As I talk to prospective small business people, there seems to be an assumption that because this is a low cost of entry opportunity and because you can home office, it is: 1) a home based business, 2) you can work in your underwear, 3) you can work part time hours for full time pay, and 4) you are buying a job so you can't get fired.

Quickly, taking them all at once, FALSE.  Publishing a Sportzine is a full time business and you can recharge you computer in your "home office", but the business is out in the community where you will be embarassed if you show up in your underwear, where your pay is predicated on long hours, your hard work and lots of luck, and, worse than geting fired, if you fail you will let a ton of great people down.

So, for entrepreneurs that want to succeed, let's talk about scaling your success to meet your goals.

Depending on where you live, there are several considerations in determining opportunity:

• Is your market city/suburban or rural?  (Watch for an article defining the unique challenges of rural markets)
• How dense are your schools geographically?  In a metro market, you might have 100 high schools in the same geography where in a rural market, there might only be 25.
• How dense is the business community in your market?  What is the average number of businesses per high school?

Here are some rules of thumb we have come up with to think about your market, opportunity and business.

Net $50,000 a year:  You need a market base of 25-30 high schools.  You need: 3 PT sales people calling on businesses, presenting to booster clubs and selling sponsorships;  1 PT editor and 1 freelance graphics person.  Figure you are 1 FT doing 2 of these PT assignments, so you will have at least 2 PT people. You need to reach $175,000 in sales and raise at least $320,000 in fundraising money.  It will take you at least a year to reach your monthly target revenue run rate of $15,000 per month.

Net $75,000 a year:  You need a market base of 30-35 high schools.  You need: 3 PT sales people calling on businesses and presenting to booster clubs plus 1 FT sales person also selling sponsorships;  1 PT editor and 1 freelance graphics person.  You need to reach $225,000 in sales and raise $420,000 in fundraising money.  It will take you at least 18 months to reach your monthly target revenue run rate of $18,000.

Net $100,000 a year:  You need a market base of 35-40 high schools.  You need: 4 PT sales people calling on businesses and presenting to booster clubs plus 1 FT sales person selling sponsorships;  1 FT editor and 1 PT graphics person.  You need to reach $260,000 in sales and raise $500,000 in fundraising money generated.  It will take you at least 18 months to reach your target run rate of $22,000 in revenue each month.

Net $150,000+ a year:  You need a market base of at least 50+ high schools.  You need: 1 PT sales person for every 10 high schools calling on businesses and presenting to booster clubs plus 1 FT sales person selling sponsorships;  1 FT editor and 1 PT graphics person.  You need to reach $7,500 in sales for every high school in your market and raise at least $10,000 in fundraising money averaged across the high schools.  It will take you at least two years to reach your monthly target run rate.

Major markets such as Dallas, Chicago or Philadelphia are exceptional opportunities for strong business managers looking to build a sizable company and play an important role in the community.

Using the Sportzine Market Analysis worksheet, you can examine many variables as they relate directly to your market.