Business is Golf in a Suit
01 November 2011
By Simon Starr
There has always been a strong link between business and golf, with many a deal being nutted out between drives, chips & putts. If you are a business owner, then golf has many lessons and analogies that you can use to your advantage in your business, especially when it comes to your team.
Golf is a lot like business in that it is a series of challenges broken down into smaller tasks.
A round itself is 18 individual holes that creates an experience for the player. Similarly a business is a collection of individual roles that creates an experience for the customer.
To score well, you need to play each hole well, just as a great score in business requires everyone to perform their roles effectively.
In golf you record a score at the end of each hole, and it will be under par, on par or over par. Likewise each role in business should have measurable KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and performance outcomes, such as production levels, billable hours or sales budgets. Team members will come in under budget, on budget or over budget and this will in turn generally affect their next effort. Keeping score is important on a number of fronts.
Collectively, the first 9 holes make up the 'Front 9'. All of your customers or clients have a 'front-of-house' experience made up of the marketing, selling, delivery and servicing that you offer them. These touch-points collectively represent your reputation or brand.
Equally important to a good round of golf though is an effective 'Back 9', which in business is your 'back-of-house' operations such as planning, management, systems and cashflow.
Good golfers like good businesses demonstrate one commonality: consistency. You must be both efficient and effective with your shots to consistently be successful. So make every shot a winner and enjoy racking up a match-winning score in the marketplace.
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