Business Planning and Operations Study Guide The Value of Business Planning Achieve business objectives based on the facility s mission Anticipate and prepare for opportunities and problems that could arise Keep on top of the business and help it run more smoothly Motivate employees by involving them in the business process and showing them how they contribute to financial success Get financing from banks or other investors Keep owners or board members informed Business Planning Model 1 Understand Your Facility Profile (Type, Size, Location, Season) 2 Develop a Mission Statement 3 4 Define Your Market, Customers, and Competitions. Assess the State of Your Business Inside: Strengths and Weaknesses Outside: Opportunities and Threats 5 Identify Business Objective (What You Want To Do) 6 Decide on Strategies to Achieve Objectives (How You Will Do It) Operational Financial Promotional 7 Prepare Financial Forecasts Analyze past performance Make assumptions Test numbers against factors that could affect performance and revise forecasts as necessary 8 Prepare 12-Month Operating and Cash Flow Budgets 9 Monitor Performance Against Plan
1. Understand Your Facility Profile Facility Type Location Rounds Played 2. Develop a mission Statement - A facility s mission statement is a brief statement of its purpose, who it is, and what it does for whom. - The mission statement for a golf facility sets its overall direction and serves as a touchstone for all planning and operations. A mission statement: Tells customers or members what kind of service they can expect Guides and motivates employees, particularly if they helped to develop it. Keeps management focused, helping it make sure that financial goals, customer policies, and employment practices are all moving the facility. Key Elements of a Mission Statement: Facility image Quality of customer service Profitability Employee needs - Most mission statements indicate what the organization is trying to achieve for its customers or members, but a good mission statement also identifies what the organization is trying to achieve for its owners and employees. Making the Mission Statement Effective: Concise Believable Reflects Reality Changes Over Time Becomes Part of Daily Work Life 3. Define Your Market, Customers, and Competitors Market: Geographic and Demographic market of your facility. (Most 10-30 Miles) Local or regional chambers of commerce Local government agencies U.S. Census Bureau Other Businesses in the community Vendors Organizations such as the American Association of Retired Persons Economic Conditions and Trends:
National and Local Economic Conditions Expected Inflation Rate Taxes Cost of Utilities or Outside Services Interest Rates and Credit Availability The Competition: - You need to know who your competitors are, and what strengths and weaknesses they have relative to your facility. Primary competitors Secondary competitors What products, services, and prices do your competitors offer? How does your operation compare with the competition? Are new competitors entering the market? Your Customers: Who Playing Patterns Spending in the shop Promotions do they respond to Demographics in terms of age, sex and economic status. - A Successful customer profiles on a computer database and gather information through formal mail or phone surveys, informal questioning, and personal observation. 4. Assess the State of Your Business - A necessary part of the business planning process is to step back and assess how ell your facility is performing. Performance Data Number of rounds, increase in rounds per year, tournament rounds, days, sex. Finical data on total revenues from each operational areas. Financial data on expenses and income in each operational area. Consider when looking for strengths and weaknesses include: Number and quality of staff Number of types of customer complaints or positive feedback Condition of grounds, building and equipment. Pace of play Use of technology to support planning and operations Conducting a SWOT Analysis. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
- A SWOT analysis provides a structured method of assessing business conditions and identifying and prioritizing critical issues and opportunities. 5. Identify Business Objectives - Developing specific business objectives helps you create a clear destination for your operation, which can then be supported with operational policies and procedures and give you a yardstick for measuring process. Specific Measurable Realistic and achievable Supportive 6. Develop Strategies to Meet Objectives - Decide on the financial, operational, and promotional strategies that could enable you to achieve your business objectives. Financial: Increase fees Create a few golf packages Decrease operating expenses Install computer-based, integrate, point of sale/accounting system Marketing and Promotions Advertising campaign to increase rounds, sales, and facility s image. New brochure Advertise on TV, cable, or radio shows Speak to local professional organizations Website Rounds and Pace of Play Organize free clinics Group lessons Special tournament packages Charity events Tournament Leagues New pace of play program Golf cars on fairways, using the 90 degree rule Automated tee-time reservation system Ranger on staff Practice Range Expansion of practice putting and chipping area Lighting and extend hours Automated ball dispenser Increase the number of golf range stalls New Range ball and raise prices. Merchandising: Shop s square footage
Reduce the number of vendors and contracts Train staff Offer more value-added services Change the pricing approach Redirect traffic patterns Replace fixtures Change the product mix based on surveys of customer preferences Design eye-catching displays around themes and holidays 7. Prepare Financial Forecasts Analyze Past Performance in Preparation for Forecasting - It s important to be able to project realistic revenue, expense, and profit figures based on solid historical data as well as market factors against which you can track performance. - Key numbers 3 to 5 years into the future Horizontal analysis, where you take a specific revenue or expense category and look at the trend up or down over several years (linear trend analysis) or compare it to one base year (base year analysis). Vertical analysis, where you look down a budget column and compare one number to another, like cost of goods sold compared to revenues, or expenses compared to revenues. If you actually express that number as a percentage of the other, it is called ratio analysis. Key Items to forecast: Rounds of Play number of rounds and price you charge for a round determine the largest part of the revenues generated by golf operations. Revenues all the sources of income generated within golf operations. Cost of Goods Sold is the value (at cost) of merchandise that is sold to customers, stolen, lost, or destroyed during a particular period. Gross Margin is the difference between merchandise revenues and the cost of goods sold. Expenses Includes every expense for operating the business other than cost of goods sold. Profit/Operating Income is what s left after you subtract all costs and expenses from the revenues you take in. Revenue (Cost of Goods Sold and Expenses) = Profit
Linear Trend Analysis you calculate the percentage change up or down from year to year in line items like rounds, revenues, or expenses: you might also calculate the average change/trend over several years. A spread of 5 years allow you to account for changes year to year. Last year(a) Previous year (B)/Previous Year (B) = % Change Base Year Analysis you calculate the percentage change in a line item compared to a single base year. This approach is often called indexing to the base. To track improved sales relative to a significant year. Year you want to compare/ Base Year X 100% = % Change from Base Year Cost of good in dollars: Cost of goods for sale Cost of inventory at the end of period = Cost of goods sold for the period Cost of good sold as a percentage of sales: Cost of goods sold/total retail sales = Cost of goods sold percentage Gross margin in dollars Total retail sales Cost of goods sold = Gross margin dollars Gross margin as a percentage of sales: Gross margin dollars / total retail sales = Gross margin percentage Revenues Per Round Merchandise revenue / number of rounds = total dollars per round Factors and Assumptions that Affect Forecasts Making Your Assumptions: - Are your best guess about what will happen in the future, whether numbers will go up or down, and how much they will change from the previous year. You make assumptions in order to come up with your best estimate of key numbers, such as rounds, revenues, cost of goods sold, gross margin, and expenses. - If assumptions are sound, your business plan and financial projections have a good chance of being successful. If they are not, the plan is likely to be unrealistic and the financial targets difficult to meet without readjustment in midstream. Testing Your Assumptions: - Try to test the validity of the assumptions you made and the way changes in key factors could affect plan results. What If Scenarios Historical Review Expert Review
8. Prepare 12-Month Budgets 3 Types: Operating Budget Reflects accrual accounting, where sales and expense transactions are recorded in the period in which they occur, regardless of whether the cash actually changes hands. Cash Flow Budget projects the cash on hand for golf operations during any accounting period real money going in and out. Capital Budget covers expenditures for additional or renovations to the course and its buildings and for acquisition of large-value equipment items with a useful life of more than a year. - Accrual accounting is the recording sales when goods are given to the buyer and recording purchases when goods are received in the shop. 9. Monitor Performance - It is important to track any variances between actual results and budgeted numbers, investigate any significant differences, and quickly take steps to mitigate any important problems. Budget Tracking Monthly, Weekly, or Daily Performance Ratios Cost of Goods Sold as a Percentage of Sales Gross Margin as a Percentage of Sales Revenues Per Round Spot Audits Management Actions If Not Meeting Budget Increase rounds Adjust prices Lower expenses Change your expectations
Golf Facility Operations: The goal of all golf facilitiy operations is to ensure that the facility runs smoothly and profitably. Without a good team of employees and clear operational procedures, it is difficult for staff to meet the goals of the business plan, whether those goals are long-range or for the coming year. The control system consists of job descriptions, policies and procedures, schedules, logs, forms, records, signage, computer software, and the like. Customer Service: Head golf professionals and their staff must know how to identify customer needs, set customer service goals, and provide the products and value-added services customers want. Identify Customer Needs - Surveys, mail, telephone, or Internet - Focus groups, both customer and employee - Suggestion boxes - Secret shopper - Interviews with customers - Personal observations Setting Customer Service Standards - Detailed job descriptions and procedures spell out how to provide good service. - Detailed procedures and documents to set the standards for customer service Providing Value-Added Services - With some creativity, you can provide many value-added services, some at little cost to the facility. Staffing: A golf facility depends on many skilled individuals who complement one another and support the facility s mission and objectives. 3 Aspects of developing an effective facility team: Determining staff needs and skills Using organization charts to clarify reporting relationships Using job descriptions to establish clear performance standards Staff Size: - Consider the manpower it will take to achieve your business objectives. - Poorly staffed golf operations often pay as much in overtime as they would for additional hired staff. And they experience higher staff turnover.
Staff Quality: - Look beyond the basics, such as excellent work habits and customer relations skills. - Staff members should fit the nature of their facility s customer base and objectives. Organizations Charts: Clear Reporting Relationships Helps employees understand how the facility works and where to go to get questions answered. Job Descriptions: Clear Performance Standards Reduce misunderstanding, create accountability, and provide an objective tool for measuring performance. Identify the tasks and responsibilities for each position and usually the skills, experience, and education potential employees must possess to perform the job. Indicate who the person reports to and who they supervise. Operational Policies and Procedures: A comprehensive set of procedures ensures that the right things happen and the wrong things don t. Comprehensive policies and procedures should cover every aspect of course operation, including pace-of-play issues, golf car use, safety and security tee-time reservations, and how to open and close the golf shop. Policy Rule that outlines a definite course of action Procedure Step by step instructions on how to do specific task Safety and Security: Through written procedures and extensive employee training, a safety program can mitigate risks, save lives, and avoid facility liability. Security Procedures: Vandalism Theft Burglary Safety Procedures: Medical Emergencies Golf Car Safety Severe Weather Worker Safety Tools and Technologies:
7 Steps for Selecting a Computer System: 1. Asses Facility Needs 2. Create a Selection Criteria Checklist 3. Qualify Potential Vendors 4. Attend System Demonstrations 5. Issue a Request for Proposals 6. Evaluate Proposals and Make a Decision 7. Negotiate Contracts Forms and Supplies: Daily forms club repair forms, charge ticket, gift certificate, rain check etc Scorecards - Course name, address, and phone number - Logo - Hole Numbers - Yardage - Par - Handicap - Rating and Slope - Playing time - Match standings - Local rules Starter Time Sheets