Pure Flight Disc Golf And Ultimate

Peter Charron was interviewed on his new business.

Nichols College Business and Society 9:25-10:40

Monday/Wednesday I met this small business owner at a prior

job I held throughout high school, he was my manager.

By: Ryan Foley

The type of business Peter Charron has with his partner, Jeff Fleury, is a Corporation.

The reason they chose a corporation is it eliminated the risk of them losing anything outside of their investments. This is important because of the large amount of risk their whole business entailed.

Basic Facts

Pure Flight Disc Golf and Ultimate provides service for Amherst, MA and the greater public with a variety of disc golf equitment and ultimate Frisbee gear.

Pete and his business partner opened the business in November of 2010.

Basic Facts Cont.

Disc golf had been a passion of Pete for years and as soon as he saw an opportunity to open a business the sport he did.

With a disc golf course going in at Umass Amherst he assessed a new incoming target audience.

While in college Pete had taken several entrepreneurship classes.

Background of the Business

In addition to this he has been playing the game for years and has gained a wide knowledge of the sport through that experience.

He has also played on the professional player circuit.

However, last year he began running a disc golf league at a local course.

These basic qualifications have proved to be very helpful in running this business five months in.

Background of the Business Cont.

Some successes Pure Flight has enjoyed are a great reception from the community.

A great first month in sales, which sailed over their projections.

Already being able to move into a bigger building and expand their company.

They have also received a good deal of press in the paper which has helped their business grow.

Early Successes

A critical success factor in their is that disc golf remains the second fastest growing sport in America.

In addition, the course opening up a mile down the road has provided their major income

There is also another course opening up at an old golf course a few miles down the road.

As long as the sport continues to expand, so will Pure Flight.

The Critical Success Factors

Some challenges include learning the best way to keep inventory, organize, and deal with the corporate business procedures.

Maintaining good relations and coordinating with a business partner.

Maintaining good relations with the disc golf community.

Also, the ability to find more ways to expand the business.

The Challanges

As well as sacrificing minimal revenue at first for long hours of work.

Challenges Cont.

The biggest challenge in this business, is the business it self.

Its hard to make a business out of profits from just selling Frisbees and Frisbee products alone.

Pure Flight has been able to stay in business with the help of the business that the Umass course a mile down the road has provided, as well as retaing good relations with all costumers.

The Biggest Challenge in this Business

In addition, building brand name via advertising has been a huge help.

Biggest Challenge Cont.

A fatal flaw of this type of business is the possibility of becoming unprofessional.

Ways of being unprofessional include opening up late or closing early unfortunately, it is easy to when working for yourself.

Avoiding this is crucial to success and keeping your costumers loyal and happy.

Fatal Flaw of this Business

Pete plans to stay in business for the forseeable future.

He would like to expand his business further and open at least one retail outlet.

He would like to develop a brand name for a large target demographic.

Keep his products affordable, while building the brand name.

The Future

Him and his partner would like to eventually become as recognizable as the Nike or Reebok brand in the disc golf world.

The Future Cont.

How do you deal with all the long hours and hard work to get the business on its feet and running?

“It is tough dealing with the long hours at times. I’ve always been a hard worker and I’m proud of my work ethic but I’ve got a lot on plate. It’s both a physical and mental burden.

Questions.

It is a lot of responsibility if you forget about one thing it can lead to unprofessional image. You just need to remember to cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s.” (Pete Charron).

Questions Cont.

To follow your passions, do something you enjoy.

Identify what you really love and then formulate a business plan.

Make sure you have all the loose ends tied before jumping into business.

Consult professional advice.

Advice from Pete

Get as much feedback as possible from friends and family.

Utilize small business centers that are provided by the state.

Then finally be willing to take that risk and make the jump.

Advice Cont.

I took a lot away from this interview with Pete. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in since Pete is a long time friend. I ended up receiving a good inside look into what it’s like to own your own business. Although, he is working his dream job it still comes with some downfalls. For instance, he doesn’t plan to become profitable from it for about a year which means he will have to maintain two jobs.

What I learned

This can’t be easy but he is doing what he loves so he is happy. The major point I took away from this interview, is that owning your owning business is rewarding but difficult and stressful.

What I learned Cont.