Physical

I have just finished a book that was read for pure pleasure. “The Maple Leafs Trivia Book: 1927-2004” by Mike Leonetti. It was a gift from my sons. It really is just a book of trivia. Set up in a quick question and answer format, organized into categories. If you’re as nostalgic as I am, and you have watched the Leafs for a number of years, then you’ll enjoy this book.

I’ve also just started another pleasure book, this one golf related. More details later.

I had a physical today. I’ve resolved to do so every 18 months. I was thinking annually, but my doc suggested every 18 months would be fine. So, I guess I’ll go next in the fall of 2008.

This was partly at the behest of my former hockey coach. I blogged about him earlier.

Also, as a business owner, I have a whole new set of responsibilities and a new, very large group of people depending on my health. This list includes my loved ones, of course, but also members and other customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, banks, leasing companies, the franchisor and all related stakeholders.

The rest of the day was spent working away, in meetings, and on the phone. My Blackberry battery was almost fully depleted by day’s end. That rarely happens.

Service Beyond Our Borders?

Long time, no blog. It was a busy weekend. I worked late Friday evening and then spent the bulk of Saturday and early Sunday at bachelor party. A friend from my Maplesoft days was the victim … er … I mean the “groom.”

There’s no need to get into much further detail here. That said, we did have two experiences over the 24 hours or so that really stuck out for me.

The first occurred on the Saturday night, at a downtown Toronto club/restaurant called the Chick N Deli. The name doesn’t really stand out, but the owner/manager clearly knew what he was doing.

We arrived at the Chick N Deli early in the evening, around 7:00pm. The place was jam packed with seniors. There was a jazz band on stage playing mostly wartime music. They were great! There were about half a dozen walkers parked close to the doors, and the dance floor was packed! And they all seemed to be regulars.

Apparently, later in the evening, when the seniors are ready to head home, a different band goes on stage, and the place fills with a much younger crowd. Likely another group of “regulars.”

So here’s this little, non-descript establishment, packed with an older crowd early in the evening (when it would be difficult to bring a younger crowd in) and then packed with a younger crowd later in the evening (when the seniors are heading home). The owner/manger is brilliant!

And not only that, but they’re all “regulars.” Chances are the business spends very little on advertising, and they offer great service!

The second experience that hit home for me occurred on the Sunday morning. We were locked out of our rental vehicle. When we phoned the rental company, we went directly to voice mail. It was Sunday morning. We were stuck. CAA came and went, and couldn’t help. We eventually had to smash a window to get into the vehicle!

So, here’s this rental company, thinking that they have provided a great service. The owner/manager was likely having a nice Sunday morning at home, with no idea that his “service” was failing miserably!

So, at Parmasters Waterloo Region, clearly we are providing a service to everyone within the center at any particular time. But, in the minds of our patrons, are we also providing a service when they’re out on the golf course? Especially if they’ve taken our Straight-Line Golf™ lessons. Is it enough for us to deliver results while our patrons are within the center? Will they expect us to deliver results when they’re not in the center?

Attracting Capital From Angels

I recently finished “Attracting Capital from Angels” by Brian E. Hill and Dee Power. It’s well written and well organized, which translates into a pretty quick, concise read.

Between the covers you’ll find a wealth of information ranging from a 30,000 foot view of trends in angel investing through to the minutiae of negotiating a term sheet. Most of this was review for me, and/or simply confirming my own experiences. The book focuses on the situation in the USA, requiring any Canadian reader to look at certain sections from a north-of-the-49th perspective.

For me, the real value came in the second last section, which dealt with “Living with an Angel.” As I welcome upwards of 20 or more angel investors into my business, I am definitely looking for knowledge on how to manage expectations while keeping everyone fully informed. I’m also interested in systems and processes that will help streamline all aspects of an effective relationship.

I’ll also include two conflicting reviews from Amazon.com, starting with the pro, then moving to the con.



From Amazon.com:
A real gem! In over 35 years as a serial entrepreneur, investment banker and angel investor, I've come across dozens of books addressing various aspects of raising money, writing a business plan and/or finding investors. Most rehash existing theories and consolidate existing sources of research and advice on the topic. Brian and Dee have done a remarkable job of gathering fresh information through direct interviews, original essays and new surveys. The result is a truly enlightening, useful and very readable work which should become The Bible for anyone thinking of starting a business, financing an existing one, or investing as an angel themselves.
A must read even for someone just interested in learning more about Angel Investing, a little known area of our economy which just happens to be one of the most powerful drivers of our free enterprise system.
Bob Geras,
President
LaSalle Investments Incorporated



Also from Amazon.com:
I am planning a new business, and payed for this book, along with express shipping, since it is very topical. I feel cheated since the book is completely worthless. My only consolation is writing this review.
There is not enough information in this book to make a newspaper article. Aside from very short interviews with Angels that are scattered randomly among the pages, the book consists of constant repitition of a few very simple ideas:
1. Angels invest their own money, VC invest other peoples
2. Some Angels may be able to help you with your business. Some may not.
3. Don't waste potential investors time, make sure your business plan is short and reasonable.
Thats the whole book. Many other reviewers (who signed themselves "A Reader") praised this book. I have to question their impartiality.
If you are planning a new business and looking for investors, I can offer you some free and valuable advice. Don't waste your time reading this book.
Daniel Ginensky

Coming To The Web

I’ve dedicated a lot of time over the past days to our center-level web pages. Our website, for Parmasters Waterloo Region, will live within the larger Parmasters Golf Training Centers website. Our center-level web pages are those pages within the site that focus on Waterloo Region.

We’re also starting conversations with leasing companies, for the equipment, and banks, regarding debt capital. In both cases, initial conversations have been very positive.

As I worked on the web pages, I was reminded of this quote. I’m not sure I would be “ruthless,” but the point is well made.

“If you lose dollars for the firm by bad decisions, I will be very understanding. If you lose reputation for the firm, I will be ruthless.” -Warren Buffet

I’m also reminded of an oft heard mantra from a friend and colleague, Jim Estill. “Fail often, fail fast, fail cheap.” By this Jim means experiment often, push the envelope, but do it quickly and economically.

What Are You Attracting?

Over the weekend, and into today, we finalized and then submitted an offer to lease space within a building in Kitchener, ON. As the offer has not yet been accepted, I can’t really get into details. We’re getting close, but of course, the deal may still fall through.

I’ve also spent many hours working on our website. The franchisor provides a solid template, but the local franchise owner must do the updates. I’m not convinced this is the best use of my time, but when something must be done and you’re a one-man show …

We’ve also finally set up a business phone line. Apparently it’s virtual. We can direct it to ring at any land or cellular line, which is very convenient. And we can also take it with us and make it a permanent land line when we open our site.

On Sunday afternoon I attended a hockey challenge organized by the local Toyota manufacturing facility. A team from Japan was in town to play against a local team. I believe the players were around 14 years old. The Japanese players were exceptionally fast and very gifted.

The entire experience took me back to a time when I was 14 or 15, and a touring European team came to our little town to play an exhibition game. The stands were full and there were lots of dignitaries, speeches and quite a ceremony. Not bad for our tiny little town. Unfortunately, our teams were not evenly matched. I think we won by about 10 goals. By the third period we were passing the puck to them.

The game on Sunday was much more evenly matched and very entertaining. Kudos to all involved!

I watched The Secret again over the weekend and was reminded of the assertion that everything in our lives today, we have attracted, via our thoughts, feelings and emotions. This is a powerful, empowering concept. I urge you to consider it, and watch The Secret yourself, soon and often!

Exceptional Customer Service

Customer service will make or break our business. As I’ve mentioned earlier, we’re building and operating Disneyland. Our business is all about highly effective marketing, to bring patrons in the door, and then incredible service, to keep them coming back. Pretty simple stuff really.

The topic of superb customer service came to my attention at least three times this week. Once during a board room discussion, and twice while interacting with “service” providers.

I went to a local sub shop and placed my order. It was just a tiny little counter in a small food court. There were three “staff” on duty, and they were having a lot of fun … while largely ignoring the customers, including me. They were throwing things, laughing loudly, trading inside jokes, using slang, etc.

Last night, I was at a local home renovation show. Basically two arena ice pads full of booths, with companies selling everything from mortgage solutions to gardening designs. I stopped at one booth and picked up a pamphlet. I stood there for close to a minute reviewing the pamphlet, before replacing it in the rack and moving on. There were two gentlemen “staffing” the booth, but neither approached me. They were both too busy talking to and laughing with a young, attractive woman that was “staffing” the next booth.

Lastly, earlier this week I was discussing parking at a particular site with my regional franchisor. In particular, we were discussing staff parking, and the need to ensure patrons had sufficient parking close to our entrance. I noted, and he agreed, that if we hired the right staff, we wouldn’t have to ask them to park in the far reaches of the lot (thus ensuring that patrons have access to the parking closer to our entrance). We wouldn’t have to ask them, because they’d already know, and they’d do so voluntarily.

When we receive exceptional customer service, we notice. Why? Because it’s very rare. At Parmasters Waterloo Region, we will deliver, on a daily basis, exceptional customer service. And our patrons will notice, and return.

Quiet

I’d like to share lots of details on what’s happening lately with Parmasters Waterloo Region, but they’re mostly very confidential. We’re in a bit of a quiet period.

Unfortunately, I’m fighting a cold through this “quiet period.” It’s a head cold. Very congested. I find it can affect my concentration, and energy level.

I started the day, as I start pretty much every day, with my bowl of cereal and the newspaper. I was saddened to read that John Keating, CEO of Com Dev, had suffered a health setback. I’ve blogged about some of his words recently.

I also spent sometime with an old friend who recently became a grandpa for the first time. Exciting times.

The bulk of the rest of the day was spent on all that stuff that I’m supposed to be quiet about.

Scheduled to work out tomorrow morning. The cold began on the weekend, and I’ve made it through two solid workouts thus far this week. Not sure I’ll run on the weekend. That tends to really aggravate my colds.

When we emerge from this “quiet period,” we’ll have news, and we will have turned a significant corner. Or perhaps I should say we will have hit a significant milestone. Either way, my day-to-day activities will change dramatically. Looking forward to the progress!

Blog, Blog, Blog

I didn’t blog over the weekend. There were two reasons really. First …

Let me interject. I tend to do that a lot. No, I’m not referring to the interjecting, I’m referring to the “First” noted above. I tend to list and number my statements in my writing, frequently. I’ve noticed this before, and even discussed it with a friend. I’m not sure if it’s my detail orientation, my mathematics degree (although not likely since it is a degree in mathematics, not arithmetic, or counting), or perhaps simply my way of writing as clearly and concisely as possible. I wonder what my Grade 9 English Grammar teacher would say about this….

Now, where was I? Yes, the reasons I did not blog over the weekend. First, I was very busy, and second, I’m in a bit of a blogging funk right now.

Saturday went pretty much as planned. I attended a coach’s clinic starting at 7:30am, and then we drove to Cobourg to attend a funeral at 3:00pm. From there we looped back to Whitby for supper with my parents. We were home just before 10:00pm.

I worked most of Sunday. I did break for a bit of lunch, and did spend half an hour with Val Kalnins of Parmasters Northern Ontario. And I didn’t work much after 4:00pm as my eldest son had a late afternoon hockey game. By the end of the day, I had little energy for another blog post.

Which brings me to my second reason (there I go with the numbering again), my blog funk. I believe this is primarily related to current activities within our business. We’re in the middle of negotiating a lease. This is occupying a significant portion of each day (it’s a rather important, long term decision) and I can’t really share much on that process. We’re also initiating some marketing activities and I also, of course, continue to raise equity capital.

I suspect, once the lease is signed, and we move into the next phase of building the business, my blog funk will quickly dissipate.

Busy Time

I’m a little behind. Quite a bit of email has piled up in the last few days, all of which requires a reply of some sort. Sunday will be a day of catch up.

Today was quite diverse. It began with a refreshing workout at 6:30am. Meetings included a web property/content development firm – they say they “aggregate web traffic.” I am considering dedicating a small percentage of my time to golf-oriented writing. This firm may provide a means for me to publish on the web. My goal is to raise my profile in the local golfing community.

I also met with Parmasters HQ to dig deeper into lease details. Negotiations continue. They’re moving along very well. The pace is appropriate.

I also sat down with a couple of bankers to discuss our debt financing needs. I simply wanted to ensure that our ratios were correct, that we had a very good chance of securing the necessary funds, and also to identify what hurdles we would have to cross to make our banker more comfortable. The two gentlemen I met with were very helpful. They expressed interest in our debt, which is more than I expected.

This evening I took my eldest son to hockey practice. Unfortunately there was an on-ice incident between two players, which then became an off-ice incident between one father and the coaches. Nothing too serious, but quite upsetting for many involved.

Saturday will be a full day. Once again this year I’ve volunteered to be an assistant coach on my son’s ball hockey team. As such, I must attend a coach’s clinic starting at 7:30am. It ends at noon, at which time we’ll be heading to Cobourg for a funeral. I also have a Spectradigital board meeting, to which I’ll be dialed in. They’ll call me in the car – hands free phone! – at 1:00pm. From Cobourg we’ll head to Oshawa or Uxbridge for supper with my parents. We haven’t seen them since Christmas.

Sunday I’ll be catching up on email, pouring over more lease details, updating web pages, hopefully meeting with Val Kalnins who runs Parmasters Northern Ontario, and tidying up a few sundry tasks.

Are You Good To Yourself?

It’s been a busy couple of days with meetings, events and a lot to accomplish. I introduced myself to two other indoor golf operators at a Chamber of Commerce event on Tuesday evening. I’d be happy to meet with them, but I’m not certain they’re keen to do so.

Larry King (CNN) dedicated another hour to The Secret recently. I recorded it and watched it late Tuesday evening. One quote stood out for me. Please note, I’m paraphrasing.

“Do you treat yourself the way you want other people to treat you?”

I’m very hard on myself, and always have been. I know many others that are equally tough on themselves. I demand a lot, whether it is a lot of work, a lot of skill, kindness, understanding, intelligence, knowledge, perfection, accuracy, etc. I suspect many of us are like this. We’re our own worst critics. And yet, how can we expect others to treat us better than we treat ourselves?

I then began to consider another quote.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” -Max Planck, Nobel Prize-winning physicist

So, as one extrapolates …

When you change the way you look at yourself, your self changes.

This took me ultimately to a quote favoured and indeed evidenced by my friend and colleague Hardy Premsukh.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavour.” -Henry David Thoreau (from Walden: Or, Life in the Woods)

And lastly, since I’ve been so actively quoting this evening, here’s one last piece of borrowed prose to bring some levity to this oh so serious blog post. This quote is largely unrelated to the above topic, and also sadly reflective of much of society (myself, and I’m sure you also, excluded).

“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the local BAR.” -television show, Drew Carey

I encourage you to treat yourself the way you want others to treat you!

Retired Competitive Curler

My last entry dealt with “productive days.” I had two of those over the weekend. Yes, unfortunately, this is still a time of working on weekends. Activity within Parmasters Southern Ontario is finally starting to heat up. We’re deep into lease negotiations. We’re starting some marketing activities. And we’re attracting more and more investor attention every day. More on each topic below.

Regarding the lease negotiations, you didn’t really think I could/would provide more details did you?

And the marketing activities. The franchisor lays out some 30 or 40 proven – primarily direct – marketing techniques and strategies. These are divided into three time frames around pre-opening, opening and ongoing operations. Lots of work to do. We’re starting with one or two special sections within the KW Record. They’re both coming out in April. Look for the Parmasters logo!

We’re also working on our website/pages (we’ll exist within the large www.parmastersgolf.com) site.

As for the investor activity, we’ve intentionally focused more energies and time on site selection and lease negotiation of late. Once the lease is signed, we’ll work night and day to quickly close the remaining financing.

On a lighter note, I did take some time off during Sunday evening to watch the Brier final. I recorded it, and then started watching it midway through, allowing me to fast forward through the commercials and boring parts.

I used to curl competitively. Certainly not at the Brier level, but only one step below. We had some successes. In years gone by we’ve played matches against some of the players and teams that were in the Brier this year. I recall in particular a great game in Ottawa against the team that represented Quebec this year. Our lead made just about every shot perfectly. We won handily. The team from Quebec was less than gracious in defeat. Unfortunate.

I “retired” from all curling after the 2003 season. We had played at every level, except the very top/elite. Basically, we’d been there and done that before. And to play at the elite level, you basically have to arrange your entire life around curling. I wasn’t prepared to do that. And truth be told, I’m not certain that I had the skill to compete at the elite level.

More Productive Days

I find that my ability to handle volume – the amount of work – waxes and wanes. I’m sure that’s very natural, and that we’re all the same. We have good days and bad, productive days and days when productivity slips.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to the factors that lead to good days, productive days, and the factors that lead to bad/unproductive days.

And clearly there’s a value system element to all of this. In the text above, I’m equating a “good” day to a “productive” day. That’s a value judgment. At this point in my life, and our business, I value productivity very highly. But others might equate a “good” day with a “lazy” day, or a “peaceful” day, or a “bright and sunny” day. All are value judgments. There’s no right or wrong answer. Just values.

I know that during a productive day, my energy is high, very little phases me. I can make decisions quickly and readily. I can quickly dispense of many small tasks and also really focus in for extended periods of time on more complex tasks.

And since we purchased the franchise rights to Parmasters, and we’ve been working at this business, almost all days are “productive” days. Very few are unproductive. That stems, at least partly, from passion, conviction, loving what you’re doing, having fun, having a clear vision/picture of success, and a clear plan/path to get there.

So the problem is not really productivity. And it’s not that I have many unproductive days. The answer is simply, how to eliminate the few unproductive days.

And of course, as I type this, I’m also reminded of life balance, and the writings of Jay Paterson within this blog. Always lots to think about.

Toss A Coin

I’m borrowing this post from Leadership Strategies by Briefings Publishing Group. I hope they don’t mind. I shared this concept with a friend on Wednesday and we both agreed it was a very unique approach.

From page 3 of their premiere issue.


Leaders Know The Value of Intuition

Much has been written about intuition, whether it should be relied upon or ignored in favor of concrete information. As a result of interviews with 60 decision makers, Ron Schultz has learned that many rely on intuition to make decisions.

For example, John Rollwagen, former head of Cray Research, has a favorite method for making decisions when intuition seems to be sending a message: Toss a coin. While you shouldn’t act on the results of the coin toss, note how you feel when you get your “answer.” Are you pleased? Disappointed? Pay attention to that feeling.

While not strictly logical, intuition does draw on a combination of experience, knowledge and analysis as well as a lot of “gut” information you may not even know you have.

- Adapted from Ron Schultz, Unconventional Wisdom (HarperBusiness, NY)


The same issue of Leadership Strategies includes the following quote:
“Never confuse activity with results.” –Lou Gerstner, CEO IBM

Calm Before The Storm

Activity is starting to accelerate within Parmasters Waterloo Region. We are also making more progress. We’ve been searching for a site (a location/building) for a very long time. Much longer than anticipated. We are now, finally, nearing the end of that search.

Indeed, I haven’t blogged much lately on business because we are now in a period of lease negotiations. I can’t really say much on that topic, for obvious reasons.

Like everything, working out a lease deal occupies a surprising amount of time. We have to run various projections based on different scenarios. There’s footprint (how much square footage) and layout (the arrangement of the equipment, rooms and features within our space) to consider. Further, there are a million little details within any commercial lease, all of which we must consider and negotiate. Such fun!

This is also a period of relative calm before the storm. Once we sign a lease, there will be a whole new set of tasks and we’ll become very schedule and budget oriented. We’ll start marketing and selling memberships. We’ll have a couple of months to finalize all financing, including bank and leasing company. We’ll be working on blue prints, permits, layout, interior finishes and all of the build out details.

Once we sign a lease, the fun begins. I’m working feverishly to get that lease in place in March.

Straight Down The Target Line

This is an interactive blog post. I hope you feel like getting up out of your chair and trying something, especially if you’re a golfer!

I’m going to show you one small example of how we can guarantee results.

At Parmasters our focus is golf game improvement. If you join us for a series of lessons, you will play much better golf. WE GUARANTEE IT! Yes, that’s right. If your game does not improve by at least 25% – that is a 25% reduction in your handicap, or the difference between your average score and par – you get your money back. Period.

How can we do that? We’re the only company in the entire industry that guarantees results from golf lessons. NO ONE ELSE DOES THIS. So how can we?

Because we teach a simplified golf swing that is based on anatomical certainties – that are the same for all of us – rather than teaching the traditional, complicated golf swing that relies upon athletic ability, timing and coordination. We call our method Straight-Line Golf ™.

That said, the golf swing we teach looks very traditional, so you will not feel self-conscious on the course. (Besides, when you’re always in the fairway, who cares what others think!)

So, I said I would show you one small example. Let’s start with the traditional golf swing. First, stand up and get into your golf stance/posture. Feet shoulder width apart. Knees slightly bent. Bend at the hips to tilt the upper body slightly forward. AND, shoulders back and head up. This is the traditional golf swing stance or address position.

Now, swing your left arm left to right, keeping it straight, as you would during a golf swing. No need to go all the way up into a backswing, or all the way through to a finish. Just keep your lower body still and gently swing your arm so that your hand travels roughly elbow height to elbow height on each side.

You will notice that your left hand is traveling in an arc around your body. Traditional golf swing.

Now, let’s try the Straight-Line Golf ™ method. Get back into the same golf stance. Head up. But this time, don’t keep your shoulders back. In fact, lift your left arm and move it to the right, across your body, such that your triceps (the muscles on the back of the upper arm) sit on top of or in front of (and touching) your chest. Rest your upper left arm, your triceps, on your chest.

Now, swing your left arm elbow height to elbow height. It may feel a little awkward at the start.

If I’ve described this effectively – and it’s much easier to do in person – then your left hand is no longer traveling in an arc. Instead, your left hand is now traveling straight down the target line.

Just think about that. What if all of your movement in your golf swing traveled straight down the target line, directly towards your chosen target?

We’ll be open later this year …

Astounding Individual

From Oxford:
Rainmaker – 2. N. Amer. slang a person who is highly successful esp. in business.

I was surprised by the definition. I’ve always thought of a rainmaker as someone that has a pronounced, very positive impact. Someone that gets the right things done.

I spent some time Friday with such a person. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be named with such praise being heaped upon him, but JP is truly a rainmaker, and not just vis-à-vis “business.”

We have a family friend that is struggling. I won’t go into the details. Let’s just say the difficulties run the gamut of the kinds of problems a family can face. She’s facing them all, together, right now.

We want to help. We’ve tried to help. We have helped. But there’s so much more help needed. We couldn’t organize our thoughts. So we asked the rainmaker for help. It’s not what he does. It’s not his business. But if he can make rain …

JP jumped right in. We started mind-mapping. Brainstorming. He made several calls. We very quickly came up with ideas that may be helpful on many aspects of the challenges that our family friend faces. I received emails, and voice mails after our meeting.

JP doesn’t know our family friend. All of the people that JP has enlisted to help don’t know our family friend. This is simply humanity in action. The Secret in action.

Of course, our friend may not embrace all of the help that will be offered. That’s up to her. Time will tell. The goal is not to meddle. The goal is simply to do all we can to help. The rest is up to her.

Have you made any rain lately?

Be Number 1, Or Number 2, Or Perish

Following on from my post yesterday …

John Keating of Com Dev noted that any plan for success must involve being number one or two in your particular market niche. We’ve all seen business plans that say the market is $10B and we’re going to ensure we get at least 5% of that market. A sure recipe for failure! If you’re bit player in a market, eventually you will annoy your much larger rivals, and they’ll squeeze you out. They’ll have far more sales over which to amortize their overhead, and much deeper pockets to withstand any temporary price squeeze.

It’s simple economics.

This meshes nicely with Blue Ocean Strategies, which I’ve blogged on before. The Blue Ocean theory calls upon companies to adjust their resource allocation as a method of differentiation. Many companies increase spending in a particular area – delivery time guarantees perhaps – but do not generate corresponding savings elsewhere. Thus, they drive up their cost structure.

The Blue Ocean approach emphasizes the need to reduce expenses in areas that do not differentiate you from others in your overall industry. Indeed, you may be dedicating resources to aspects of your product or service that matter very little to your customers.

In our business, a prime example is customer service versus selling services and products. If we dedicate more resources to service, we will increase sales via retention, referrals, more frequent customer interactions, etc. If we dedicate more resources to selling, customer service will lag, and we’ll likely have to dedicate even MORE resources to selling. The point is, you have to find the right balance.

In a Blue Ocean, in a true Blue Ocean Strategy approach, there is no other competition. You’re out there on your own. (Of course, we’ve also all seen business plans that ridiculously assert that the business has no competition, but that’s another story, another post …)

Humility

I attended a Communitech breakfast this morning. Since I had already had breakfast and read the morning paper before I arrived, perhaps I should just call it a Communitech “event.”

The opening speaker – I can’t recall his name or company, but they are involved in video production and have had some great success – started with a joke I enjoyed. “What’s the difference between pizza and an entrepreneur? A pizza can feed a family of four.” Great ice breaker. He spoke quite well.

The main speaker was John Keating of Com Dev. He focused on the wonderful story of ComDev’s recent – over the past several years – turnaround.

I’ve heard John speak once before and quite enjoyed his presentation. Today was no different. I think perhaps I’ve met him once before, but I can’t recall. We’re certainly not friends or even acquaintances, but I could tell from what he said – and he spoke without notes – that our value systems are closely aligned.

John came across as very humble. He spoke of the many brilliant people at ComDev and noted repeatedly that he was not one of them. He repeatedly acknowledged the great contributions all staff/”team” members had made. He spoke about the many stakeholders in ComDev (shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, the community at large) and how he takes the company’s responsibilities very seriously. Mostly though, he deflected the credit for the turnaround away from himself, and back on his team. He showed great humility. He admitted his own mistakes.

I sat there juxtaposing John with another local technology company CEO that I heard speak a couple of years ago. I’d describe them as polar opposites. The other fellow, who shall remain nameless, used the word “I” in every sentence. “The company was a mess before I arrived.” “I started by rightsizing our staffing.” (That means he fired a lot of people.) “I then looked at what we were good at, our core competencies.” “Then I …”

Well, you get the idea. Apparently the nameless CEO ran the entire company all by himself.

I value humility. I value selflessness and servitude/servant leadership. I believe a strong leader takes the blame but distributes the praise.

Abundance Versus Scarcity

I met with a competitor recently. We spoke for about an hour and a half, him enjoying a coffee and me some orange juice. He’s involved with another indoor golf experience in the area.

I use the term “competitor” loosely, because we each did a great deal of sharing and ultimately agreed to find ways to work together, for mutual benefit.

I have found that there are really two groups of people in business. There are those that approach life and business with a firm belief in abundance, and that there is more than enough stuff for everyone. And then there are those that operate in a belief of scarcity, and thus feel that they must horde and protect what they feel is currently or rightfully theirs.

I subscribe to the abundance theory, as does the gentleman with whom I met.

I’ve entered this business and purchased the Southern Ontario franchise rights for Parmasters because I believe there is massive demand for the services that we provide. I also believe there is massive demand for the services that other indoor golf experiences provide. We’re very different businesses offering dramatically different services.

So, it seems to me that there must be a way to partner with other indoor golf experiences such that we both benefit.

Now I’ll admit, the makeup of such a partnership is not immediately obvious. This will take some serious thinking. But I’ll also posit that it’s not as complicated, or as impossible, or insurmountable, as it may first seem.

If you begin with the unwavering belief that there is more than enough stuff in this world to satisfy the needs – and even desires – of all, then you start to see possibilities and opportunities where others see only challenges and problems.

The Moving Finger Writes

Very busy these days. Lots to do as far as site selection and attracting future investors.

On top of it all, I was called to jury duty today. I reported at 9:30am to the local courthouse. I was not selected as a juror, but was part of a large pool of candidate jurors – they used the term “jury panel” – from which the eventual 12 jurors and two alternates were selected.

For reasons that I shall not get into, I was excused from the jury panel. While I definitely believe in civic duty, I must admit that I was happy to get back to work.

As I sat there, in the court room, I also thought about the case about to be tried. At that point, I had no idea what the case was, who the defendant was, or any other related knowledge. But, clearly someone had felt they were wronged, or the Crown thought someone was wronged, or a crime was committed, and someone sat accused. A lot of pain. A lot of hardship. A very unfortunate situation that no doubt began many months or years prior.

I was reminded of one of my favourite pieces of poetry:

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
-The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam - Edward Fitzgerald - 11th century

5 Promises to Keep

Vickie L. Milazzo, founder and president of the Vickie Milazzo Institute, uses the following promises to guide her every decision. The magic of the promises is that they are simple and can work for any entrepreneur.

1. I will live and work a passionate life. Listen to your heart; then build your enterprise based on that passionate desire. When you wake up every day to a business you love, you’ll do what it takes to succeed.

2. I will go for it or reject it outright. Don’t spend your life in a holding pattern. Do it or forget it. Make a plan, and be realistic. Do you have time? Can you afford it? If not, reject it and come up with an attainable goal.

3. I will take one action step each day toward my ultimate vision. Unfulfilled dreams make people miserable. Acting on those dreams makes people happy. By taking action every day, you develop the habit and discipline to make your dream a reality. Success is in the motion.

4. I commit to being a success student for life. Anyone can launch a new business. Growing a successful business, however, requires learning every day from every available resource, including books, classes and especially successful mentors.

5. I believe I can do anything. Believing is 90 percent of the win. Imagine your success with sensory detail. If you believe you’ll achieve your goal--no matter what the challenges, no matter what anyone else tells you--you will succeed.

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This last point sounds very much like The Secret.

Have Your Prostate Checked Regularly!

Life works in mysterious ways. I had just sat down, approximately 30 minutes ago, to rough out this blog entry, and then carry on with some other work. I tend to do that. I’ll rough out an entry, an idea, and then let it percolate in the recesses of my mind as I work on other things. Then, when I return to complete the writing, I find the words flow much easier.

The trouble was, this evening, I wasn’t sure what I would write about. The day’s events did not bring a blog topic to mind.

And then the phone rang. My father was calling. My former hockey coach, a man by the name of Bruce Butterworth, had died today. He had fought a long battle with prostate cancer.

Bruce coached our team a few different times as we grew from four year olds that could barely skate, up into our teens. Our most memorable year was the 1982-83 campaign. That was the year we won our only provincial championship. We were in our mid-teens. Two years earlier we had made it to the finals, and were up three games to none, and then lost the next four. So the victory in 1983 was very sweet.

Bruce used to liken me to the Big ‘M’, Frank Mahovlich. Clearly he was trying to inspire me to greater feats, as my typical play certainly didn’t warrant such a prestigious moniker. But, like the Big M, I was a fairly reliable winger, playing my position, trudging up and down that right side of the rink doing the best that I could. Bruce understood that. He didn’t ask for perfection, just effort.

I knew Bruce was fading. He spent the final years of his life telling anyone and everyone that would listen to get regular prostate exams. He made it his final mission in life, to hopefully save the life of another.

SO, GET A PROSTATE EXAM ANNUALLY!

I called him, out of the blue, one Saturday in January. We hadn’t spoken much since 1983. I just knew I had to call and thank him for all he did for us. We had a good chat. He’s an … Isn’t that funny. I typed “He’s an” instead of “He was an.”

Bruce was an avid golfer. Fanatical really. He competed and I believe was successful at the provincial amateur level. So when I told him I was now in the golf business, we had a lot to talk about. He wanted to know all about the business. He wrote down some website addresses, and planned to have a look. I never did get back to him, to hear what he thought of what we were doing.

That final game of the 1983 championship series, we had three skaters on the bench. All year we’d played with five or six on the bench. Basically we had two full lines. But, through injuries and a suspension, we played that final game with just three of us on the bench. The other team had a full bench. And yet, we won.

We won that game, and the series, because our coach convinced us that we could win, and we deserved to win. For that, we’re all eternally grateful.

Book Launch

A friend, Tony Badea, is having a book launch and signing at Chapters (the Gateway Drive location). I wish him well.

The event takes place this coming Saturday, February 17, between 2:00 and 4:00pm. I invited Tony to blog here. His first book is titled “Driving Fore Sales Success.”

I was very productive today. I’ve been falling behind, but feel much better about things as I type this evening. I’ll likely work most of the weekend, and will then be back on top of things.

Next week I speak at a local high school. This has been organized by the Speaker’s Bureau operated by The Business & Education Partnership of Waterloo Region (BEP).

Basically, volunteers sign up to be part of the Bureau, and thus periodically venture out to a local school to speak to a group of students about career choices and related topics. The BEP operates an online, searchable, anonymous database of speakers. Teachers can search this database and select speakers that will benefit their students.

Typically a speaker will be called upon once or twice per year.

I’m looking forward to meeting the students, but must also prepare. Something else to do this weekend. I went into one engagement, several years ago, at a Kitchener high school, and attempted to “wing it.” The results were disappointing. I felt I let the students down. That won’t happen again.

Community

I skipped my usual workout this morning … and shoveled snow instead. I certainly wasn’t alone.

It’s interesting. We live on a quiet street. We tend to see our neighbours frequently through the summer, and yet very infrequently through the winter. I guess we all hibernate.

But a snow storm tends to bring the community back together. We’re all out there, struggling against the elements to empty our driveways and thus freeze our gas-guzzling vehicles. Brief exchanges occur. Mostly jokes about the weather, the amount of snow, etc. But also inquiries about the family, the children, the job, etc.

A neighbour three doors down was stuck. She’s on her own with several young children. I had left a message telling her to not even attempt to leave her garage. The drift in front of it was some five feet tall. I looked up and there she was, high and dry, her van suspended on a large mound of snow.

The two neighbours (in the two homes) between her house and mine have not been getting along, but we all chipped in, setting aside differences, and eventually freed the moribund minivan.

Just in case you haven’t guessed, there’s really not much business within this post. Today was about community. Of course – ok, just a little business – if we do our jobs well, our Parmasters Golf Training Center will be about community also.

Systems, Importance and Urgency

There are times when days simply don’t feel long enough. I’m currently going through such a time. Find myself falling slightly behind.

I made some adjustments to my productivity systems at the start of the year. I blogged about it here. I’m not really very happy with the change. Will review the book – Getting Things Done – again over the weekend. Perhaps I have not been true to David Allen’s recommended approach. Perhaps I’m actually using a hybrid of his suggested approach and my old tried and true approach. Perhaps that’s the problem. We shall see.

During our Franchise Owner Training last week, the franchisor presented the stats that will follow shortly. I did not get a source for the information, but I’m sure I can trust the franchisor’s figures. And even if they’re off a little, the point will remain unchanged.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with Stephen Covey’s four quadrant-model that defines tasks along two axis – Importance and Urgency. (I've blogged on this before here.) You end up with four quadrants. (I’ll simply list them here rather than trying to draw them.)

1) IMPORTANT and URGENT
2) IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT
3) NOT IMPORTANT and URGENT
4) NOT IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT

Clearly one would want to dedicate most resources (e.g. dollars, time, staff, etc.) to quadrants 1 and 2.

Here are the stats. Most companies apply their resources across the quadrants like this:
1) 25-30% – IMPORTANT and URGENT
2) 15% – IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT
3) 50-60% – NOT IMPORTANT and URGENT
4) 2-3% – NOT IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT

However, “high performing” companies apply their resources like this:
1) 25-30% – IMPORTANT and URGENT
2) 65-80% – IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT
3) 15% – NOT IMPORTANT and URGENT
4) Less than 1% – NOT IMPORTANT and NOT URGENT

So, where do you spend your resources?

Poor Blogging

I’ve been a poor blogger lately. (I had originally typed “bad blogger”, but I’ve always believed there are no bad people, and by extrapolation, no bad bloggers, merely misguided or misdirected people, and bloggers.) The last couple of days of our Franchise Owner Training were pretty intense. And once I was back home, well enough of the excuses.

Last Wednesday, I drove straight from the airport to a Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce event. It was a “new member” event, so we all got a chance to provide a 30 second advertisement at the microphone. I had just barely walked in the door when the mic was placed in my hands. I must have said something right, as a few minutes later I had several promising new contacts approaching me.

It took a while to adjust to the time zone change. Not sure why. I saw some late nights late last week. This threw off my workout schedule. I had done quite well while in Vancouver with two runs along the water and two great sessions in the fitness centre. I was back on track this morning, back in my basement and a familiar routine.

We’re currently in lease negotiations. That’s occupying most of my focus. We’re also at our first quarter-end with external investors on board. We’re developing new systems to ensure all of the reporting and other activities are completed effectively and efficiently. So far, so good.

We’ve built a really solid team of investors so far. By that I mean that they’re all team players, positive in their focus and outlook, and they’ll all contribute in ways that no other group can. I look forward to working with them, and all others that join our team, over the coming years.

For now, it’s time for some reading and preparation for tomorrow.

Make Sure The Job Is Worth A Damn

As we went through Franchise Owner Training this past week in Vancouver, it became increasingly clear that Parmasters subscribes to the sentiment in the quote below.

“If you want someone worth a damn in the job, you'd better make sure the job is worth a damn.” -television show, Commander and Chief

Unfortunately, the show didn’t last long. I say “unfortunately” because I enjoyed it.

Zip Trek

We focused on team building todayn soaring through the trees with Zip Trek Ecotours (www.ziptrek.com).

While they have a strong environmental message and commitment, most of the day with Zip Trek was spent suspended from long cables.

It's an interesting experience. You wear a harness all day. For each cable/run you and your harness are hooked up to the cable. You then step off of a platform and gravity takes over. Off you "zip", suspended bellow the cable, flying over or through the forest canopy. Great views and sensations.

We also learned about some lichen (not sure of the spelling) that grows about 1 cm every ten years! Amazing! We saw these seemingly delicate wisps of lichen that were 40 or 50 cm long. They were 400 to 500 years old!

Business feels great pressure to move very quickly. To deliver immediate results. That's partially due to limited resources, and competition for the investment dollar. Mother Nature, on the other hand, seems abundantly content to progress very slowly.

Is there a lesson here?

400 Members

Imagine a business that can generate enough revenue from day one to cover all fixed costs!

Imagine a business that opens cash flow positive!

Imagine a business that opens profitable!

All of these are possible, albeit progressively more challenging, within the Parmasters model. We're learning the systems, strategies and tactics that can make these images reality.

Today we did an exercise. In teams of two we had 30 minutes to develop a plan to sell 400 memberships within a single week, start to finish! Just in case you're not aware, 400 memberships in a week is astronomical! The plans were developed and presented. While they were a little rough around the edges, all participants agreed that the plans had a very high probability of success!

While energizing, today was once again exhausting. I was up at 5:45am for some breakfast and a run. The training started at 8:00am. There were few very short breaks. But lots of great learning!

Sunday is a fun day. Apparently we're off to Whistler, BC to trust our very lives to some thin steel cables. Hope they're not too rusty!

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

PM Memphis Very Satisfying

We've completed our first full day of Franchise Owner Training here in beautiful Vancouver. It was a long, draining day. Very intense at times. A lot of knowledge/information was passed from teacher (franchisor) to student (franchisee). I'm completely exhausted.

I can't blog much about the Training content obviously. It's all proprietary, copyrighted and highly confidential. However, one story came through that really resonated.

Parmasters Memphis is a beautiful 25,000 sq ft facility. When people see it the first few times their reaction is consistently one of wonderment, a large grin on their faces and "wow!" eminating from their mouths. I already knew this. I had the same reaction when I first entered the center.

I learned today that as people leave Parmasters Memphis, having spent an hour or two practicing or playing, most are VERY satisfied. Great news! Staff catch most people on the way out the door and ask quickly if they enjoyed their visit. Almost to a person, the response is always a resounding, fully-satisfied "YES", accompanied by a broad grin!

We at Parmasters Southern Ontario are extremely eager to find our location, open the doors and start generating similar - or even more passionate - reactions.

Time to re-charge my batteries before another long day of Training on Saturday. Plan to hit the fitness centre at 6:00am.

Systems Thinking ... And Buying

I'm sitting in the Hamilton Airport about to board. This is a great little airport. You drive up quite close to the terminal and park. Then it's just a very short walk into the terminal. Check in is just inside the doors. You're usually greeted as you enter, although that didn't happen this morning. Perhaps I didn't look very cheery.

I noted also, that there's no traffic light where the airport road meets highway 6 south (the main thoroughfare). Not enough volume I guess.

Unfortunately, check-in was not very smooth. There were three agents. Two of them were located beneath a large sign that read "Self-service check-in bag drop". Since no one was using the self-check-in option, most travellers lined up with the third agent.

It's a great sign. I'm sure all agreed as they viewed the final design in the meeting room. But, as Paco Underhill notes in Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping (previous blog entry, November I believe, not sure how to link when blogging remotely), the retail environment must be observed - the actual environment - before it can be analyzed and understood.

It's a lesson I take very much to heart, and that I will discuss this week at Parmasters HQ, as we clearly want our retail environment to function very well.

"Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behaviour. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behaviour." -Dee Hock

Travel Day

Tomorrow is a travel day. I’ll arrive in Vancouver around noon PST. That will leave the afternoon to get caught up on some reading, some meetings and other work.

Friday through Tuesday I’ll be immersed in Franchise Owner Training at Parmasters HQ. I’m looking forward to it. The days will be long and intense, but I’ll build stronger relationships with other franchise owners and HQ staff also. Plus, of course, this training covers a lot of what we purchased when we bought the franchise, a system for running the business.

I don’t travel much in my current role as franchise owner. Thus, my travel systems – how I organize myself, stay productive, etc. – are all a little rusty. I’m used to carrying a laptop, but do not currently own one. There’s very little need at this point. So I’ll be counting on my BlackBerry to help me stay connected. My reading materials folder is empty. But I have many books that I’m eager to dive into.

Early start tomorrow. Earlier to bed tonight.

Mobile Blogging

I'm testing Blogger's email posting abilities. You simply eatablish an email address - within the blog settings - and then send email to that secret address. Any email sent to that address is posted as a blog entry. The subject line on the email is the blog entry title. Cool!

Hope this works.

I head to Vancouver Thursday for 5 days of intense Franchise Owner Training. Since I won't have much access to a PC, but will have my BlackBerry, I'll rely on this this email posting capability.

This capability is a little thing, but it helps.

"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things ... I am tempted to think ... there are no little things. -Bruce Barton

How Will We Be Remembered?

Today was fairly quiet for Parmasters Waterloo Region. It was still very productive, but just seemed like a rather quiet day. We welcomed another investor on board, and had initial conversations with a few others. I also did some banking, bookkeeping and other administrivia. And they day started out with another fantastic workout.

Lately, each week, I’ve been tackling a new program/routine from my Men’s Health subscription. Most of these have concentrated on chest work lately. So each week, early on a Monday morning, it’s a bit of an adventure to open up the magazine and see what’s in store. This week’s routine involves some cluster sets at maximum weight, and then some strip sets (where weight is quickly stripped from the bar and more reps are performed). The cluster sets start with four reps – maximum weight – and then a fifteen second rest, with the bar still in hand, and another rep, before finally racking the bar. Then another fifteen second rest, another single rep, repeated till exhaustion. It sounded like fun … when I read it.

I had lunch with an old friend. We worked together some 17 years ago. Lots of reminiscing about former co-workers, times when we laughed until it hurt, times when we were ready to quit, and everything in between. We both agreed we learned a lot in those years.

The reminiscing left me wondering, how will the early years of Parmasters Waterloo Region be remembered? By me and my family? By our investors? By the franchisor? By our future staff?

One method of “goal” setting – sorry Jay (he dislikes that word and all it stands for) – involves establishing a vision of what you want to achieve, along with the date when you want to achieve it by, and then working backwards, setting incremental milestones. You then start by working towards the next/nearest milestone.

Another concept involves writing your own eulogy. When you bring a sense of mortality to the exercise, seemingly one tends to focus more clearly and precisely on the things in life that truly matter. But this process also leads to the concept of how one will be remembered?

This is something I plan to ponder more deeply? How do I want to be remembered? And how do I want our stakeholders to remember the early days of Parmasters Waterloo Region?

“Stephen Southern. Born 1966. Died 20?? in his ??th year. He was a witty and handsome fellow …”

Well, it’s a start.

Catching Up and Fundraiser

Today has been a day of catching up. I had fallen behind a little on email and other tasks. We’re also heading into our first quarter-end with investors on board, so I’m working with our bookkeeping and accounting.

Tonight we’ll be attending the annual fundraiser – dinner and silent auction – for Leadership Waterloo Region. It should be a nice night. One can have a lot of fun with a silent auction, although I must admit to enjoying a more vocal auction also. Several of our stakeholders (investors, future investors, etc.) will be in attendance also. So while it’s a social evening, for a great cause, it’s also business related.

Finding a location/site for our first center remains at the top of mind. This is absolutely our number one task right now. We are getting close with two properties, and there are other properties to consider.

While we’re eager to get started, we must also remain cautious and vigilant. Deciding on our location, and negotiating a favourable agreement, are two critical steps. We cannot and will not settle upon an unsuitable location simply because it is the best available option. While we must move as quickly as possible, we must also find a location and agreement that work well for the business.

Location, Location, Location

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in London, Ontario. The time was very well spent.

Wednesday was mostly meetings with city staff and a real estate agent. Thank you to all, including the wonderful people at Economic Development and Planning. They were all very helpful.

The city is very spread out. It takes close to half an hour to travel from the very north end, to the south end. And it can take even more time if you’re trying to go corner to corner, such as northeast to southwest! In Kitchener-Waterloo, we have a highway that runs through the cities. It’s a tremendous help moving traffic throughout the city very efficiently.

While Parmasters is most definitely a destination, there will always be a limit as to how far people will travel. I believe that most Parmasters members will be happy with travel time of 15 to 20 minutes, but not a lot more than that.

Most members will want to visit the facility at least weekly. One of their considerations, as they contemplate membership, will be the length of the commute.

So, in London, I believe we will locate in a fairly central location. Something close to Wellington Street, and south of the downtown core, may fit. This will give us proximity to most households in the city.

All of that said, we will still likely open our first site here in Waterloo Region. London will likely be site number two. That’s not carved in stone, but most likely. We are actively pursuing properties in Waterloo Region.

London Calling

Today was very productive. I obtained verbal commitments from two new/future investors. One transaction will be consummated – my wife laughed when I used that particular term – next week. The other at a later date, for various reasons. We also viewed some real estate, I played my weekly hockey game, got a brisk one-hour walk in, shoveled the drive, and have spent the past hour+ preparing for the next two days.

I’m spending Wednesday and Thursday in beautiful London, Ontario. Since it’s part of our franchise territory – Guelph, southwest, to Windsor – and since it will likely be the location of our second Parmasters Center, it makes sense to dedicate some time to learning more about the city. I’ll be meeting with real estate agents as well as city staff (economic development, planning, etc.). I’ll also do a fair bit of driving, visiting every industrial and business park in the city.

We’re considering London as the location of our first Center. Chances are we’ll open in Waterloo Region first, but London is a possibility. I’ll have a few things to work out with investors if we go this route. Again, highly unlikely, but possible.

Our eldest son has pneumonia. We suspect it started as a cold, but when the cough dragged on, he visited his doctor. Somehow we have to fit some chest x-rays into Wednesday.

It’s been interesting watching his younger brother through this ordeal. He’s become very compassionate and helpful. He’s always very kind, and they get along very, very well. But our younger son is also generally quite self-absorbed, as are most boys his age. But with his big brother sick, he’s been very helpful and very caring. He’ll tell him to put his socks back on, get to bed early, do his chores for him, etc. We’re very proud of both of them.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes

I Resolve To Stop And Ask

I’ve added some links to the right. So far I’ve concentrated on the major professional tours and local golf courses. I’ll likely add more links in the future. If you have suggestions, please let me know.

There’s no need for me to reinvent the wheel within the confines of this blog site. There are lots of wonderful golf hubs on the Internet. They provide links to news sources and much more. I will likely include links to these major hubs shortly.

As we sat through the funeral on Saturday it occurred to me that I tend to learn a lot about people at their funerals, as they are eulogized. I sat there rather displeased with myself. Why should that be the case? Why not ask people about their lives while their still with us, instead of hearing these fascinating stories from a relative after they’re gone?

I’m quite ashamed to say that this was the case with my very own maternal grandfather! I lost my paternal grandparents when I was quite young, but my maternal grandfather died fairly recently, in 1996. I remember his son, my uncle, noting grandpa’s love for newspapers and current events. He used to quiz my mother and uncle nightly, around the supper table, about news items from around the globe. They would have discussions. I had no idea. I have a similar interest in keeping abreast of the affairs of the world, and would likely have shared many more animated discussions with my grandfather, had I only asked.

Thus, suffice it to say, I have resolved to ask more people about their lives. To make more time to sit down and listen, truly listen. Everyone has many fascinating stories.

Here’s one more. Most people seem to enjoy this.

My paternal grandfather ran a bake shop. He’d have “traveling salesmen” stop by periodically, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, to sell him the latest gadget, or flour, or other items. One day he suspected a particular gentleman was stringing him quite a line. My grandfather had more sense, and tact, than to simply suggest that the man was not being truthful. So, the conversation apparently went something like this.
My grandfather: “You know, I was just wondering. You wouldn’t be lying to me by any chance, would you?”
Salesman: “Why, Mr. Southern, whatever do you mean? Why would you think that?”
My grandfather: “Well, it’s just that, well, you kind of remind me of me, when I’m lying to someone.”

There’s a lesson in there somewhere …

We Must Step Up The Stairs

It’s been another busy day in the life of Parmasters Waterloo Region. Great progress though! That’s the key. Seeing progress. Hence the truism, things that get measured get done. This is a major principle of all progress and self-improvement.

“Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.” -Vaclav Havel

The meetings started at 8:00am this morning and continued uninterrupted until after 4:00pm. I don’t have a lot of days like that. I also had to squeeze in many phone calls, mostly while driving (the calls were ‘hands free’) throughout the day. I worked to late last night, until after midnight, and thus today was a challenge.

Saturday morning we’re off to Whitby, Ontario to attend a funeral. My wife lost a dear aunt. This lady was a war bride, having met my wife’s uncle in Britain during WWII. They had more than 60 years together!

We’ll depart around 8:00am. I want to squeeze a workout in before we leave, and also have some errands to do before we leave. Early start, again.

We’ll likely spend the remainder of Saturday in the Toronto area. Perhaps we’ll visit the Art Gallery of Ontario, or go up the CN Tower. We have not yet decided, but do plan to do a family activity of some sort.

Sunday I’ll be back in the office, working away. Lots of catch-up to do.

Make Your Own Good Luck!

I’m taking the easy (blogging) way out this evening by passing on a link to a great article. “Get Lucky”, by Susanne Ruder was published in the December 2006 issue of PROFIT magazine. I do not know Susanne, but absolutely agree with what she has written!

The article basically focuses on the FACT that most people make their own luck. They repeatedly put themselves in the right place so the right thing can happen. They change the way they look at things, and the things that they look at change. They continually look for the positive, the opportunity, rather than the problem or road block.

This all dovetails very nicely with the teachings in The Secret, which is also a previous blog topic.

"Some succeed because they are destined to. Most succeed because they are determined to." -unknown

Enjoy the article! I’m off to prepare for wall-to-wall meetings Friday.

The Worst Shots In Golf

I was in meetings most of today. Lawyer. Investors. Site selection (finding a building/location). All very productive, including my workout first thing this morning.

Tired this evening. I’ve been staying up too late, reading. Lights out a little earlier this evening.

I thought the golfers reading may enjoy this. We’re all fallible, including the pros. This is an excerpt from an article titled The Worst Shots in Golf. The full article is available here.

From The Worst Shots in Golf:
Sandy Lyle, 1985 Open, Royal St Georges, 18th hole. Unusually in this selection, the man concerned still went on to win but it was a close run thing. Having started the final day of the 85 Open three shots adrift, Britain’s favourite golfing son gradually hauled himself back into contention and it looked as if a par up the 18th would be good enough for victory. But then Lyle’s approach found Duncan’s Hollow, a dangerous dip in the ground to the left of the green and the flagstick was perched just over a small rise. To get it close would need a delicate touch and at his first attempt Sandy had the touch of a donkey wearing boxing gloves. The ball came right back to his feet. But unknown to him at the time, immediately behind on the 17th, Bernhard Langer and David Graham were also making bogey, so Sandy’s second chip and a putt were good enough. Just. Stone me, said Sandy. Screw you, said Langer and Graham.

Moe Norman

Moe Norman was the father of the entire Single Axis (SA) golf movement. It’s a simplified golf swing whereby the shaft of the club and the left arm (for a right handed player) function as a single axis.

We teach Straight-Line Golf ™, which is an offshoot from SA golf. Straight-Line Golf was developed by Parmasters Co-Founder and Chief Golf Professional, Scott Hazledine. Scott is known as the Single Axis Golf Expert or SAGE for short.

Have a look at this site. I never knew Moe, but we have many mutual friends.

Disneyland Of Golf

We’re building the Disneyland of golf.

I started working on this analogy over the weekend. I’m sure there are some aspects that don’t fit. I’m really simply focusing on where both businesses – Disneyland and a Parmasters site – spend resources (time, focus, cash, etc.).

Building Disneyland is the easy part. Sure, it must be built to last, to withstand the traffic, to suit its purpose very efficiently and effectively, but none of that is terribly complicated.

However, to almost quote a famous Hollywood movie, “if you build it they will [not necessarily] come.”

Disneyland, much like a Parmasters site, is all about getting people through the gates/doors (i.e. marketing) and ensuring that all patrons have a great time while spending some of their money on location (i.e. service).

From the very first few times that someone hears about Parmasters Waterloo Region (Awareness), through to ongoing, targeted, revenue stream-specific marketing efforts (Interest and Desire), and finally on to their experience within the center (Action), every step must work effectively and efficiently. And each step, each customer interaction must be a very rich, enjoyable, rewarding and positive experience for the patron.

Disneyland (and Disneyworld) does this very, very well.

Parmasters Golf Training Centers, the franchisor, also does this very, very well. They realize this business is about marketing and service. They prescribe some 40+ highly effective marketing strategies, each proven to provide a massive return on the marketing dollars spent. As for service, the operations manual is very thorough. (I can’t get into very much detail here do to confidentiality issues.)

Lastly, since there will be a few customer interactions that are not “very rich, enjoyable, rewarding and positive,” we take all possible steps to ensure we learn from these interactions and do all that we can to make things right. Period.

On another note …

Today has been very productive. I often find that a fantastic workout leads to a fantastic day. But also wonder if a fantastic night’s sleep and attitude leads to both a fantastic workout and fantastic day. Causal relationships are never easy to discern.

The Dog Ate My Homework

It’s been a fairly quiet day in the life of Parmasters Waterloo Region. I started with a good workout, and added a to-do item; a web search for tips on the proper form when bench pressing with a Smith Machine. Proper form on the bench press involves keep ones elbows in – much like a good golf swing, coincidentally. Since I don’t have a spotter at home, I use a Smith Machine, rather than a bench press with free weights. I’m finding it very difficult to keep my elbows in.

The remainder of the day has been spent on office work, reading, yet another hockey game and touring a few potential locations for the business.

Over lunch, after the game, I asked my son what his coach covered in his post-game talk. Apparently, the coach told these young men that it was all the refs’ fault that they lost! I was absolutely astounded!

“All progress begins by telling the truth.” -Dan Sullivan

Blaming a loss on the refs is one of the major problems with minor hockey specifically, and minor sport more generally. Coaches are teaching children that they don’t have to take responsibility. They’re also teaching them that they cannot and do not control their own destiny. How debilitating!

“I was late because of traffic …”
“The dog ate my homework …”
“The other team cheated …”

Who cares? Suck it up. Deliver results.

“If it is to be, it is up to me.” –unknown

After a bit of a rant similar to above, I asked my son if the coach also noted the many calls that should have been made against their team but were not. For example, what about the two off side calls that were missed. And consider the blatant tripping infraction that wasn’t called, and the hook that drew no attention. Apparently these non-calls were not mentioned.

Lastly, aside from this post-game talk that I strongly disagree with, these coaches are doing a great job. Kudos to them for volunteering their time and efforts to coach these young men. I honestly and truly appreciate their efforts. (And yes, each year I volunteer to coach, and each year there are more than enough incumbents to fill all positions. It’s tough to break into the club.)

Good Progress Today

Early start today, preceded by a late night. I remained fairly effective today, but I suspect caffeine played a role.

I worked well into the evening last night, and then enjoyed some pure pleasure reading in bed. I’ve just started a Welcome Home by Stuart McLean. I enjoy his Vinyl Café radio programs. The book was a Christmas gift, from 2005! I feel guilty that it’s taken so long to get to it, and hope my in-laws aren’t reading this blog! I’ve simply been engrossed by business and productivity books of late.

This morning was a 5:30am rise to deliver my eldest son to his 7:00am school hockey game. We’ll be heading back to the same arena later this evening for a hockey practice. A second home.

Lots of good progress today – largely due to the caffeine intake – on both finding a location for our business, and building a team of investors.

I’ve also resolved – not really aligned with New Year’s – to dedicate 15-30 minutes weekly to speaking to another franchise owner within the Parmasters system. This afternoon I covered an array of topics with Matt Jeffrey of Halifax. Time well spent.

For now, I’ll leave you with this momentous thought:
“If profanity had an influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is.” -Horace G. Hutchinson

Golf Can Be Simple And Fun Again

I wanted to follow up on Tony Badea’s post from yesterday. I didn’t comment yesterday because the post was long enough – and very informative – on its own.

Tony noted that “many golfers are frustrated at their level of play.” We at Parmasters definitely agree. And we’re here to help. If you participate in our training, you will achieve a 25% reduction in your handicap (or your average scores relative to par if you do not track a handicap). We guarantee it!

Tony also notes that both golf and sales “are thought of as simple pursuits but are in fact very difficult to accomplish successfully.” I will not argue about sales. Tony is the sales expert. Not me.

When it comes to golf, I agree the traditional golf swing is “very difficult.” But, for those that adopt our Straight-Line Golf ™ techniques, golf becomes simple and far more enjoyable!

Now that that’s been clarified …

It’s been a busy week so far. We’re finalizing lease offers, cleaning up a bunch of tasks, and also continuing to meet new future investors.

And then my Blackberry stopped working! Yikes! It was old, and had served me well. It’s been replaced. Gone, but not forgotten …

Putt for Dough

I posted previously about Tony Badea and his use of golf as a metaphor for sales. I invited Tony to prepare a post. So, without any further adieu, I'll let Tony take it away ...


There’s an old saying that you “Drive for show; Putt for dough!” While this is certainly true of the game of golf it can also be said for the world of selling. How many times have you given a killer presentation only to fumble when it came to asking for the order? The presentation itself does not guarantee a successful sale. Like golf, you must master all aspects of the selling process to increase the odds of closing the sale.

Many golfers are frustrated at their level of play because just when the driver is starting to feel good in their hands their putter fails them, or their short game. It’s the same for salespeople. The sales call may be going great but then you fumble handling an objection or freeze when asking for the order. Talk about frustrating!

Selling and Golf have one main thing in common; they both rely on flawless, systematic execution to produce satisfactory results. Both are thought of as simple pursuits but are in fact very difficult to accomplish successfully.

They also have other things in common:

• Both are stressful. One wrong move can undo everything you’ve worked hard to achieve.
• Both require mental energy. Steady nerves are the key to the game between the golfer and the course, or the salesperson and the client.
• At the professional level, you have to win to eat. Your pay is dependent on your performance. If you win (close the sale) you get paid and keep your job. If not, you’ll be living on peanut butter sandwiches and sleeping in your car.
• It’s Fun! Golfers and salespeople wouldn’t keep doing it if it weren’t fun.
• They both use a repeatable system for consistent results.
• The top participants were taught a system for success.

Without understanding the basic fact that there actually is a system for sales success most salespeople skip or ignore key components to the sales process. Let me give you an example. In golf, if you were standing on the tee box of a 560-yard, Par 5 hole at your local country club, you wouldn’t take out your putter to use off the tee. Or course not! That would be stupid and foolish. Instead, you would use the club that offered the best chance for getting the ball as far as possible down the fairway; your driver. Next, assuming that your ball landed in the fairway, you would use a fairway wood or long iron while still keeping your putter in your bag. Next would be a short iron for an approach shot. Your putter would only make an appearance when you were somewhere near the green and you wanted to roll the ball in the hole. Good golfers know that there is a systematic approach to golf!

As a professional salesperson you have to understand that there are steps to the selling process as well. If you miss or short-cut these steps you are setting yourself up for failure. What if went into a sales call and before even saying hello, asked for the order? You’re right; you would probably be thrown out of the office. What if you went through the entire presentation and then forgot to ask for the order? Your customer would probably thank you for your time and then buy from someone else.

Let’s face it, if you want to be a good salesperson then you must take the time to learn and execute the proper steps of the sales cycle. These are:

• Planning and/or preparation
• Introduction or opening
• Questioning
• Presentation
• Overcoming objections/negotiating
• The close or closing
• After-sales follow-up

The quicker you strengthen your skills in these key competencies then the faster your sales numbers will grow. Now you can do this by working year after year, struggling to learn by trial and error or you can do what most professionals do; learn from those who came before them. Most people have used or adapted a successful system others have developed rather than struggle themselves.

Golfers have done it for generations. Many professional golfers today use a grip called the “Vardon Grip” that was popularized by the great Harry Vardon at the tail end of the 1800’s over 100 years ago! (Trivia time: What people don’t know is that Harry’s grip was actually invented by a Scottish amateur named John Laidley years before.) The game of golf has become popular because anyone can be taught how to play by those who already know how.

You can be taught how to sell properly! Sales training courses, like Driving Fore Sales Success, teach sales skills that have been used successfully by others for years! Learning from those who have been on the “Fairways of Sales” will ensure that your selling career will flourish and help you break “Par” faster then you ever thought possible.

So I encourage you to take the time right now to learn a sales system so that you can become the “Sales Professional” that I know you were meant to be!

Tony Badea is President of Stonebridge & Pippin, a sales training organization based in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. He is the author and creator of “Driving Fore Sales Success”, a sales training system that uses the systematic approach of golf to teach salespeople that selling utilizes a repeatable process for success. His 22 years of real-world selling and his love of golf make him passionate about what he does. He can be reached at tbadea1636@rogers.com.

© Stonebridge & Pippin 2006
By Tony BadeaSpeaker, Trainer and Author of Driving Fore Sales Success

New Systems Put To The Test

Today was the first real, full-impact day after the holidays. While I did work last week, most of the week was spent cleaning up old tasks, brainstorming, catching up on my reading and adjusting my personal productivity systems.

Today was also the first full day using said new systems. It went well, but I’ve under-estimated the complexity of the change. It will take several days to really hit my stride, and perhaps weeks to feel truly comfortable with this new approach.

Apparently, as I was blogging on Friday evening, Stephen Ames was busily giving a few strokes back to the field. Congratulations to Vijay Singh on his Mercedes-Benz Championship victory and the accompanying 4,500 FedExCup points. Ames finished T11.

This week the PGA Tour moves to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Sony Open in Hawaii, where David Toms is the defending champ.

The Champions Tour season begins this week in Maui, Hawaii with the Wendy’s Champions Skins Game, where the defending champs are Dana Quigley and Raymond Floyd.

The Nationwide Tour starts in a couple of weeks.

The LPGA Tour kicks off next week.

And finally, the Futures Tour waits until March for its first tourney, and the Legends Tour starts in April.

The Ladies European Tour starts next week while the European men get started this week with the Joburg Open in Johannesburg, South Africa. This is the first staging of the Joburg Open.

And that list merely scratches the surface of tournament golf around the globe! Stay tuned for our first inter-site Parmasters tournaments. I’m quite certain Waterloo Region will have to challenge Halifax shortly after we open!

Getting Things Done by David Allen

I’ve dedicated the weekend to adjusting my personal productivity systems and processes. This effort has been at least partially driven by one of my Christmas presents, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.

I have adopted several of David’s concepts and many were already part of my arsenal. Others simply didn’t seem to work for me.

David lays out an entire system for, well, getting things done, and doing so in a stress-free way. The book is well-titled! While you’ll have to read the book to pick up on the many nuances, I can summarize a few of his guiding principles.

1) Be In The Moment – Focus all of your mental abilities on the task at hand, whatever that task may be. To do this, you cannot have other tasks, or lists, or appointments that you’re trying to remember cluttering your mind. Implement systems to capture all of your tasks, your lists, project details, appointments, contact information, etc., and ensure that these things are captured outside of your mind. Thus, freeing your mind to focus.

2) You Must Capture All Of Your “Stuff” – Your system will not work, you will not trust it, and it will not leave your mind unfettered to focus on the task at hand if you do not capture absolutely ALL tasks, lists, appointments, etc. You must be exhaustive.

3) Maintain An Ongoing Project List – David defines a project as any to-do item that will require more than one step to complete. Review this list at least weekly.

4) Next Actions Must Always Be “Actions” – David suggests that you do the hard thinking about a task/next-action as you’re depositing it into your system. As an example, “Brakes fixed” is not a next-action. You can’t simply do “brakes fixed.” Rather, you may note a next-action like “Call garage to book appointment to get brakes fixed.” The former example requires thinking before execution, and thus may lead to procrastination. The latter example requires no thinking whatsoever, only doing.

5) Have Buckets To Collect All Of Your “Stuff” – Examples include a waiting-for file for items that you’ve assigned to someone else; a someday-maybe file for items that are not actionable, but may be someday; a tickler file to allow you to mail things to yourself in the future, etc.

There are many other reviews available on the web. I believe this one is quite accurate.

I highly recommend Getting Things Done. Reading it is easy. Implementing the systems will take a little longer.

PGA Tour Season Begins

For those of us that enjoy following the pros, it’s nice to see the PGA Tour season kicking off. And it’s also nice to see – at the time I’m writing this – a Canadian, Stephen Ames, at the top of the leader board.

There are lots of changes on the PGA Tour this year. The FedExCup will certainly cause many players to alter their schedules. It should also be lots of fun to watch. As they say, “these guys are good,” and I’m quite certain that the $10M first prize will have them doing their very best to be good at the right times.

And those of us that subscribe to the Golf Channel can now see Thursday and Friday round coverage of PGA Tour events! Great news!

I saw a little of the Mercedes-Benz Championship on the Golf Channel last night. The wind seemed very strong.

Rocco Mediate – while I’ve never met him, he just seems like a great guy – did a little course introduction piece for the Golf Channel focusing on the first five holes at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort. He noted that the wind was a critical factor on the first five holes, making it a very tough start. If a golfer gets through those holes well, he’ll be heading into a series of birdie holes with a great mind set. If he struggles on the first few holes, he’ll head into those birdie holes either (a) down on himself or (b) too aggressively trying to make up ground. Either way, disaster.

I think there’s a strong lesson in those few words for all amateur golfers, myself included. Stay in the moment. Put the past in the past. Focus on the present. Execute the next shot perfectly. And then the next.

“There is one thing we can do, and the happiest people are those who can do it to the limit of their ability. We can be completely present. We can be all here. We can ... give all our attention to the opportunity before us.” -Mark Van Doren

Sales Training And An Amazing Golf Resume

I recently met Tony Badea over breakfast. Through his company, Stonebridge & Pippin, Tony provides robust, all-encompassing sales training AND he uses golf as a metaphor for the sales process. We didn’t get into a lot of details over a quick breakfast, but initial prospecting, cold calling, etc., is akin to teeing up the ball. Closing the deal equals putting out.

I have a copy of his book, Driving Fore Sales Success: A Sales Training System, but have not yet read it. (My stack of books-to-read tends to balloon with Christmas gifts!) When I do read it, I’ll post a review.

I’m also going to invite Tony to write a post for this blog. He’ll clearly do the topic much more justice than me.

Tony would obviously prefer to host his seminars in a golfing venue. We think this would be a perfect fit for Parmasters Waterloo Region, and a strong compliment to our Business Golf Seminar series (keys to hosting successful business meetings within a golfing environment). More discussions will follow.

I’ve also just sent out our latest bi-weekly update. I assemble an email update bi-weekly to keep our many supporters and stakeholders informed.

In creating the update, I researched Scott Hazledine’s golfing resume. Scott is Chief Golf Professional and Co-Founder at Parmasters Golf Training Centers. He was a touring pro for many years. He also developed the golf training system that Parmasters offers, Straight-Line Golf ™.

Via Straight-Line Golf, we guarantee that we’ll reduce your handicap by 25%. If you do not achieve a 25% reduction in your handicap, you can either have your money back, or we’ll work with you until you achieve the 25% reduction. Your choice.

Upon reviewing Scott’s resume, it’s clear that Straight-Line Golf helps him hit the ball VERY straight. He holds 22 course records. He’s recorded 19 holes-in-one and 8 double-eagles … so far!

Time Well Spent

‘Tis the time that many of us pause and consider some of the larger questions in life. What is my purpose? What’s important to me? Am I doing what I love? If not, why not? Etc.

I’ve been doing the same. My thinking often gravitates back to productivity, how I approach the work that I do, how I balance work and family, etc.

Interestingly, I read an article today in the December 2006 Harvard Business Review (HBR) titled “Extreme Jobs: The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek.” Despite the authors’ best efforts, and with all due respect, I didn’t find much within the article that was surprising.

They touched upon the pressures that people feel, but also the fact that many people work long hours and love their jobs. They noted some of the standard dangers – poor relationships, poor health, burn-out.

What I really found interesting were some of the anecdotes in the article, describing real people (identities hidden) and their experiences. Such as the fellow that works upwards of 120 hours per week! Or the gent that works six days per week, and gets home, to Connecticut, to see his wife and children, only on Sundays.

And I thought I logged a few hours!

As I’ve posted on previously, I work longer hours now, than I really want to, because I’m building a business. Eventually, according to plan, the business will operate very successfully with less time from me. But during this building phase, my time is very much in demand.

I’m actually currently challenging – or rethinking – my entire schedule, the way I organize tasks, track success, etc. I’m not sure I’ll make any grand, sweeping changes. The changes may be minor tweaks. But I’m not sure. I’m early in the process. I expect it to take a lot of this week. I believe it’s time well spent.