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I stopped in to my local golf course to take a break from an early morning hike on the gravel roads of my former hometown in Minnesota. I found the old proprietor behind the counter, and we had a casual conversation. I asked him how his business was, thinking this was probably a banner year for golf courses in Minnesota. The season here started four weeks earlier than average, due to an exceptionally mild winter producing a record early thaw. The golf courses opened four weeks earlier than average, and five weeks earlier than the previous Spring.
I was surprised to hear him say that his business was just “o.k.,” as he talked about some warm weather and some rain that emptied out the golf course a few times over the previous two weeks.
I relayed to him the business expectation I learned while working for Wal-Mart corporate. It fell on completely deaf ears with him, as he failed to comprehend and I failed to break down his expectations for his own business. He was interested, but more in the debate than the break through. At Wal-Mart, external factors such as weather, business disruption or other factors are inevitable parts of the cycle of a business on any given day, week, month, or year. Weather, for example, is never an acceptable reason for a business to be down year on year. The challenge is to build a base of business that is strong enough to handle the bumps in the road and still emerge with a positive year over year trend.
It starts with understanding your numbers. If you watch Shark Tank, you’ll note that they always emphasize knowing your sales numbers and history backwards and forwards. They won’t work with someone that doesn’t know their numbers, because it demonstrates that you have no idea how to grow if you don’t know what you are growing FROM. If you attended the Fast Lane Summit, you heard @Kung Fu Steve talk about having a tangible goal / revenue goal for your company. The opposite of that is not knowing your numbers. Back to my golf course, the owner had a faint awareness of even what his comps were against last year, although based on seasonality alone I suspect they are better than he even realizes.
Anyway… he runs his business the way that many accidental entrepreneurs do. He points to external factors for his positive or negative performance, not realizing that it is fully within his control (see The Millionaire Fast Lane on Control) to produce a different outcome. After thirty years of running the golf course, he sees his business as being at the mercy of Mother Nature. When I pointed out that if he ran the business this year the same way he ran the business last year, he would get the same results, he asked me what I would recommend. I told him that if he built a business strategy for a 40% increase in revenue, that he would be able to “weather” the ups and downs of the variables that were out of his control and he could STILL make more money this year than he did last year. He looked at me like I was an alien. Realizing I was preaching to a brick wall, I steered the conversation back into safer waters. He’s not going to do it, so belaboring the point wouldn’t have benefited him.
Granted, some times people have a different end game. I think he’s been waiting for a few decades for a buyer on a white horse to ride in with saddle bags filled with cash. The buyer hasn’t emerged, and the guy may go to his death bed waiting for that exit event that might never happen.
How could a golf course that has been there for 30 years or more increase their business by 40% year over year, and more importantly how does this apply to you? It starts with expectations that other people would consider unrealistic. Add to it a measure of not accepting variables that are out of your control as excuses as to why you’re not hitting your goals. Then mix in elements of growth designed to produce better and better outcomes. If I ran the golf course, things I might try (knowing some might fail) include :
In any case, in your own business… rather than sitting behind the counter and praying it doesn’t rain… do things to ensure it is going to RAIN in your favor. Don’t settle. Don’t except outside influences as excuses as to why you can’t do more. Build things other people think are unrealistic. Take risks. Expect more. Deliver more. Harvest more. Plan more. Execute better. Try new things. Push the envelope.
I will be back here next year around the same time. I’ll stop in and check on my old pal at the golf shop. Next time, I’ll just have a glass of water and talk about the weather. Most people who don’t frequent this forum prefer that to the harder conversations.
I stopped in to my local golf course to take a break from an early morning hike on the gravel roads of my former hometown in Minnesota. I found the old proprietor behind the counter, and we had a casual conversation. I asked him how his business was, thinking this was probably a banner year for golf courses in Minnesota. The season here started four weeks earlier than average, due to an exceptionally mild winter producing a record early thaw. The golf courses opened four weeks earlier than average, and five weeks earlier than the previous Spring.
I was surprised to hear him say that his business was just “o.k.,” as he talked about some warm weather and some rain that emptied out the golf course a few times over the previous two weeks.
I relayed to him the business expectation I learned while working for Wal-Mart corporate. It fell on completely deaf ears with him, as he failed to comprehend and I failed to break down his expectations for his own business. He was interested, but more in the debate than the break through. At Wal-Mart, external factors such as weather, business disruption or other factors are inevitable parts of the cycle of a business on any given day, week, month, or year. Weather, for example, is never an acceptable reason for a business to be down year on year. The challenge is to build a base of business that is strong enough to handle the bumps in the road and still emerge with a positive year over year trend.
It starts with understanding your numbers. If you watch Shark Tank, you’ll note that they always emphasize knowing your sales numbers and history backwards and forwards. They won’t work with someone that doesn’t know their numbers, because it demonstrates that you have no idea how to grow if you don’t know what you are growing FROM. If you attended the Fast Lane Summit, you heard @Kung Fu Steve talk about having a tangible goal / revenue goal for your company. The opposite of that is not knowing your numbers. Back to my golf course, the owner had a faint awareness of even what his comps were against last year, although based on seasonality alone I suspect they are better than he even realizes.
Anyway… he runs his business the way that many accidental entrepreneurs do. He points to external factors for his positive or negative performance, not realizing that it is fully within his control (see The Millionaire Fast Lane on Control) to produce a different outcome. After thirty years of running the golf course, he sees his business as being at the mercy of Mother Nature. When I pointed out that if he ran the business this year the same way he ran the business last year, he would get the same results, he asked me what I would recommend. I told him that if he built a business strategy for a 40% increase in revenue, that he would be able to “weather” the ups and downs of the variables that were out of his control and he could STILL make more money this year than he did last year. He looked at me like I was an alien. Realizing I was preaching to a brick wall, I steered the conversation back into safer waters. He’s not going to do it, so belaboring the point wouldn’t have benefited him.
Granted, some times people have a different end game. I think he’s been waiting for a few decades for a buyer on a white horse to ride in with saddle bags filled with cash. The buyer hasn’t emerged, and the guy may go to his death bed waiting for that exit event that might never happen.
How could a golf course that has been there for 30 years or more increase their business by 40% year over year, and more importantly how does this apply to you? It starts with expectations that other people would consider unrealistic. Add to it a measure of not accepting variables that are out of your control as excuses as to why you’re not hitting your goals. Then mix in elements of growth designed to produce better and better outcomes. If I ran the golf course, things I might try (knowing some might fail) include :
- Local radio station live broadcasts from the golf course as publicity stunts
- Customer appreciation days with free beer in the clubhouse after a paid round
- I would increase the prices by 10%, knowing I might lose some customers but knowing my PR efforts would bring in replacement customers. I would then give a 10% discount to leagues.
- I would host a weekend concert series, with discounted concert tickets to any golfers from the previous week
- I’d augment the current wait staff with 24 year old female bartenders
- I would have weekly (or as often as I could get them) vendor sponsored seminars during the week. The vendors would do these FREE. My customers could attend them FREE.
- I’d do 2-for-1 rounds during my slowest days
- I’d have a weekend tournament that was open to the public, with kick a$$ prizes
- I’d do a weekly golf forecast, and provide it free of charge to all local media. Likely that the major metro news papers would run it regularly as a column as they’re always looking for relevant local news content feeds
In any case, in your own business… rather than sitting behind the counter and praying it doesn’t rain… do things to ensure it is going to RAIN in your favor. Don’t settle. Don’t except outside influences as excuses as to why you can’t do more. Build things other people think are unrealistic. Take risks. Expect more. Deliver more. Harvest more. Plan more. Execute better. Try new things. Push the envelope.
I will be back here next year around the same time. I’ll stop in and check on my old pal at the golf shop. Next time, I’ll just have a glass of water and talk about the weather. Most people who don’t frequent this forum prefer that to the harder conversations.
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