Give a Little to Get a Lot!

Early in my professional career, I left my associate professor position at the University of Florida and moved to South Florida to start my Sport Psychology consulting business. Thankfully, the Director of Instruction at the Academy of Golf at PGA National, Mike Adams, was gracious enough to invite me to join his team of instructors and incorporate mental skills training as part of the Academy’s golf schools. The opportunity provided me with a base level of income upon which I could begin growing my private consulting business.

Each week, along with the other Academy instructors, I would commit several days to work with the students enrolled in our weekly golf schools. The remainder of the week was ours to fill with private lessons or other activities. The more private lessons we had, the more income we would generate.

The unfortunate reality was that most of our private days looked like this:

• 8:00 am lesson,
• 9:00 am lesson,
• 10:00 am opening,
• 11:00 am no show,
• 12:00 lunch,
• 1:00 pm – lesson,
• 2:00 – 3:00 pm rain shower thus rescheduled lessons,
• 4:00 pm – no more lessons so headed to the course and played golf until dark.

In other words, we often spent the entire day at the golf course, yet only worked 3-4 billable hours – certainly not a formula for business efficiency, growth, or success!