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THE REST OF THE STORIES

TAKING THE FUN OUTSIDE

(continued from page 36) in adding, ask builders and suppliers how much space would
be needed to accommodate it. They should be able to pro-
around 130 per month. Those venues were home to more vide a range, from “bare bones” to “full blown.”
than 50,000 known courts. Every state now has pickleball Next, look at your parking lot. Many centers have lined
courts. parking spaces on three sides of the building. Could one of
But here’s the “great unknown” that proprietors must those areas accommodate a new attraction?
ponder: A significant percentage of those places do not An ancillary consideration revolves around whether that
charge any type of court-use fee. So before one invests in space actually is available. In many cases, the answer will
a pickleball court addition, it’s critical to know how many be related to the age of the business. A center built during
courts already exist around them and whether they are pay- the golden age of league building likely has more parking
to-play or free-for-all venues. spaces than one built more recently.
It’s difficult to compete against free, unless one considers If you need to convince yourself that you have enough
pickleball a “lure” or loss leader for bringing people to the space, monitor the parking lot for a month while leagues are
center with the hope that they’ll spend money on other at- still in session. Each day, walk outside at the top of each hour
tractions, food and/or beverages. and count how many cars are in the lot. Besides helping you
get in your daily steps, this will provide you with the data
The Space Formula you need to determine whether an outdoor expansion is
So, does your center have the space to accommodate an possible.
outdoor attraction or two? Here’s how to figure it out. The more attractions — indoors and outdoors — you can
Once you’ve decided on an attraction you’d be interested offer, the more likely you are to enjoy year-round success.

YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE

(continued from page 52) different “voices” in their heads. this.’ But if you can think about all those
“We hear voices all of the time,” he different voices, and if we could control
versus management, the management says. “Some voices tell us things that those voices, that’s actually controlling
is a group of people, (whereas) leader- we like, things that we don’t like, things the different mindsets.”
ship is the whole company — the whole that we want to run to or run away from, Another factor that can affect which
brand or the whole building. Coach- things we think that we’re good at or management style to use revolves
ing is knowing what each individual’s that we just plain suck at. around what the greatest concern is.
strengths and weaknesses are, where “Some of those voices tell us that “And it’s okay if you lean on all three,”
they currently are and where they want maybe we’re not good enough for our Brooks says. “When it comes to certain
to get.” role. One of those voices I like to call challenges, and you know what the out-
Selecting which management style to ‘the imposter syndrome.’ That’s where come needs to be, that will help you de-
choose for any given situation, Brooks people tend to feel like, ‘Oh, man! This termine which mindset you should lean
adds, depends on managers listening to is too much for me. I’m not ready for on in order to get the best outcome.”

SOCIAL MEDIA INSIGHTS
(continued from page 83) “Boosting your post is your most how they heard about the center or why
basic tool,” Krug says. “Regular posts they came in, you’re not going to know
come in.” are considered organic, meaning you how effective those ads are.
If centers don’t want to use Face- just put it out there and whoever sees “It doesn’t cost more money to cus-
book, there are plenty of other options it, sees it. What you want to do is create tomize these ads,” Krug adds. “If you
— some better than others. Available custom content.” allocated 100 bucks a month to boost
social-media platforms include Linke- Centers also must be able to track 10 extra posts a month, that could do
dIn, Instagram, X (formerly known as whether ads are effective. a bunch for you. Advertising on social
Twitter), TikTok and even Pinterest. “If somebody sees your ad on Face- media doesn’t have to be a major ex-
All will have similar customizing book and goes to your center, the ad pense but it can really work for you.”
tools for the ads, but the terminology worked,” Krug says. “But unless some- That sounds like a good reason for
could be different. body at your front desk asks customers attendees to “like” the presentation.

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