It got me to thinking about this"recalculation" business.
Somewhere along the line, we all end up recalculating our plans, our business, our relationships and ultimately our lives. In fact I saw a quote that read "I didn't end up where I thought I would be, but I am where I am supposed to be." Not sure who wrote it, but it speaks volumes about our lives and livelihoods and where we all kind of ended up - just where we are supposed to be.
Now that we are here, maybe we need to do a little recalculating ourselves.
How much time will it take us to get task #1 done before I start task #2? Now that I got this promotion, what do I have to do to get in line for the next step up the ladder? If my revenue is going to be lower (or higher) what can I calculate as an investment in the next seasonal program I will establish? And so on!
Ladies and gentlemen, IT IS TIME to recalculate our business.
At the recent Bowl Summit, many proprietors were talking about the severe fall off in business. Yet others from the South and West were saying they were OK. OK translates to being flat and since when was that OK? I guess we recalculated, didn't we.
As spring/summer slowly approaches, here are some things to think about recalculating:
- Starting Times: Traditional wisdom calls for us to move back the starting times from 6pm or 630pm to 7pm? Why do w do that? maybe if we started at 5:30, we would get more people because they could then go home early and be with their families.
- Number of weeks: Does the open play bowler or non bowler think that 14 or 16 weeks are too long? you betcha? then why not offer new "programs" in May, June and July for 6 to 8 weeks in duration? These programs could include have a ball programs, premium programs requiring a $25 registration fee or thereabouts.
- Spring vs Summer: One smart proprietor I know (Jon Perper from NJ) calls his summer leagues Spring leagues because they all start before June 21st and people are more psychologically aligned to do something in Spring (indoors) than Summer.
- Start leagues in March and April: By starting new programs during these months, you get a little hedge on coming into May and June as well as a little more revenue you can count on.
- Start Your Kids Bowl Free program May 1: Many proprietors wait until the kids are out of school, but if you start it early, you get a running start on a data base to get to their parents for a short season bowling program.
What other ways can you recalculate your business?
"Recalculating, please wait."
