Welcome

Practice Makes Perfect...
Ready to Go Hit a Bucket of Balls?

As the height of summer approaches, thoughts of perfecting your putting and maxing out your drive might come to mind. At least they do to the millions of American golfers who numbered 13.2 million in 2003. Practice range users alone increased 14% to 5 million in 2003.

As the owner of a golf range, how do you capitalize on this growing sport?

• After collecting your customers' e-mail addresses (with their consent), offer special deals and promotions by sending out a simple e-mail newsletter.

• Increase your marketing efforts to the two fastest growing groups in golf: women and juniors. Try promoting special events targeted specifically to these customers.

• Increase the amenities at your range. Offer on-site food and drinks. Both can be a great way to maximize revenue and keep your customers on the property longer. Market your range as a place where customers can come for lunch and a bucket of balls. This might help boost sales during the middle of the day – traditionally, a slow time.

• Consider extending the hours you are open by installing lighting. Studies have shown that “depending on demographics, up to 80% of a driving range’s revenue can be generated after 4pm .” This is especially true with ranges that are in warmer climates.

• Participate in school fundraising events at your driving range. These kinds of events are a great way to show community involvement as well as increase your exposure to potential customers.

Sources: http://www.iseekgolf.com/view_articles.php/0/18/4568/4/22/0/1/
http://www.golfrangetimes.com

- Carolyn Ellis

Industry Snapshot: Golf Range

Studies on golf driving ranges, as part of alternative golf facilities, strongly suggest that it makes good business sense to build facilities in close proximity to traditional courses.  Significant factors in driving range success are:  1) Per capita income and 2) Population density.  Since 80 % of customers live within 15 minutes of a driving range, the location of the business is also one of the prime considerations.

Take a look at our full industry report on Golf Ranges (PDF Format). If you are interested in other industry snapshots, visit our SBDC Business Advisors' Toolkit.

- Gloria Allen

Links of Interest

Seeking financial benchmarks for your client's industry? These three websites offer good tools for comparing financials and measuring your business strength:

Kauffman Business EKG
EDGARSCAN
American Express Financial Ratios

- Mike Cline

Did You Know?

If you have placed a research request within the last few weeks, you have most likely received your final research packet in your e-mail. You may have noticed the following statement in our salutation: 'We are e-mailing our results to shorten the response time' - but this is only one valuable aspect of electronic delivery.

We are excited to be able to offer you the quality you have grown to expect, with the added convenience of an interactive, informative e-mail. In this fast-paced business world, we seek to provide the best product for you and your clients.

- Deirdre Pattillo

Consumer-centric search engines cost an estimated $31 billion in lost productive work time in 2003, according to a recent study published by Find/SVP. Professional researchers know where to look and have additional resources to find appropriate information quickly. Last year, SBDCNet saved business advisors an estimated 5.5 hours of research time.

Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1002877

- Judy Johnson

Are You Paying Attention to
Demographic Trends?

A New Generation

Sure you’ve heard of Generation X, but Generation Y? Also called the Millennials, this group born between 1977 and 1994 may not be very old, but they are emerging as a very influential group of consumers.

Gen Y consists of approximately 72 million Americans with an estimated yearly spending power of $187 billion. American Demographics points out that when other factors are considered, such as career advancement, household creation, family growth, and life expectancy, “you’re in the $10 trillion range in consumer spending over the life span of today’s 21-year-olds.”

Moreover, according to American Demographics, “today’s 21-year-olds serve as the nation’s key trendsetters.” Aside from their own spending power, this group influences the product choices of their younger siblings who want to appear older as well as their Baby Boomer parents who want to appear younger, thus creating such a “powerful phenomenon that marketers call it the ‘Boom-Boom’ effect.”

Having been raised in the high-tech, globalized world filled with advertising, Gen Y has been described as both savvy and demanding. Thus, they have “grown immune to the traditional hard sell.” For businesses, this means that marketing efforts should have more entertainment appeal and utilize more nontraditional mediums such as digital devices.

For more information, check out the September 2003 issue of American Demographics and the New Strategist Publications’ books American Generations and The Millennials.

See also our website for information on demographics: http://sbdcnet.org/SBIC/demographics.php

-Kara Hill

Contact Us

SBDCNET
UTSA Institute for Economic Development
University of Texas at San Antonio
501 W. Durango Blvd.
San Antonio, TX 78207
http://sbdcnet.org/
sbdcnet@utsa.edu
800.689.1912