As we enter the final two months of 2008, your Club should be well on its way if not finished with its Business Plan for 2009.  Yet, I find that in many cases Clubs have not yet even started the process.  When I ask why the plan hasn’t begun, I hear a litany of amusing responses, well actually unfounded excuses.  A sampling of the feedback includes:

We can’t start a new budget when we don’t have final numbers for 2008. We haven’t decided what we are going to do with our operation in the off season. We’re too busy. We’re afraid of what it might look like. We tried that before and it did not help us. It takes too much time and we don’t ever use it for anything.



Any of this strike a chord?  Be honest now!

The reality is that many Clubs either don’t have the skills, commitment, discipline, or desire to put together a plan.  Planning is work!  Hard work!  But like any other hard work well done, it provides great benefits. 

A forward thinking approach with a financial plan in place for the entire year and then updated on a quarterly basis with a forecast with a focus on creating the future is a paradigm that any successful business utilizes.  Yet, I find that in most cases Clubs do little more than take a perfunctory look at the numbers from the prior month usually about 15 to 20 days if not more after the month has ended.

I have seen amazing transformations in the actions Clubs take when the financial realities of their business are made known to them in black and white terms with a well thought out financial plan and a forecast of the future business. I have implemented forecasting where it previously was not utilized and immediately new plans were developed for better expense controls and the marketing ideas became number one priorities instead of just “when I get to it” afterthoughts.

A focus on creating the future through a thorough, well crafted business plan is what separates great operators from marginal and poor performers.  It the difference between swimming toward a destination and just drifting with the current.  It reminds me of a passage from Alice in Wonderland.  When Alice encounters a Cat during her travels, she asks the cat for advice on the road she should take.  The Cat responds by asking Alice where she wants to go.  Alice responds that she really does not know.  The Cat responds by telling Alice that if she doesn’t know where she wants to go, then the road she takes really doesn’t matter.  Do you know where you want to go in 2009?

You must have goals.  But putting together a financial is more than just crunching numbers.  There is much groundwork that must be completed in order to get the proper foundation to plan.  A solid financial plan is the final results of a thorough Business Planning process which includes:

Components of a thorough Business Plan include:

1.  SFSWOT Analysis

This is analysis of each Club department’s and the Club’s overall

Successes Failures Strengths Weaknesses Threats Opportunities

 

It provides a critical self assessment of your Club and provides a great foundation for goal setting for both qualitative and quantitative improvements in the upcoming year.

2.  Competitive Analysis

Who is your competition?  What do they charge?  What is your unique selling advantage?

3.  Membership Planning

What are your Club trends for both membership enrollment and attrition by category? What real growth do you want to plan for in 2009?  What has been the trend with upgrades and downgrades?  What are you doing with Initiation Fees?  Do you have financing in place?  How will you handle your wait list to join?  To resign?

4.  Pricing Plan

What price increase will you take this year and when?  Will dues increase?  If so, will that cause attrition?  How will you price your cart and guest fees?  What about F&B.  Remember, except for a very few elite Clubs in the Country, cost does matter.

5.  Payroll Planning

What payroll increases are you authorizing for the Club’s employees in 2009?  Are the increases performance based or just “no thought” across the board increases?  Can your Club afford to give increases?  Do you have incentive based compensation plans in place or do you just pay for showing up regardless of the performance?

6.  Expense Planning

What expense increases are you anticipating?  Have you reviewed each department on a line item basis to determine if the expenses may have significant fluctuations either up or down?  Items that can change significantly include general liability insurance, property taxes, utilities, fertilizer, chemicals, and fuel.  Have you reviewed these thoroughly to ensure you have an accurate view of the expense side of the financial plan?

7.  Marketing Plan

Do have a written quarterly game plan for driving the revenue sources that are important to your Club?  Are specific timelines and people assigned to carry out the plans?  Have you budgeted the needed dollars for marketing to ensure you will be able to achieve the results you need?  Check out our industry best website solution for Private Clubs at www.privateclubcommander.com

8.  Retention Planning

Do you have a comprehensive calendar of events that appeal to all segments of your membership to keep them using the Club and providing needed revenues.  Is your calendar planned ahead at least 3 months at all times?  Or are you trying to come up with things at the last minute because the newsletter copy is due?

9.  Qualitative Improvement Planning

Do you have a written quarterly plan in ever department for qualitative improvement?  Specifically, are you challenging all of your Club departments to implement 2 or 3 initiatives that either create a better member experience, provide for improved employee efficiency, introduce a new product or service, or produce a better financial result?

10.  Capital Planning

Do you have a written capital replacement plan in place for 2009?   Replacing depreciated assets on an annual basis is another component of a successful business.  Do you have the necessary cash to replace what is needed in 2009?  Are you going to finance or lease needed equipment?  Have you done the analysis?  Is your plan at least looking ahead 5 years?

Bob Devitz is the President and CEO of Legendary Golf Management and is an expert in the operations and marketing of Private Clubs. Bob has over 25 years of experience in the industry, primarily in senior management roles with ClubCorp, an industry leading “for profit” company. Bob has an MBA from The Florida State University, a BSBA with a specialization in marketing from The University of Florida, and is a member of the PGA of America. Having worked with hundreds of Private Clubs during his career, Bob brings a results driven, bottom line approach to the Club Industry.

Home insurance; do you know when you’ll need it? Probably not. Unless you plan on getting involved in an insurance scam (which is not recommended), chances are you won’t know exactly when you will need home insurance until after the event has occurred. That’s because home insurance protects you against unforeseen events. But what are these unforeseen events that cause us to need home insurance? The fact of the matter is there are a number of different insurable events that come into play with your home insurance.

Below are a few events where having home insurance is a very positive thing. They are events that you can’t always plan for and when they occur, can throw you and your home into disorder.

Fire

Fire can destroy your home right before your eyes. All it takes is a spark from a faulty appliance or the lights on the Christmas tree to malfunction and before you know it, you’re home’s going up in flames, along with your personal belongings. Even if you’re very safe about ensuring the integrity of your electrical appliances and are diligent about turning off the oven, the bbq grill, and the coffee pot, fire can still strike. A stray firecracker or lit cigarette butt can land in your yard, ignite dry brush, and start a small fire that can quickly get out of control. In fact, many fires happen when residents aren’t even home; and when they come home, their home is destroyed.

If you have a homeowner’s insurance policy that covers fire damage, you’re protecting yourself when an unexpected fire breaks out.

Flood

Even if you don’t live near a body of water or in a flood zone, flood damage can affect your home. If a water main busts or the dishwasher malfunctions, you could end up with a house full of water and serious flood damage. Home insurance protects you when water takes over of your home and runs amok on your carpets, walls, and ceilings. If a main water line breaks when you’re not home, and it’s left to flood the house for hours, the damage can be significant. And if you live in an attached condo complex, the damage can seep over into the neighbor’s home. Having a home insurance policy that covers flooding will protect you, and your attached neighbors, against unexpected flood damage as a result of a broken water line, a malfunctioning dishwasher, or even a popped waterbed.

Earthquake

We all wish we could predict earthquakes. It would allow us time to secure items in our home that could be damaged when the shaking starts. But currently, earthquakes come unannounced. And when they do arrive, they often damage our homes and property. Even if the home is still standing after a significant quake, the structural damage to the home could be so great that it is red tagged and deemed uninhabitable. Having a home insurance policy that covers earthquake damage will save you the agony of being left with nothing after an earthquake.

Homeowners insurance is a must for all homeowners. Regardless of where you live and the types of natural disasters your area is prone to, you need to protect yourself from every angle and against any unforeseen events that could happen in the blink of an eye.

For more articles on Home Insurance visit: http://www.bills.com/reasons-home-insurance-article/

Justin has 5 years of experience as a financial adviser; his key areas are loan consolidation, debt relief, mortgages etc. For more free articles and advice visit http://www.Bills.com.

Just as when you refinance your home loan, when you refinance your auto loan the old loan is paid off in full and it is replaced by a new loan. If when you bought your car your credit score was below 620, the interest rate on your auto loan may be significantly above the interest rate you can qualify for today. By refinancing your bad credit auto loan the monthly payment may go down substantially. Also, over the life of the loan you may save several thousand dollars in interest payments.

You may be a candidate for an auto loan refinance if

Your car loan has become “seasoned”; that is, if you have had it for at least a year.

You have made your payments in a timely manner.

Your car’s value is more than the amount you owe on it.

If all of the above statements are true, then it may be time to investigate refinancing your car.

First, make sure you are fully aware of the state of your current credit report and current credit rating. Both of these are easily available online. You are entitled to one free credit report each year. Your current credit score (FICO score) should also be available for a nominal fee.

Second, find out your car’s value. Having your car appraised is not a requirement for refinancing your auto loan but you should know its value. Most auto loan refinance companies require that your loan be at least $7,500 so your car value must be at least that amount. At your local bookstore and online there are many resources for estimating your car’s worth. Two of the most popular sources are the Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds Buyer Guides. Be sure and have a realistic eye when surveying your car’s condition, you can be sure your lender will.

Read more on

http://myfreeinfo4u.com/finance/bad_credit_auto_loan_refinance_bad_credit_auto_refinance_tips.html

Providing free information about several topics. Checkout my free tips on www.myfreeinfo4u.com

Business ethics is crucial to overall society well being and corporate organizations, if to view the issue from the business standpoint. Public confidence is ethical business operation is only yet to recover, as of February 2004, 75 percent of Americans found the image of big corporations either “not good” or even “terrible”. The crucial step when it comes to business ethics – is to admit existence of a problem that is essentially based in the difference in the corporate values of different stakeholder groups. While society wants to receive well paid jobs, the focus of many organizations remains on cost minimization and maximization of productivity levels. While society wants to purchase goods at the lowest prices possible, businesses are normally profit seeking entities. Finally, it is crucial for society to sustain environmentally clean surroundings, whereas for business – this goal is followed by additional costs. These conflicts are fundamental to the nature of business, it is crucial for managers to find the balance between different stakeholder groups including workers, customers, company owners, and the larger community.

Rapid technologic and scientific innovation followed by globalization makes the need to balance between stakeholders needs even more difficult. Ethical standards and practices often are not even able to keep with scientific innovation such as cloning. When it comes to business practices issues arise with U.S. job outsourcing to Third World community, valuation of intangible assets in the new technological era (Mayer, 2004). Despite the rising difficulties, it is crucial for managers to find the balance – otherwise a company might cease to exist unable to compete in the market place.

The role of business ethics in contemporary marketplace should be mainly discussed from the pragmatic approach. In order for business to exist, there must be a community of potential buyers and sellers, whereas this community and overall public morality are the two indivisible and integrated parts. Obviously, in order to preserve business, organizations must sustain a certain level of morality in order to successfully function and remain competitive. As business are interested in the first place in profitability of an enterprise, they are, therefore, interested in maintenance of a positive corporate image. Consequently, businesses are interested in ethical practices.

Consequently, marketplace is realizing undervaluation and investors are less likely to put own money to generate profits. The effect on economy overall is direct – while series of scandals created a boom in the stock market, now economy is developing at a lower rates, as the cost of funds to be used in business is raising. As such, the relationship between ethical malpractice and economic stagnation is direct – ethical scandals undermine public trust, whereas business, investors, and society overall are the ones to bare the costs of unethical practices of individuals. Consequently, the role of ethical behavior in contemporary marketplace from the value created for society can hardly be overestimated

Andrew Shwartz is staff-writer at Custom-Writing.org, writing service. Andrew has been providing assistance to students with Contrast essay and Custom Research Paper for over 2 years. He is always willing to share his own experiences, provide quality custom writing services and writing tips to students of all academic levels.