“OUR PLAN IS OUR POWER”
How two small areas grew their bottom lines, engaged staff and customers, and future-proofed their businesses.
BY CLAIRE HUMBER, PRINCIPAL, SE GROUP
tenance on snowmaking over a two-year period just to retain its existing capacity. “You’re dumping money down the well and you’re staying the same,” says Hare. “Where are you moving the needle?” Their strategic plan clarified a shift in strategy to investing in new equipment. Developing such a plan starts with tracking key operating metrics to estab- lish a baseline, and then looking at the potential financial effects of possible improvements. The resulting plan can be used to evaluate an existing operation, help pinpoint opportunities for growth,
and serve as a guide for the phasing of any improvements and a tool to help monitor their progress. IN PRACTICE The following two case studies illustrate key fundamentals and how they can lead to success. The subjects are Boler Moun- tain, an urban/suburban area in London, Ontario, and Poley, a more rural ski hill near Sussex, New Brunswick. Both moun- tains would be in the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) “small” areas catego- ry. Both have seen incremental growth
How can small areas, or even large ones, find the working capital they need to succeed? By adopting a stra- tegic business plan that focuses on key revenue and expense numbers. This gives ownership and manage- ment teams the ability to tighten up operating metrics for maximum effi- ciency and return on investment. For example, a strategic business plan can help gauge the value of maintenance vs. capital spending. At Canada’s Poley Mountain, GM Jamie Hare points out that the ski area spent $150,000 in main-
INFOGRAPHIC: Sound strategic business plans follow fundamental principles, such as being data informed, incremental and implementable, and grounded in business needs. Credit: SE Group .
TOP: Incremental investments in summer program- ming at Boler Mountain, such as a weekly mountain bike race and a local volleyball league, hosted intentionally on the same night, grow from local market demand. BOTTOM: A 2012 strategic plan helped clarify Boler’s business case for bank loans for major capital projects including the 49,000-square-foot chalet it built in 2017.
Photo credit: DJ Rycroft .
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