Have you ever thought of owning a golf course but you can’t because of the massive investment involved? If your answer is yes, then you should consider constructing a miniature golf course.
Miniature golf courses have 18 marked holes that are numbered. Players must complete each hole in number order without skipping any hole.
Players use their putters to hit the golf ball from the tee area and straight into the hole. The objective is to make it into each hole in as few strokes as possible.
The recommendation for an 18-hole miniature golf course is between 15,000 and 22,000 square feet for the playing surface. Interestingly, a site as small as 9,000 square feet can be accommodated.
A Sample Mini Golf Course Business Plan Template
1. Industry Overview
Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of the parent game.
The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played on courses consisting of a series of holes (usually a multiple of 9) similar to its parent, but characterized by their short length (usually within 10 yards from tee to cup).
The game uses artificial putting surfaces (such as carpet, artificial turf, or concrete). Miniature golf course is a niche idea in the golf courses and country clubs industry and the industry is basically engaged in operating golf courses and country clubs that have dining and recreational facilities et al.
These facilities typically provide food and beverage services, equipment rental services and golf instruction. Golf courses can be public, private, semi-private or an extension of a private country club.
Activities in this industry does not include businesses that engage in golf driving ranges, miniature golf courses and resorts and hotels that have on-site golf courses.
The industry is experiencing steady growth in the last five years due to steadily rising consumer expenditure on recreation and culture, and growing spectator sport participation.
Despite the fact that overall sport participation is currently at same level as it was in the last five years, participation in amateur sports peaked in 2012 and 2013, which boosted revenue for operators of local, community and grassroots facilities.
Government investment into large-scale sport infrastructure projects is a key source of revenue for industry participants and major redevelopments have also contributed to revenue growth over the last five years.
Golf course green fees comprise the largest source of revenue for the industry, generating 33.9%. Green fees are fees paid by golfers who are not members of a country club but wish to play an individual round of golf.
According to data from the National Golf Foundation, golf participation rates have been falling for the past decade; some individuals find the “etiquette rules” (e.g. no cell phones, specific dress code) off-putting, while others find that the game takes too long to play.
As a result, the number of adults who played golf at least once in a year decreased by about 4.0 million in the five years to 2014 (latest public data available from the NGA).
The Golf Courses & Country Clubs Industry is indeed a very large industry and pretty much thriving in developed countries such as United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Italy et al.
Statistics has it that in the united states of America alone, there are about 10,793 licensed and registered golf course & country clubs facilities responsible for employing about 308,033 employees and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $23 billion annually with an annual growth rate projected at 1.2 percent. It is important to state that there are no establishments with a lion share of the available market in this industry.
Starting a mini golf course facility business in the United States of America can be stressful; it requires enough cash to acquire land large enough to accommodate the mini golf course and country club facility and also cash to equip the facility to meet the standard expected by members.
2. Executive Summary
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is a standard mini golf course and country club facility that will be located in a growing community in Montgomery – Alabama.
Our basic aim of setting up the business is to contribute our quota in ensuring that people who live in Montgomery have a facility to play golf, stay fit by exercising regularly and maintain healthy lifestyle. We have been able to secure a standard facility in a central location in Montgomery.
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is going to become the number one family – focused miniature golf course and country club facility in the whole of Montgomery – Alabama and we will work hard to build our facility to match the needs of the average family in the community.
Our mini golf course and country club has enough parking space to accommodate the number of people (golf players and spectators) we will accommodate per time.
We conducted a thorough research and feasibility studies and we were able to come to the conclusion that Montgomery community is the right place to build of mini golf course and country club.
As a matter of fact, our major aim of starting Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is to encourage people to play golf and also to encourage families in the community to cultivate the habit of regularly exercising.
Our mini golf course is specifically designed to take care of standard miniature golf tournaments as approved by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF), headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden, we have active childcare services for toddlers and we have membership packages that is highly discounted for families that enroll with us or groups who would want to make use of our golf course and country club for games, recreations and camping.
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club will be open 24 hours a day during weekends (Fridays to Sundays) and from 6:00 am to 12 midnight from Mondays to Thursdays in order for us to be able to accommodate people with different time preferences.
This is why we have made provisions effective floodlight system and also to recruit enough staff and to run shift amongst our workforce. Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is a family owned business with support from the State of Alabama.
The business will be managed by Frank Nelson, he has over 15 years’ experience as a leading community golf coach in the United States of America working with top golfers who have gone ahead to win laurels in golf tourneys both nationally and internationally.
He is a proud member of SportAccord and the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF), headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden.
3. Our Products and Services
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is in the golf courses and country clubs industry to provide standard miniature golf course for residents of Montgomery – Alabama which is why we have been able to put up a facility that can help us achieve the goal.
We are optimistic that everyone who makes use of our facility will definitely derive huge value for their money. These are the services and amenities that will be made available to our clients;
- Operating miniature golf courses and country clubs
- Providing food and beverage services
- Providing golf equipment rental services
- Providing golf instruction services
- Memberships
- Golf course green use
- Food and beverages
- Other facility operation
4. Our Mission and Vision Statement
- Our Vision of starting Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is to build a world – class miniature golf course that will be listed amongst the top 5 in the world.
- Our mission for establishing Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is to create a platform for golf lovers to play the game and to be accredited as a miniature golf course that organizes World and Continental Championships in Europe, Asia and the United States.
Our Business Structure
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is in business to become the leading mini golf course facility in the whole of Montgomery – Alabama and we are fully aware that it will take the right facility, management and organizational structure to achieve our goal.
Our business will not only be built only for the purpose of giving our members value for their money, but also to make our work environment highly conducive for all our employees. We will provide them with facilities that will help them stay motivated and deliver on their various tasks and goals
In view of that, we have made provisions for the following positions to be occupied by highly qualified and experienced staff;
- President / Chief Executive Office – CEO
- Mini Golf Course Manager
- Accountant / Cashier
- Marketing and Sales Officer
- Mini Golf Instructor (5)
- Training Assistants (10)
- Customer Care Executive / Front Desk Officer
- Cleaners
5. Job Roles and Responsibilities
President/Chief Executive Officer – CEO:
- Increases management’s effectiveness by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results
- Creating, communicating, and implementing the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
- Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
- Responsible for providing direction for the business
- Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
- Evaluates the success of the organization
- Carrying out induction for new team members
Mini Golf Course Manager
- Responsible for managing the mini golf course
- Responsible for providing food and beverage services
- Handle golf equipment rental services
- Responsible for providing golf instruction services
- Manage membership and registration
- Manage mini golf course and country club green use
- Handle food and beverages
- Handle other relevant facility operation
Marketing and Sales Officer (2)
- Identify, prioritize, and reach out to new clients, and business opportunities et al
- Writing winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with organizations’ policy
- Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and feasibility studies for clients
- Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
- Document all customer contact and information
- Represent Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club in strategic meetings
- Help increase sales and growth for Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club.
Accountant/Cashier:
- Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
- Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports
- Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
- Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for the organization
- Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
- Responsible for administering payrolls
- Ensuring compliance with taxation legislation
- Handles all financial transactions for Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club
- Serves as internal auditor for Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club
Client Service Executive
- Welcomes members and potential members / clients by greeting them in person or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
- Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
- Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the organization’s products and services
- Manages administrative duties assigned by the management in an effective and timely manner
- Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the organizations’ products, promotional campaigns etc. to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients when they make enquiries
Cleaners (3):
- Responsible for cleaning in and around the mini golf course
- Clean up after customers and clean work area.
- Wash glassware and utensils after each use.
- Maintain a clean working area by sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning of glass doors and windows, etc. if required.
- Ensure that toiletries and supplies don’t run out of stock
- Handle any other duty as assigned by the golf course manager.
6. SWOT Analysis
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is in business to provide mini golf course for golf lovers in Ashville – Alabama and also help its clients achieve their health and fitness goals and at the same time to make profits. We are aware that there are competitions in the golf course and country clubs industry which is why we took out time to conduct an effective SWOT Analysis before investing our hard earned money into the business.
We know that if we get things right before starting our mini golf course facility, we will not have to struggle before attract loyal clients. We hired the services of Dr. Tony Martins, a Business Consultant with bias in business structuring to help us conduct SWOT analysis for our organization and he did a pretty good job for us.
Here is a of the result we got from the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club, Montgomery – Alabama;
- Strength:
One of the obvious strengths that will definitely stand as a plus for Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is the fact that our facility is centrally located in a densely populated residential area in Montgomery – Alabama; our location is in fact one of our major strengths couple with the support from the State of Alabama.
We equally have a team of highly qualified professionals who will work with all our clients to achieve their aims or enrolling in our facility and lastly our membership package is one of the best that anybody living in Montgomery – Alabama can get; it is cheap and affordable.
- Weakness:
We critically looked into our Business model and we were able to identify two major weakness. One is the fact that we are a new business and the second is the fact that we may not have the financial resources required to match up with existing golf facilities and even government own sports and recreation facilities in Alabama when it comes to acquiring latest golf equipment and generating the needed hypes that can drive traffic towards our facility.
- Opportunities:
We are centrally located in one of the busiest and densely populated areas in Ashville – Alabama and we are open to all the available opportunities that the city has to offer. We will be open 24 hours in a day during weekends (Fridays to Sundays) and from 6:00 am to 12 midnight from Mondays to Thursdays giving us the advantage to leverage on any available opportunity.
- Threat:
Some of the threats that are likely going to confront Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club are unfavorable government policies, demographic/social factors, downturn in the economy which is likely going to affect consumer spending and lastly, the emergence of new competitors within the same location where our mini golf course facility is located.
7. MARKET ANALYSIS
- Market Trends
Both the Golf Course and Country Club industry and the Sports and Recreation Facility industry has indeed benefited from recent marketing campaigns which is targeted towards encouraging people to participate in sports.
Going forward, many people who are part of the baby boomers generation are expected to sign up for health and fitness club memberships or make use of mini golf course and country club or sports and recreation facilities in their communities, as they become more health – conscious as they grow older.
However, patrons of mini golf courses are anticipated to increasingly pick up membership from less expensive centers as against expensive all – inclusive clubs.
The trend in the golf course and country clubs industry is such that if a mini golf course facility is well positioned in a place where people can easily access without much stress, there is the likelihood that such facility will enjoy high patronage.
Just like in other business ventures, the owner of mini golf course and country club facilities are always looking for ways to increase their market share; they go as far as signing deals with high schools and also corporate organizations et al to make use of their facility. Some even go as far as organizing mini golf tourneys on a regular basis.
As a mini golf course grows, it becomes necessary for them to develop new service offerings or install new facilities that will help them attract more people.
Little wonder some facilities now have fresh juice and smoothie bar within their facility to encourage people towards healthy drinking. In order words, it is very important for mini golf course facilities to continue to improvise if they want to grow their business.
8. Our Target Market
The target market for mini golf facilities cuts across people of different walks of life. The fact that people register in mini golf facilities for various reasons makes marketing the business interesting. The target market can be categorized into three various groups. The first group are the people who are looking towards shedding weight and staying healthy.
The other group of people are those who are interested in playing golf or learning how to play golf for fun or to compete at a national or international level and the last group of people are those (schools and golf clubs) who don’t have the required golf course or sports facilities for their students and sports club and would need a standard facility for training.
These are the category of people that we intend marketing our mini golf course and country club facility to;
- Working Class Adults / Corporate Executives
- Sport Clubs and Golf lovers
- Schools
- Community and Corporate organization
- Business People/Entrepreneurs
- Sports Men and Women
- College Students
Our competitive advantage
The golf course and country clubs industry is indeed a prolific and highly competitive industry. Clients will only enroll in your facility if they know that you can successfully help them learn how to play golf, achieve their health and fitness goals or provide the enabling environment and facility for them to achieve their sports goals.
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is centrally located in a densely populated residential area in Montgomery – Alabama; this is obviously going to give us an edge amongst our competitors. We equally have a team of highly qualified professionals who will work with all our clients to achieve their aims or enrolling in our mini golf course facility.
So also, our membership package is one of the best that anybody living in Alabama can get; it is cheap and affordable. Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category in the industry. It will enable them to be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and objectives.
9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY
- Sources of Income
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the Golf Course and Country Clubs industry and we are going to ensure that we do all it takes to attract clients on a regular basis. Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club will generate income by offering the following services;
- Operating mini golf courses and country clubs
- Providing food and beverage services
- Providing golf equipment rental services
- Providing golf instruction services
- Memberships
- Golf course green use
- Food and beverages
- Other facility operation
10. Sales Forecast
It is important to state that our sales forecast is based on the data gathered during our feasibility studies and also some of the assumptions readily available on the field. It would be hard to create a sales forecast with a newly opened business because the statistics that will be provided will be on a short – term basis.
Experts say that usually a business should be in operation for at least one year before they can generate the statistics that will be need to help in accurate forecasting; statistics should be at least one year old in order to show the trends and pattern in consumer spending.
We expect to register a minimum of 500 active members within our first year of operation and then in subsequent years we will grow our membership. Below are the sales projection for Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club, it is based on the location of our facility and the services and products that we will be offering to our clients (members);
- First Fiscal Year (FY1): $250,000
- Second Fiscal Year (FY2): $450,000
- Third Fiscal Year (FY3): $750,000
N.B: This projection was done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major competitor offering same services as we do within 4.5 miles radius from our facility.
- Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy
Our marketing strategies will be directed towards achieving specific objectives that support the strategic goals of the organization.
The truth is that all that we do will be geared towards creating new market channels, increasing sales and our market share. We will leverage on improving on our services and facility to ensure that we win new clients and retain old members.
At Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club, our marketing strategies will be consistent throughout the marketing mix and we will take into consideration continuous service improvement, promotion, and price. As part of our sales and marketing strategies, we will pay attention to the promotion of our mini golf course so as to attract people to enroll and become members. Part of the marketing and sales strategies that we will adopt are;
- Open our mini golf course and country club facility with a big party.
- Advertise our mini golf course and country club facility on national dailies, local TV and radio stations
- Promote our mini golf course and country home facility online via our official website and all available social media platforms
- Introduce our mini golf course and country club facility by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to sports clubs, schools, corporate organizations, households and key stake holders in Montgomery – Alabama
- Print out fliers and business cards and strategically drop them in offices, libraries, public facilities and train stations et al.
- Making our first impression count positively to those making use of our mini golf facility for the first time
- Make use of attractive hand bills to create awareness and also to give direction to our mini golf course and country club facility
- Adopt direct mailing coupon marketing approach
- Position our signage/flexi banners at strategic places in and around Ashville – Alabama
- Create a loyalty plan that will enable us reward our consistent members especially those that registered as a family
11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy
We have been able to work with our branding and publicity consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the hearts of our target market.
We are set to become the number one choice in the whole of Montgomery – Alabama which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our golf course and country club facility. Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club;
- Place adverts on both print (community based newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
- Sponsor relevant community based golf tourneys or sport events and competitions
- Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our brand
- Install our Billboards in strategic locations all around Montgomery – Alabama.
- Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
- List Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club on local directories / yellow pages
- Advertise our mini golf course and country club facility in our official website and employ strategies that will help us pull traffic to the site.
- Ensure that all our staff members wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are well branded with our corporate logo et al.
12. Our Pricing Strategy
Basically, a mini golf course that is open 120 days a year, and charges $7.50 per round, with a maximum of 80 rounds per hour and has 25 percent capacity during the daytime and 50 percent at nighttime, generates an estimated annual revenue of $333,000.
With the above, our pricing system is going to be based on what is obtainable in the industry, we don’t intend to charge more (except for premium and customized services) and we don’t intend to charge less than what our competitors are charging their members in Montgomery – Alabama.
Be that as it may, we have put plans in place to offer discount services once in a while and also to reward our loyal customers especially when they refer clients to us or when they register as a family or sports club or schools.
- Payment Options
At Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club, our payment policy will be all inclusive because we are quite aware that different clients would prefer different payment options as it suits them. Here are the payment options that we will make available to our clients;
- Payment by via bank transfer
- Payment via online bank transfer
- Payment via check
- Payment via bank draft
- Payment via mobile money
- Payment with cash
In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will help us achieve our plans with little or no hitches.
13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)
These are the key areas where you are expected to spend your startup capital on;
- The total fee for registering the business in the United States of America – $750.
- Legal expenses for obtaining licenses and permits as well as the accounting services (software, P.O.S machines and other software) – $3,300.
- Marketing promotion expenses for the grand opening of the mini golf course in the amount of $3,500 and as well as flyer printing (2,000 flyers at $0.04 per copy) for the total amount of $3,580.
- The total cost for hiring a business consultant including writing a business plan – $2,500.
- The total cost for the purchase of insurance (general liability, workers’ compensation and property casualty) coverage at a total premium – $2,400.
- The cost for renting or leasing a facility that will be converted into the mini golf course and country club and that can accommodate the number of customers per time (Re – construction of the facility inclusive) will cost – $300,000.
- Other start-up expenses including, commercial satellite TV subscriptions, stationery ($500) and phone and utility deposits ($2,800).
- Operational cost for the first 3 months (salaries of employees, payments of bills et al) – $80,000
- The cost for start-up inventory (stocking with a wide range of drinks and food) – $15,000
- The cost for the purchase of storage hardware (bins, rack, shelves, food case) – $3,720
- The cost for counter area equipment (counter top, sink, ice machine, etc.) – $9,500
- The cost for serving area equipment (plates, ash trays, glasses, flatware) – $3,000
- The cost for store equipment (cash register, security, ventilation, signage) – $4,750
- The cost of purchase and installation of CCTVs: $2,000
- Equipping the arcade game lounge (different sizes and types of game machines, Flat Screen TVs, sound system, DVD players, Satellite dish and decoder, furniture (table, stools and sofas), telephones, filing cabinets) will cost – $80,000
- The cost of launching a website: $600
- The cost for our opening party: $3,000
- Miscellaneous: $2,000
From the rough estimate as listed above, you would need a minimum of five hundred and ninety – eight thousand nine hundred USD ($598,900) to establish a medium – scale but standard and well – equipped mini golf facility in Montgomery – Alabama.
Generating Funds/Startup Capital for Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is owned and managed by Frank Nelson and family. They decided to restrict the sourcing of the startup capital for the business to just three major sources.
- Generate part of the startup capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
- Generate part of the startup capital from friends and other extended family members
- Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank (loan facility).
N.B: We have been able to generate about $200,000 (Personal savings $150,000 and soft loan from family members $50,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $400,000 from our bank. All the papers and documents have been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.
14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy
The future of a business lies in the number of loyal customers that they have, the capacity and competence of their employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business (company), then it won’t be too long before the business close shop.
One of our major goals of starting Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running. We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over in our mini golf facility is to equip our facility with state of the art gym and fitness equipment et al.
Frank Nelson™ Mini Golf Course & Country Club will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and retraining of our workforce is at the top burner.
As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of ten years or more. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.
Check List/Milestone
- Business Name Availability Check: Completed
- Business Registration: Completed
- Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts: Completed
- Securing Point of Sales (POS) Machines: Completed
- Opening Mobile Money Accounts: Completed
- Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
- Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
- Application for business license and permit: Completed
- Purchase of Insurance for the Business: Completed
- Acquiring facility and remodeling the facility: In Progress
- Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
- Generating capital from family members: Completed
- Applications for Loan from the bank: In Progress
- Writing of Business Plan: Completed
- Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
- Drafting of Contract Documents and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
- Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
- Printing of Promotional Materials: In Progress
- Recruitment of employees: In Progress
- Purchase of the needed golf, game machines and accessories, gym and fitness equipment, electronic appliances, office appliances and suppliers: In progress
- Creating Official Website for the Company: Completed
- Creating Awareness for the business both online and in the neighborhood: In Progress
- Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement (License): Secured
- Opening party/launching party planning: In Progress