Run It Like a Business

Session Overview

• Recipe for a Paradigm Shift

– Organizational changes, mandates & definitions

• Case Studies

– Increasing revenues

– Creating efficiencies and reducing expenses

– Making mistakes and moving on

• Questions and Answers

What does it mean to Run it Like a Business?

The application and integration of best business practices on a daily basis.

The mandates of Carmel Clay Parks

• 100% cost recovery of our community center and water park

• 100% cost recovery of our before and after school program

• 100% cost recovery of summer camps

• 80% cost recovery for the entire park system

What are the benefits?

• Funding that was used for subsidy now goes to new development and capital maintenance needs

• Reduced expenses because of increased efficiencies

• Confidence of elected officials

• Continued growth while other departments were/are flat lined

Adopting an Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Business rewards risk and allows failure, Government penalizes risk

• Fail fast and move on

• Tweak success cautiously to improve – make very small changes

• Seek innovation from all sources

• Listen to everyone especially your customers and staff

What must change

• Your Culture

• How you measure success and failure

• Staff compensation

• What you do and how you do it

• How you make decisions

• Marketing & Promotion

• Customer Service

Three Criteria for Decision Making:

Creates cost recovery? Enhances customer service? Improves efficiencies?

Human Resources

• HR department

• Payroll

• Compensation based on performance

• Regular performance reviews

• PTO

Business Services

• Centralized purchasing

• Budgets

– Prepared at the lowest supervisory level

• Financial reports prepared – in a business format

• Real time data on attendance, cash receipts, and account payables

Creating greater efficiencies and reducing expenses

• Reduced turf in Parks and replaced with native prairie

• Reduced size of landscape beds and replaced with turf or native prairie

• Replaced landscape material with more sustainable plantings

• Outsourced mowing

More efficiencies and cost reductions

• Outsourced landscape maintenance

• Janitorial services

• Business functions

– Financial systems

– Centralized purchasing

• Continued evaluation of all services

Café

Multipurpose Room

More mistakes and moving on

• Community Center Rate Structure

• Marketing Budget

• Hotdog Cart

An expert is someone who knows a lot about the past.

- Tom Hopkins

Finding Your Way

• Embracing your community’s values and recognize realities

• Creating a culture

• Bucking tradition while working within the system

• Facing challenges as opportunities

Q & A