Photo Credit: Courtesy Of Keller Pointe Recreation and Aquatics Center
Photos: Courtesy Of Keller Pointe Recreation and Aquatics Center
In recent years, the trend in local government is to operate recreation facilities more like private-sector businesses. Facilities are often built and operate with great success initially, but the challenge that directors face comes in maintaining the facilities and staying relevant in the market beyond the first 10 years. Several factors contribute to the long-term success of facilities. The following are some helpful tips that decision makers can utilize to lay a foundation and take steps towards increasing profitability.
Develop A Clear Roadmap To Success
Success doesn’t happen by accident, nor do successful facilities wait for direction from elected officials. Astute decision makers have an eye for the future, notice trends, and identify where there are gaps in market offerings and seek to fill them. Developing a roadmap for staff members that clearly outlines where the facility currently is, what it should be in the future, what the revenue goals are, what upcoming capital expenditures need to be planned for, and ways these goals will be attained is a must. With this roadmap in hand, a department can stay on course when city leadership changes as well.
Determine What Your Market Differentiators Are
If another facility in your area does something extremely well, don’t try to copy it. Identify what makes your facility special and focus on those areas. For example, I managed a facility in an area that had a high percentage of affluent families with school-aged children. Our birthday party program at the time was moderately successful because it was inexpensive and catered to non-residents with lower incomes. Rather than continue with that model, we decided to completely change our offering to an all-inclusive service that appealed to our residents, and gave parents the option to add a character appearance for an additional fee. All phone calls were then funneled through a select few staff members with sales experience who explained and sold the parties a certain way. The result was a 40 percent increase in the base package price and an additional $60,000 in annual revenue.