How Much Should You Charge for the Upcoming Allstar Cheerleading Season?

As a new cheer season approaches, excitement starts building. Athletes and coaches begin to imagine possibilities for the next year. Of course, parents want to know how much everything will cost. You need to cover all your expenses and prepare in advance for tougher times PLUS make a profit. How are you going to determine what amount to charge? By offering the most competitive price to your athletes, covering your costs, and making some profit for yourself.

Below is an easy strategy to plan your budget for the season.

Before You Budget

How much are customers really willing to spend?

First off, most families aren’t made of money. They do have a limit to their flexible income, especially when wallets get tight. “Don’t just guesstimate what the parents can afford,” says Matt Kyser, owner of Pride Cheerleading in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Pride Cheerleading

Do a little research and see what dollar amount or percentage of income would be manageable in your area. Knowing this information can help you choose your expenses appropriately to cover your cost of doing business and make a profit afterward.

Build a Budget

Once you have an idea of how much the families in your area can afford, you’re ready to start building your budget. To help you get started, here are some of the top things to ask yourself when setting up your budget.

How much profit do you need and want to make?

Let’s take it one athlete at a time. You will want to figure out a percentage or set dollar amount that you need or want to make in profit per athlete for the season and plan for this first.

Since the amount of profit needs to be heavily considered, consulting an accountant or even a financial advisor is a wise idea, especially when you are trying to keep costs affordable for your families.

Profit is often overlooked in cheer gym budgeting, but it is most important to make sure you can stay in business. Don’t feel guilty. You deserve to be paid for your time, efforts, experience, and risk. Just remember to add it to your budget.

Count your costs. Which expenses do you expect to incur for an athlete?

When thinking about charges that should be included in your budget, categories such as gym charges, pre-season charges, apparel and accessories, competition charges, and other charges can serve as a sort of memory jogger to aid in creating a list of expenses. Also, you will want to add a padding percentage on top of these charges since there may be unexpected expenses.

(Keep in mind that not all expenses will apply to every program. You may need to charge some customers more than others, if you will have to pay more expenses on their behalf.)

• • Budget and prepare for pre-season, choreography and music expenses 
    
    Before your next cheerleading season ever begins, there are expenses. Make sure you plan to charge enough to cover all these costs.
    
    For example, you will need to account for your teams’ choreography, whether done by you or a choreographer. Divide the total cost by a slightly lower number than the number of athletes you truly think you will have and add it to the budget. Don’t forget to include the travel and entertainment expenses of any choreographers or instructors, if applicable.
    
    Are your teams attending a summer camp, or will you be conducting a mid-season clean up camp? Go ahead and plan for these charges as well. Of course, your allstar teams will need cheerleading music with proper licenses. Be sure to use a reliable and trustworthy music producer for these cheer mixes. You can learn more about the cost of cheer music here: insert link (By the way, to save some great money on your pre-season cheer music expenses, check out our Custom Mixes on CheerCutz.com.)

• • Gym charges to anticipate
    
    Most important to a cheerleading gym are the gym charges. And without a doubt, the monthly tuition charges collected are crucial for a gym’s survival. Be sure to charge enough tuition, along with other programs in your gym (such as tumble classes, school training, etc.), to cover the cost of rent, staff, electricity, and so on.
    
    In addition, other gym charges can include tryout fees, yearly registration/insurance fees, banquets, and parties. Just think about how a simple pizza party can boost the morale of your teams!
    
    This is also a great place to plan for any gifts you might want to present to your athletes, coaches, and team moms or dads.
    
    Why add it to your budget? Because it should be priced to cover your costs of running the gym on a daily basis. You don’t want to go back to cash-strapped parents asking for more money due to poor budgeting.

• • Apparel and accessories can be included in the budget
    
    You want to look stylish, so this category focuses more on the appearance of your allstar teams.
    
    When thinking about what your athletes will be wearing, there is more to consider than simply a uniform.
    
    Do you require practice wear for your allstars? Maybe each squad has a team shirt or a program shirt to cover their uniforms at competitions. These charges need to be included in your budget.
    
    Will your athletes need hair bows or a hairpiece? How about special makeup, shoes, and a warmup? Should they have a backpack to carry their apparel and accessories? Make sure to account for these expenses as well.

• • Expenses related to competitions
    
    Finally! Competition time!
    
    When budgeting, some expenses are directly related to competitions. For example, all athletes are required to pay a USASF membership fee to compete at USASF competitions. Add these to your budget.
    
    In addition, there are the competition fees to actually participate in the competition. Plan to pay the regular registration (or possibly the late) price if there is even a chance that you won’t have enough cash in time to pay the early-bird price. You don’t want to fall victim to owing more for a competition than you charged your athletes.
    
    Other competition fees may be incurred by your gym such as coach-related expenses or team parents who help with organization. Go ahead and add these, too.
    
    And, if you are planning on attending an end-of-the-season competition, you will want to be upfront about the cost since these events are usually expensive. Include these in your budget, even if they are an optional add-on, should you get a bid. Just know that only a few teams actually receive a paid bid, and those paid bids may not cover all of the costs associated with attending the event.

• • Other expenses that could apply
    
    Here’s the place to budget for all of those “other” expenses.
    
    For instance, did you build in an upcharge to cover your cost of doing business? You want to include the funds to cover your banking and administrative costs. Here’s an example: if you pay expenses up front on a credit card for your athletes, be sure to plan for interest and fees. Or if you accept credit cards as payment, be sure to account for the percentage and fees that the card processor will take. These are just 2 examples of banking and administrative costs to be sure you add to your budget.
    
    Are you a franchise of a bigger gym? Your franchise fees can be added to this section.
    
    Do you have any crossover athletes? Some competitions may charge full price for crossovers, so you will want to be prepared.
    
    Be sure to include USASF training and certification fees along with a Green Light background clearance for your coaching staff in your budget.
    
    Some other expenses may be unique to your business such as a coach’s bonus, a float for the city parade, or even passports for traveling to international competitions. You can add them all here.

• Include a padding percentage
  
  Once you know what you need to charge to cover your expenses, it is a wise idea to add some padding for unknown expenses.
  
  Since you are guesstimating what these expenses will be, including a padding percentage could keep you from losing money. You can’t tell the future, but you can plan for some protection in your budget to cover the unexpected.

Pick a Payment Plan

Have you determined if everything will be charged separately or will you bundle these expenses into a monthly payment or even an all-inclusive price?

Depending on how much profit you want to make, how cost effective you need to be, and how much cash you have in your bank account, you may want to offer different payment options.

Part of creating your budget is determining how and when you will collect those fees so that you can pay your expenses and ultimately make some money.

Sum It Up

Total up your profit, the expected expenses, and padding. You should now have a pretty good plan for how much to charge for your upcoming season, if you stay within what your customers are willing to pay.

In conclusion, when setting up a budget for the upcoming allstar cheerleading season, look at each expense to bring yourself additional profit. Every charge is a potential revenue stream, and you must build in profit for yourself. Now it’s time to get to work. Happy budgeting season!

By Sydney Smith
Social Media Manager for Cheer Cutz and International Cheerleading Judge