Whatever we wish to do in our life originates from a need or a desire. Choosing a career is one such thing.
We are often asked about the launch date. Well, we did an alpha launch sometime back and we have decided to take some more time before we do a beta launch. An increasing number of signups from professionals have made us realise that we’ve to work harder to make the platform useful for individual users. I am writing this post to inform everyone who is looking forward to joining this platform that we are getting close to the critical mass of users. Sports businesses and organizations who are not quite sure what we’re doing here must read this through.
What’s in the Name?
Let’s begin with the name itself. Why did we name it Shockfruit? Well, we wanted it to be sporty and upbeat. Plus, it had to be unique and easy to remember. We also intended to avoid using direct sports reference in the name so as to keep a wider scope. While the name we chose has exactly 10 letters, it is made up of two words Shock and Fruit. First one represents energy and second one represents success. Two aspects of athleticism that we think are essential. Going with a out of the box name is necessary because we don’t want to be bound by the present definitions of sports. Indoor games, gaming, technology, medicine, legal services and so many peripheral services that connect with sports are equally important in the ecosystem of sports. That’s why we chose a name that is the widest connotation possible.
Who Should Join?
The sports merchandising industry is a pretty advanced one. Yet, I can see why they would be slow to catchup on an idea like Shockfruit. Businesses are more skeptical by nature. We discovered an irony that although merchandise manufacturers and wholesalers want more business, they find it hard to go on to a new platform and signup. Especially when it could potentially mean that they may have to compete with other businesses. Well, if you’re happy with your set of clients who have been with you for more than a decade and don’t want to expand then we don’t want to put you through the dilemma but I can promise you as founder of Shockfruit that we’ve no ties with specific sports organizations that control the industry, nor will we ever give unfair advantage to anyone. Since we are not directly involved in sports industry, we are in a position to deal with all sports businesses fairly. Sports merchandising is a complex market with too many products and too many nuances. You’ll have to be in charge of your business’s reputation. All the sports service providers who care about the quality and customer satisfaction are welcome to join Shockfruit. Recruiters, should look forward to joining this platform because we have some awesome resumes coming in from highly qualified sports professionals. If you are a sports guild or association please join in and also send me your guidelines so we could study them. We look forward to working together to improve sports.
Where are we going with this?
Shockfruit is a marketplace for sports. To elaborate on this, I would say that Shockfruit is an open platform for people and businesses who are into sports. In one of my previous blog posts, I stated 3 stories about why this website was created. The reasons for this website are pretty evident and we are looking forward to address specific problems we observe in sports. The personal passion and the business of sports are two distinctively different areas and bringing them together is a challenge. We’ve seen several job portals that cater to sports professionals but they all ask for a membership fee and are traditional in their approach. Of course, they are operating for a while and may have close ties with sports organizations. We are new and we want to do things differently. That includes expanding the domain of sports to gaming industry as well. We want to bring the employers to the employee. We understand that job scenario is very different from 15 years ago. We are more into freelancing and independent contracting now. Recruiters must understand this. We want to make the organizations see what opportunities people are seeking today. Lastly, we want to highlight that that sports is an innovation driven sector and Shockfruit always will keep this in consideration.
One question we are frequently asked is why we don’t have a mobile app yet. The logic of having a desktop website in the era of mobile apps is probably a little retro but we intended to be that way until we can figure out how an app can help our users. I think that the type of things a user can do on Shockfruit are better suited for a desktop screen than a smartphone. Besides we can’t afford a really detailed app right now. However, our site is fully responsive to mobile screens so our users won’t have any issues using the site on handheld devices. The key thing here is the purpose of Shockfruit in gaming and sports industry.
Setting Apart from Others
Well, we observed a certain swarm of sports startups while we were planning to launch Shockfruit and we saw a swelling list of sports betting and fantasy league websites. For not even a moment was it a reason for us to take things in that direction. Firstly, we don’t see sports betting as a healthy appendage to sports industry. It might get a larger audience hooked on to sports if they can make money on fantasy sports but there should be a better way to engage people in sports without having to lure them with a gambling scheme. Secondly, fantasy leagues and/or sports betting are not legal in many countries. We want to create a platform where people from around the world, with real experience and true potential in sports can help each other out. We figured out that every human being on this planet has some affinity to some sport to some extent, everyone wants to be involved in the experience. However, the entire sports industry stands on the shoulders of underpaid athletes and professionals who are just in it for the love of it. We’ve to give them a place to be together, find new opportunities and share ideas.
Sounds too glorious? We are aware that we can’t reveal too much just yet. Still, we want to let you know what we are aiming to achieve with Shockfruit. Hopefully you’ll appreciate our efforts and join the platform. More signups we get, more closer we get to launching the site. Quite honestly we have some great plans for the next few years to come but the success depends on your support. Email me on koustave@shockfruit.com if you have any questions or thoughts.
