Business Nightmares

I was recently watching one of my few guilty pleasures that can be found on a television set. The show is "Kitchen Nightmares" and it tracks Gordon Ramsay as he shows up to help an underperforming restaurant get their act into shape. Not known for diplomatic tact, Chef Ramsay tears into managers and owners with a verbal sledgehammer as if they've spent the last 4 years teaching kindergarten kids how to smoke. Little is left when he's done ripping everybody apart. That's when he begins re-crafting the focus of the restaurant to better reflect what will actually be of value to the community.

What fascinates me is that in nearly every single case, the problem is exactly the same as the problems he faced in previous kitchens. Very simply, the owners aren't listening to the clients.

In one case, a woman complained that her food was too cold. The waiter took the food back to the kitchen where the entire plate was put into a microwave for a quick nuking. When it came out steaming about 35 seconds later, she shook her head and commented (quite correctly) that it was clear that they had just microwaved it. Having spent good money for what she hoped would be a good quality meal, she was annoyed. The owner then stepped out into the dining room and berated her for her comment, falsely claiming that it hadn't been microwaved. Think she's ever coming back?

In another case, a young man had grand visions of a unique type of pizzeria. He forged ahead with his vision, hardly noticing that he almost never got repeat customers. When people came in, it took about 5 minutes to explain how the restaurant worked. Thoroughly confused, they would either leave to find simpler fare elsewhere or give it a try, find that it wasn't worth the effort, and never return. The owner couldn't understand why it was failing, yet forged ahead with his initial plan valiantly (or would that be "stubbornly?")

Cases of lousy food, poor service, and weird combinations are everywhere. The owners cannot understand why things are failing, yet they maintain their current method of doing business out of fear. What are they afraid of?

Running a customer service business is difficult on many levels. One practice that should NOT be difficult is, ready for it?.... ready?.... LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!! For some reason though, these restauranteurs were unable and unwilling to do just that. WHY?

We get client comments all the time on how we should improve our business. Often times the comments are contradictory, impractical, or just poorly thought out. They are ALL well intentioned though, and we'd be foolish to simply dismiss them. Instead, we listen closely for the good ideas, and try to implement them. When we haven't heard from clients in a while, we reach out to them and ask "how can we get better?" Guess what. They love to tell us, and we love to hear it. Almost EVERY single time, we come out of the endeavor with great new ideas for improving our business, and we don't have to invite a foul mouthed British celebrity to scream us into submission. I read a book many moons ago that had a lot of business tips. One that stuck with me was this: Good managers get all the good news first. GREAT managers get all the bad news first. If you aren't ready to hear the bad news, how are you going to know how to improve?

Columns of Steam

As many of you may know already, I am a graduate of Penn State's Turfgrass Science program. In 1994, I confidently marched out of the doors of Penn State with a Turfgrass Science Bachelors degree in hand. I was ready to take on the entire golf course industry to become a top notch Superintendent. Needless to say, plans changed along the way.

One of the primary motivations for quickly exiting the golf course industry was the lack of control that I felt I would have as a superintendent. Let's face it, careers and jobs revolve around people. You may be able to create an oasis of a golf course on a slim budget, but if you rub the wrong people the wrong way (figuratively speaking, of course), your days could well be numbered. Yes, high quality work goes a long way toward keeping one's job. Unfortunately though, there will always be an element of uncertainty no matter how well you do. I doubt there are many of us who don't know of a superintendent who has been dismissed for questionable reasons.

The sad part of it is that I really, really enjoyed the process of maintaining a golf course. There's just something magical about watching the sunrise as the steam rises off a pond right next to the green that you are about to mow for the day's play. Sometimes, the vapors form a column that seems to rise directly to heaven. The phenomenon is short lived, but absolutely gorgeous. I could go on, but suffice it to say, there are many aspects of running a golf course that are similarly unmatched anywhere else.

I just returned from attending the Golf Turf Conference sponsored by Penn State University. As always, it was an extreme pleasure to visit my Alma Mater, connect with old friends, build new friendships and learn about the state of the golf course industry as it is today. It turned out to be an interesting blend. Some of my old schoolmates are doing extremely well, and have built highly successful careers. Many others have moved into other aspects of the industry. Still others had been dismissed from their jobs as recently as that month with no warning, very little severance, and few options. Other conversations revolved around an apparent growing trend of general managers squeezing the maintenance budget ever tighter while demanding even better results.

The business of running a golf course is a grueling one to say the least. I've never actually gotten to hold the reigns, but I've seen it close up. Working over 80 hours a week is not uncommon. Labor Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, July 4th, and many other holidays are all standard work days. Many courses hold tournaments on those holidays, so the Superintendent and his crew actually get an increased workload instead of time with their families. I haven't seen actual studies, but word of mouth seems to point to high use of anti-anxiety medications, smoking, and other methods of combating stress.

Sure, there's no such thing as a perfect industry where jobs are 100% secure, pay is high, and stress is low. It just seems to me that the golf course superintendent is in a particularly unsteady spot. It's really not just about growing grass well. It's about knowing the right people, pleasing the right people, not annoying the wrong people, and knowing who are the right people and who are the wrong ones. That kind of political know-how does not come easy, and is one big factor in separating the big boys in the industry from the smaller players.

I do NOT know if my observations are correct, but I think they're pretty close at a minimum. I do know that I would not have made a very good superintendent. I'm just not the kind of guy to play the political games very well. I far prefer direct interactions with clients. If one client is upset with me, I try to make it right. If they cannot be pleased, I might lose a client. I won't lose my job. That's a pretty big distinction for me. As a business owner, I set my schedule and work to the extent that I feel it appropriate. Sure, I could bang out 80 - 90 hour weeks and build the business much faster, but I'd rather coach my one son's baseball team or the soccer team of the other. I'd rather spend weekends with the family strolling through Central Park in New York City or camping in the woods of Litchfield County, CT. I enjoy getting into the gym 5 days a week without worrying about whether or not the 6th green is going to survive the afternoon sun. Stress is low, income is quite good, family time is plentiful, and I have complete control over where I go and what I do with my life. I do love my career and my work. I just don't want to do it non-stop.

Still, I really, really miss those columns of steam...