Your course
Fill in your course, then click Work out the profit.
Result
By season
| Season | Days open | Open after weather | Rounds a day | Rounds | Round revenue |
|---|
If attendance runs above or below plan
| Versus plan | Rounds per open day | Operating income | Debt coverage | Cash after loan | Payback, own money |
|---|
Cash after the loan: price against attendance
If more open days are lost to weather
Rounds, concessions, card fees and staff hours fall with the open days; parties, fixed costs, the upkeep reserve and the loan payment do not.
| Days lost | Open days | Rounds | Operating income | Debt coverage | Cash after loan |
|---|
What it does, and what it leaves to you
- Counts: open days = days x (1 - days lost to weather); rounds = open days x rounds per day; round revenue = rounds x price; concession and arcade sales = rounds x spend per round, of which you keep the margin; party revenue = parties x package price, less party cost; card fees = a percent of all sales; staff = open days x hours x wage; operating income = sales - concession cost - party cost - card fees - staff - yearly fixed costs - upkeep reserve (a percent of the hole build cost, not the shared build); loan payment = the level yearly payment on the share financed; cash after the loan = operating income - payment.
- Payback is investment divided by yearly operating income for the whole investment, and your own money divided by cash after the loan for your side. Both ignore growth, rate changes, refinancing and what the money could earn elsewhere.
- Break-even rounds per day scales every season's rounds by one factor, with concession sales moving along, until cash after the loan is zero; staff hours, parties and fixed costs stay as entered. Price change scales every season's price per round by one factor and leaves party prices and concessions alone.
- Weather: parties are entered as the number you expect to hold, so lost days do not reduce them, and lost days are treated as unstaffed. Real rain hits some days of the week and some seasons harder than others; the table is a flat haircut.
- Not decided: how many people near you will play and what they will pay, zoning, insurance quotes, sales and income tax, depreciation, your own labour, construction overruns, the first year's ramp-up, and seasonal staff turnover.
Common questions
How long does it take a mini-golf course to pay for itself?
It depends on what the course keeps from each round, party and snack after staff, card fees, fixed costs and an upkeep reserve, against what the holes and the shared build (clubhouse, landscaping, lighting, permits) cost. Enter your own build cost, rounds per day by season, prices and loan; the page works out operating income, the loan payment, cash left after the loan and payback in years, on the whole investment and on your own money.
How many rounds a day do I need to break even?
Break-even rounds per day is the attendance at which cash after the loan is zero. The page scales rounds per day in every season together (concession sales move with rounds; staff hours, parties and fixed costs do not) and reports the rounds per open day and per year, next to the figure you planned.
How much does rain cost a mini-golf course?
Enter the share of open days you expect to lose to weather. Those days bring no rounds, concessions or card fees and are counted as unstaffed. A weather table shows cash after the loan at 0 to 30 percent lost days so you can see how wet a year the loan can survive. The page does not know your climate.
What price per round do I need?
The page solves for the across-the-board change in price per round that covers the loan, and the change that pays your own money back in the years you set. A grid also shows cash after the loan for price changes from -20 to +20 percent at several attendance levels. It does not know what nearby courses charge, so compare before changing a price.
Can I use it for a batting cage or a small family fun center?
Yes, if you can describe it in the same terms: count each cage or attraction as a hole with its build cost, rounds as paid sessions or plays, and price per round as the price of a session. Arcade and snack spend go in the per-round concession figure. The arithmetic does not know what you are building.
Does this include income tax or permits?
No. Sales tax is normally collected from customers and passed on, permits and zoning vary by town, and income tax and depreciation depend on your situation. Put permit, design and engineering costs in the shared build cost and talk to an accountant for tax.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is sent; a test in the code asserts there are no network calls.