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Published December 24, 2019

For those thinking of going into business in 2020, Steven Childers of De Pere has some advice. Along with his wife, Amy, Childers owns two businesses — Childers Rottweilers and National Youth Football Organization Green Bay.

Having started the dog-breeding business with limited effort, Childers didn’t give it much thought when he jumped into a second business and purchased an NYFO franchise. He doesn’t recommend that others do likewise. "Research, research, research," he said. "Talk to other business owners in a related field, and talk to other business owners in an unrelated field, and then do more research after that. Make sure you know what you’re getting into."

NY Green Bay has been in business for two years, and Childers had a rough first year getting the word out. The number of participants grew by over 400% this year, but it isn’t where he had hoped to be. So, when he heard about the Green Bay Packers Mentor/ Protégé Program, he decided to check it out.

"I saw it on social media, and I wondered what it was all about," he said. "I looked at the list of companies that had been through this and talked to the owner of Josephine’s Attic who had participated and she grabbed a huge folder from her office, and said, ‘You have to do this.’ So, I applied that day."

At the recent matching session, he was partnered with Green Bay SCORE mentor Dick Hopfensperger.

"Right away, Dick really liked the concept (of NYFO) and the huge focus it has on safety. He had a lot of ideas and marketing experience. To me, that’s the biggest thing," Childers said. "How do I market this? How do I reach the moms? How do I reach the kids?"

The message Childers wants to convey is the one that attracted him when he discovered the franchise during an online search. As a father and youth sports advocate, he understood the dangers of contact sports and was impressed with NYFO as a safe alternative.

The league is a noncontact 7on7 Youth Football League for ages 5 to 18. Teams are formed at five age levels with league play and tournaments. Registrations are being taken now for the spring session with a big kickoff event from 5 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 7 (more information is available at facebook.com/NYFO GreenBay).

"7on7 translates more to the game of tackle football than a flag league because of the way it is structured. It is also safer than flag because in flag participants drop their heads to look for the flag and that is dangerous."

The game relies on touch instead, and players keep their heads up. Attention is given to fundamentals, game and position-specific knowledge, safety, leadership, and character development. Now, it’s a matter of getting the word out.

Childers said he thought he had the marketing figured out by sending flyers home with area school students. But at the Mentor/ Protégé meeting, others questioned the effectiveness and said that most of those flyers would be unread and tossed.

"The current concern is figuring out a marketing solution, and since 90% of the time, it’s the mothers who reach out to me, there is the question of how to reach the moms," he said. "Originally, I didn’t think there was much competition, but I’ve learned that all of the other sports are competitive and this is something that has to fit into an already busy schedule. I didn’t plan for that."

He was also challenged by the cost of renting a field to play on and was surprised that the fields are in heavy demand and that municipalities are difficult to work with. He is happy to now have Ledgeview Park as a home field.

As he works out these details, he hopes to learn as he sets goals with Hopfensperger. Childers will be taking a step back, and even though it is after the fact, will be writing a business plan and developing a roadmap for success.

"Football is such a big thing in Green Bay that I thought it would just take off," he said. "But most people still haven’t heard about it and I am realizing that getting kids together to play is a minimal part of the business."

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.