and are comfortable with them, it can be a quick way to cut to the chase in business.
What would you say is the biggest thing that holds women back from taking the leap into entrepreneurship?
Women are socialized to be responsible — in education, employment, with money, in their relationships. It is very hard to turn that off and take a risk on entrepreneurship that might limit your ability to be responsible in all of those areas — particularly with money and career.
What made you decide to take the leap? How did you let go of the things holding you back?
We were in such a toxic employment and career situation, so in many ways, we had already lost stability in those areas. Making the move to my own business as my own boss was a lifeline to getting back control over money, time and career.
Which of your accomplishments makes you the proudest?
We are working on it now.If we can put together the necessary financing, we’ll be writing about it next year!
Where do you draw inspiration?
Our customers are our biggest inspiration. We travel around the country working on improving our operations in 11 markets. No matter where we go or how hard the problem is, we always meet people we would want to hang out with when visiting our league nights. It is surprising to me every time, but it is the ultimate reinforcement that we need to stick with our program even if there is an easier way to do things. What we are doing is continuing, after 10 years and across 11 markets, to appeal to the sort of people we want to bring together.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in starting and running your own business?
The most valuable thing I have learned in starting and running a business is to take responsibility for any and all challenges that stand in the way of your success. It is never an option for a small business operator to say this problem is insurmountable. If it truly is, then you lose your business. This lesson is true of almost anything in life. You do have the ability, the resources and the capacity to make things happen and to work around a roadblock, if it is important enough to you to do so. There is no one else to do this for you, so you have to be able to make it happen yourself.
For more information on Major League Bocce, follow them on Twitter at @MLBocce.