Under Armour's Entrepreneurial Journey: A Comprehensive Case Study

This case study delves into the entrepreneurial venture of Under Armour, examining the initial idea conceived by founder Kevin Plank to address the problem of sweat-soaked athletic wear. It highlights the company's focus on quality sports equipment made from sport-friendly materials. The analysis covers the risks involved, including financial and social aspects, and assesses the feasibility of the idea, emphasizing Under Armour's customer-oriented approach and long-term strategies. Recommendations for future potential include expanding the target audience beyond athletes and innovating within the women's footwear segment. The study concludes that with efficient resource implementation and adaptation to market changes, Under Armour can sustain its growth and development.

CASE STUDY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
The entrepreneurial idea..............................................................................................................3
Pre- existing problem that was solved by the entrepreneurial venture........................................3
Risks involved..............................................................................................................................4
Feasibility of the idea...................................................................................................................5
Recommendations for future potential of the entrepreneurial venture........................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
This report in particular provides information regarding the entrepreneurial venture
Under Armour. The report mainly gives a brief description regarding what was the
entrepreneurial idea behind the development of this venture in particular. Then it states the
problem that was pre- existing and the venture aimed to solve through coming into the market.
The report also describes the risks that were particularly involved. The feasibility of idea that
was generated is also stated in the report below and lastly the recommendations regarding the
future potential of the idea is given below.
MAIN BODY
The entrepreneurial idea
Under Armour is a famous company that deals in sports equipments and is well- known
for the quality it provides in particular (BALABAN.). The company is a manufacturer of sports,
casual apparel and footwear in particular. And the global headquarters of the company are in
Baltimore, in Maryland and has additional offices in Europe, China and Asia as well. The
company has spread its base well throughout all the years. The company was founded in the year
1996 by the founder Kevin Plank. The idea popped in his head while playing football one day as
he was a football player too at the University of Maryland when he was enrolled in the university
in particular. He was tired of sweating through the T- shirts he wore to the practice. Hence, he
started a company that manufactured good quality products and sports equipments, that were
mainly made with materials that were sport- friendly and also good and beneficial for the
sportsmen that were using these equipments in particular. Therefore, he started travelling through
the East coast with the apparels he made in the trunk of his car for the purpose of marketing and
selling those products and finding potential customers as well. The major idea that was generated
was to prepare products that were efficient for the players that were playing particular sports and
also be helpful and not make them feel tired or stressful and let them focus on the game they are
playing specifically. Plank also focused on the people he was targeting to be the people who
were into sports as the products were specifically focused on benefiting them in particular.
Pre- existing problem that was solved by the entrepreneurial venture
The issue was personally faced by the founder of the company himself only (Mohamad.,
2019). As the founder was a sports person himself and was facing the problems in wearing and
using the sports equipments that he bought. The T- shirts that he wore under his jersey at the

time he was playing and also when the other players used to play, their T- shirts would be fully
soaked in sweat which would make the players tired and also they would feel more exhausted
and were not able to focus on the game. The major issue was faced by many players not only in
football but also in all the other games, the issue was faced on different levels, but they were for
sure present. As the owner, Kevin Plank noticed that the T- shirts would sweat, he also noticed
that the comprehension shorts that the players wore during the game, remained or stayed dry.
Through this he got to know that the case was not same with every material and there was a
solution to such a problem or issue. The issue was considered to be major because the game of
the players was being impacted by the use of wrong and irrelevant equipments and the problem
was kept unnoticed as no one thought the quality of the equipments used could be improved. So
he was inspired to make T- shirts from a similar fabric from which the shorts were made, the
synthetic fabric which could wick the moisture and make the players feel more clean, confident,
fresh and incline all their focus towards the game they were playing in particular.
Risks involved
Risks are a major factor that occur when a solution is found and it needs to be worked
upon. In conduction of every business activity there are risks that are involved. The level and the
affects or impacts of the risks might differ as they could either be major risks or minor risks. But
either way the risks are a threat to the growth and the performance of the company or the
venture. The major risks that were involved were first the monetary or the financial risks. Before
starting a business in particular, one of the biggest requirements is to find financial resources
(Svetlova. and Thielmann., 2020). And for a business like this where quality was the main
concern of the company it was more important to have better financial or monetary resources.
But finding the resources with a new idea is difficult and at times the resources found are not
enough for the best level of working and performance that is the need of the market in particular.
Another risk involved is the social risks, as people are not very interested in products that
are expensive if they are not so well- off (Chernyakov. Chernyakova. and Akberov., 2019). And
the products that have quality as the founder of this company was working upon are expensive as
certain fabrications are only used in it in particular. Also, it was for a particularly focused group
of people only, the ones who played sports. As some- one who is not majorly using the
equipments for playing sports on professional basis will not specifically invest in something
expensive.

Feasibility of the idea
The major purpose of the company Under Armour is to make all the athletes a better
athlete through design, innovation as well as pursuit of passion (Pires., 2022). The company
wants to particularly bring good within the communities in particular. The company also
empowers the employees of the team to dedicate 40 hours in a year specifically to volunteering.
The aim of the company is to dedicate 1 million hours as a collective effort which is basically
equal to an investment of 25 million dollars towards the communities as well as the
organizations that are present all across the world in particular. The environment particularly has
been particularly feasible for the product.
The long term strategy of the company in particular focuses on the concept of making
investments in their own stores which are owned by the company itself as well as digitalization
for the purpose of reaching directly to the customers also with selling more inventory too. The
brand message that is presented by the company is also related to betterment of the athletes that
are particularly the customers of the company. It is to make all the athletes better through
passion, science as well as innovation in particular and to fight together for what the athletes or
the customers particularly require or want or desire to achieve in particular. Which makes the
idea pretty feasible according to the market situations in particular. Because if the company is
thinking about people so much and is very customer- oriented in particular then the people are
also inclined towards the company. Also, the company is focusing on a particular or specific
target audience which requires quality no matter what.
Recommendations for future potential of the entrepreneurial venture
The entrepreneurial venture in particular is already a well- established and well-
recognized brand in the market in particular (Oliveira., 2022). Hence, if efficient as well as
proficient resources and ideas are implemented within the company in accordance to the change
in market and also for growth as well as development in particular then the company will be able
to grow as per the demands and requirements of the resent or the current market on the pace that
is required for the company in particular. As the industry of athletic apparel is rapidly growing as
per the records of the year 2021, the company should get more innovative and expand its target
audience to not only the athletes but also the people who are interested in sports but are not
players in particular. Also, the company is planning on moving to women's footwear segment
too. This is an immense sector but innovation is required as there are already many big players or

companies that can become huge competitive threats to the company in particular. Hence, the
company is required to do proper research and evaluation of the overall market and industry
from time to time.
CONCLUSION
The above report is research regarding the entrepreneurial venture named Under Armour.
The report provide description regarding the generation of the entrepreneurial idea. Then it also
provides information about the pre- existing issue that the company was willing to solve. The
risks that were involved in generation of the idea regarding the entrepreneurial venture are also
stated above. And lastly, the feasibility of idea and the recommendations for the future potential
of the idea are given in the above report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
BALABAN, M., UNDER ARMOUR. FLORIN NECHITA, p.31.
Chernyakov, M.K., Chernyakova, M.M. and Akberov, K.C., 2019, May. Dynamic model of
social risks in the digital economy. In 1st International Scientific Conference" Modern
Management Trends and the Digital Economy: from Regional Development to Global
Economic Growth"(MTDE 2019) (pp. 371-376). Atlantis Press.
Mohamad, N., 2019. Determinant Factors of Company Performance in Under Armour Inc.
Available at SSRN 3498357.
Oliveira, M.C., 2022. The strategic challenges of under armour in 2021 with an analysis of the
firm in the sports footwear market (Doctoral dissertation).
Pires, M.C.N., 2022. Under Armour conquering the sportswear market (Doctoral dissertation).
Svetlova, E. and Thielmann, K.H., 2020. Financial risks and management. International
Encyclopedia of Human Geography. 5. pp.139-145.