How to Write a Business Plan for a Golf Club
A golf club earns revenues from membership dues, green fees, golf cart rentals, food and beverage sales, driving range fees, fees for golf instruction, and equipment and clothing sales in the pro shop. Each revenue source must be forecast when doing a business plan. Customer service and customer retention are of paramount importance in a recreation business such as golf club. The business planning process must focus on how to make sure the combination of top flight facilities and well trained employees delivers the level of service golfers demand.
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Instructions
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Evaluate where the business is today, its strengths and weaknesses. Review last year's financial results. Look at which business segments performed well and which were disappointments. If you can, write down reasons for either outcome. What areas would your customers, the golfers, say you excelled in last year, and where did you fall short in customer service or guest experience?
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Look at trends in the golf industry and your local economy. Is the number of golfers expected to increase? Is the local economy expected to grow or will it be in a recession? Think about how these factors will affect the revenue performance of your golf facility.
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Assess your competition. Visit their facilities and compare them to your own. Determine if you are gaining or losing market share to the other golf clubs in the area. If you are facing stiff competition, you will have to devise strategies to overcome this difficult environment.
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Set goals. These targets could be quantifiable, such as increase green fees revenue 10 percent. They could also be more qualitative, such as reduce customer complaints by 20 percent. Each revenue segment or department has its own goals.
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Determine strategies for each department to reach the targets. Assign responsibility for each strategy to a staff member, along with implementation dates. The golf professional on staff would have primary responsibility for merchandise sales in the pro shop, for example.
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Convert the goals into a revenue forecast, then budget the costs associated with meeting the revenue target. Increases in the marketing budget may be required in order to attract more out-of-town visitors to the golf club. A goal of improving course maintenance may require additional staff.
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Review the complete business plan and finalize it. Make sure your goals are reasonable and attainable. You may find you have to cut some proposed expenditures to achieve your desired net profit, or put off some facility improvement expenditures until the following year.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't focus completely on attracting new golfers to the club. Getting your existing customers to use the facility more frequently and spend more money there should be a priority, as well. Acquiring new customers requires additional marketing expenditures.
Staff members should be involved in the planning process. Employees are more likely to work harder toward goals they participate in setting.
Weather is a factor that affects the revenues of a golf course. Rainy or cold days will keep golfers away. Be sure to account for these lost revenues in the forecast, based on average weather for your area.
References
- Photo Credit Golf Course image by Vanessa van Rensburg from Fotolia.com
