{"id":22587,"date":"2020-12-09T06:41:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T13:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/?p=22587"},"modified":"2024-02-01T21:57:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T04:57:09","slug":"small-business-success-story-top-gun-baseball-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/small-business-success-story-top-gun-baseball-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Business Success Story: Top Gun Baseball Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Baseball is \u201cmathematics, geometry, art, philosophy, ballet, and carnival \u2013 all intertwined like the mystical ribbons of color in a rainbow,\u201d wrote W.P. Kinsella, author of <em>Shoeless Joe<\/em> (later adapted into the movie, <em>Field of Dreams<\/em>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>At the Top Gun Baseball Academy in Sykesville, Maryland, customers have the opportunity to discover those elements of the game and many others, thanks to owner Jonathan Hobdy. His training facility offers private instruction, team practices, training classes, summer camps, and more, all while reflecting Jonathan\u2019s personal fondness for America\u2019s pastime. In marketing the Academy, Jonathan has utilized a mix of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/yard-signs\/\">yard signs<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/banners\/\">banners<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/table-covers\/\">table covers,<\/a> and other signage. Enjoy this latest article from our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/tag\/small-business-success-story\/\">Small Business Success Story<\/a> series.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Tell us about yourself<br \/><\/strong>I&#8217;m a retired U. S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant. I&#8217;ve been married for 28 incredible years to my high-school sweetheart and am the proud father of four amazing children (Anne, Emma, Sarah, and Harrison). Thanks to our military time, our family lived overseas for 21 years, in Japan, England, and Spain. Upon leaving the military, I ran a cybersecurity company but never kept my eye off my goal of having a business built around my passion for my favorite sports: baseball and softball. I played baseball or softball for 30 years, until my children were old enough to play \u2013 when I entered the coaching phase of my life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"746\" class=\"wp-image-22595\" src=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3218-use.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3218-use.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3218-use-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/>\r\n<figcaption>\u201c<em>We will continue to listen to our customers, not be afraid to innovate, and continue to stay in touch with and market\/advertise to our community,\u201d says Top Gun Baseball Academy owner Jonathan Hobdy.<\/em><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>What is one thing most people don&#8217;t know about you?<br \/><\/strong>I was fortunate enough to have played baseball or softball in 11 different countries across three continents.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>What does your company do?<br \/><\/strong>Top Gun Baseball Academy is central Maryland&#8217;s finest indoor baseball\/softball training facility. Our 21,000-square-foot facility comprises nine training tunnels, a pitching\/fielding room, brilliant LED lighting, and state-of-the-art equipment. Top Gun is \u201cthe place\u201d for private instruction, team practices, training classes, day camps, summer camps, and more.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Where did the idea of your company come from?<br \/><\/strong>As a lifelong baseball\/softball player-turned-coach, I noticed a void in our area for an indoor baseball\/softball training facility.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Keys to Connecting<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>What sets you apart from your competition?<br \/><\/strong>We listen to our customers, and we design programs that meet their need. Customers have prompted us to start such programs as virtual training, learning pods, a kickball league, and several others. We are also fanatical about cleanliness, and parents notice \u2013 many drive 15-plus miles farther to visit Top Gun for that reason alone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"420\" class=\"wp-image-22599\" src=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_0094-use.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_0094-use.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_0094-use-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/>\r\n<figcaption><em>Top Gun is \u201cfanatical about cleanliness, and parents notice,\u201d says Jonathan. \u201cMany drive 15-plus miles farther to visit Top Gun for that reason alone.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>How do you market your business?<br \/><\/strong>Aside from social media and search-engine marketing, we market our business using banners installed at baseball\/softball fields, yard signs around town, and in-store signage to highlight our specific programs. We also continually network with the travel and rec leagues in our area, ensuring that they are aware of our programs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>How do you \u201cwow\u201d your customers?<br \/><\/strong>Top Gun strives to wow its customers with great customer service. For example, even though we don&#8217;t open our doors until 3 p.m. most weekdays, customers can reach someone that can assist them by phone as early as 8 a.m.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"356\" class=\"wp-image-22605\" src=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_4246-use-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_4246-use-1.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_4246-use-1-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/>\r\n<figcaption><em>\u201cKnow your customer base and continually develop relationships with them,\u201d says Jonathan.<\/em><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>What are one or two strategies for gaining customers that you\u2019ve been successful with?<br \/><\/strong>Our &#8220;around town&#8221; yard sign strategy has proven very successful for gaining customers \u2013 to promote upcoming events and programs, we strategically place yard signs (which we\u2019ve purchased from Signs.com) around town on weekends. We\u2019ve also had a lot of success by teaming up with local baseball and softball organizations, sponsoring a banner on their fields, and inviting the players, coaches, and families out to our facility. And we offer special &#8220;Open House&#8221; days for several local baseball and softball programs to introduce our facility to our core community.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>How do you compete with competitors that are bigger than you?<br \/><\/strong>By connecting with our customers \u2013 getting to know their names, their kids\u2019 names, where they play ball, and so on.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Staying Engaged<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>What\u2019s one of the biggest challenges you have had with your business \u2013 how did you overcome it?<br \/><\/strong>Being closed for 90 days due to Covid-19 was by far the biggest challenge we have faced. But we used that time to connect with our customers online through free virtual baseball and softball training. This kept our name out there and gave us the ability to stay engaged with our customers on programs like our Summer Camps when we emerged from the government-mandated shutdown.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"732\" class=\"wp-image-22607\" src=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3433-use.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3433-use.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3433-use-230x300.jpg 230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/>\r\n<figcaption><em>Top Gun\u2019s Open House days help introduce the facility to its core community. The messaging on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/table-covers\/\">table cover<\/a> (polyester fabric, 126.5 x 84 inches) reinforces some key selling points.<\/em><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>If you were to start again, what would you do differently?<br \/><\/strong>We would launch some programs earlier in our business cycle. For instance, our School&#8217;s Out Day Camps and our daily 1-hour $40 training classes are a huge hit with our customers. We would have started our School&#8217;s Out programming from day one, and we would have begun marketing our Summer Camp programming much earlier the first year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Is there something you would do over and over \u2013 and recommend everyone else do?<br \/><\/strong>Utilize yard signs to advertise our programming. I would definitely recommend that businesses use around-town yard sign advertising strategy. Also, know your customer base and continually develop relationships with them. Just because you met with them six months ago doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t meet with them again \u2013 you never know what might have changed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"420\" class=\"wp-image-22611\" src=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_7102-Copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_7102-Copy.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.signs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_7102-Copy-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/>\r\n<figcaption><em>\u201cWe listen to our customers, and we design programs that meet their need,\u201d says Jonathan. \u201cCustomers have prompted us to start such programs as virtual training, learning pods, a kickball league, and several others.\u201d<\/em><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Is there a book that you recommend our community read?<br \/><\/strong><em>The E-Myth Revisited<\/em>, by Michael Gerber \u2013 it helps remind you that you should be working \u201con\u201d your business and not to get caught up working \u201cin\u201d your business.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Listening to Customers<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Can you speak to your growth to this point? Why you think it will continue?<br \/><\/strong>As a business that\u2019s just over two years old and has already survived a 90-day government-mandated shutdown, we\u2019re confident that our growth trend will continue. It will continue because we will continue to listen to our customers, not be afraid to innovate, and continue to stay in touch with and market\/advertise to our community.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Where can you be found on the internet?<br \/><\/strong>Our website, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.TopGunBall.com\">www.TopGunBall.com<\/a>, plus most social-media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Yelp as @TopGunBall.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Baseball is \u201cmathematics, geometry, art, philosophy, ballet, and carnival \u2013 all intertwined like the mystical ribbons of color in a rainbow,\u201d wrote W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe (later adapted into the movie, Field of Dreams). At the Top Gun Baseball Academy in Sykesville, Maryland, customers have the opportunity to discover those elements of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":22593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[743],"class_list":["post-22587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-table-covers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Small Business Success Story: Top Gun Baseball Academy | Signs.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Top Gun Baseball Academy 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