Marketing push, financialclean-up are top jobs for Line Drive Sports owner
By Sarah Brouillard
Tom Imdieke enjoys watching customers improve their baseball swings with his coaching. But what he’d really like to see is fewer strikeouts from his batting cage and sports instruction company, Line Drive Sports Corp.
He’s encountered several obstacles since he bought the company in October 2002. For starters, he believes he overpaid for it: He financed most of it through the original owner for $200,000 and another $45,000 for inventory, but feels in his gut the company was worth between $100,000 and $125,000.
Then, mere weeks after he took the reins, a larger tenant took over the building with plans to tear it down. The wrecking ball, Imdieke says, came through his neighbor’s wall as he was hustling to take down light fixtures. The downtime he spent setting up at a new site ate up a good chunk of his peak season.
A quick fix, he felt, was to buy a second location. That didn’t work out, and he took a $70,000 loss.
Added all up, he’s about $450,000 in debt. His credit’s taken a hit, forcing him to rely on friends and family to borrow money. Cash flow is tight.
His bright spot is customer traffic: In March, for example, he had 2,300 kids slated to use his Lino Lakes facility for tryouts, which were arranged through a local baseball association.
And, he’s making moves to reduce the seasonality of his business. He picked up a half-court basketball floor for $3,000, and he bought artificial ice to move into hockey instruction.
Those kind of numbers are strong enough to expand the company very quickly: “I just have to find the finances in order to do that,” says Imdieke, who relies on his wife, JoAnn, to keep the books and press him to pay attention to details in the business.
First, housekeeping
Upsize Growth Challenge experts say Imdieke has a little housekeeping to do before he can accomplish that goal. Though he’s a self-described “big-picture guy,” who tends to gloss over the details, Imdieke needs to better organize his financial statements in order to pursue outside funding, they say.
“That’s your tool to be able to access any kind of real solution for your cash flow issues,” says Rick Wall, CEO of St. Paul-based Highland Bank and the Upsize Growth Challenge finance expert.
Imdieke’s current financial picture makes it difficult for him, if not impossible, to get traditional bank loans, Wall says. Imdieke might be able to work out a financing package through the city to help him with infrastructure. But those programs are usually designed to lure potential taxpayers, not to accommodate existing ones, he says.
Duane Thompson says Imdieke may want to try to renegotiate his original purchase agreement with the previous owner. (Imdieke still owes him $140,000.) Thompson is a senior tax manager and CPA with Bloomington-based EideBailly and the Upsize Growth Challenge accounting and operations expert. It’s an option Thompson recommends as a “last resort,” but doing so might “get some life into the business,” says Thompson.
Although Imdieke’s had some offers, Thompson doesn’t recommend he pursue an outside investor. That only mucks up the works for a small-business owner, who’ll then have to hand over some equity and control to another person, he says.
Clear up marketing plan
Where Imdieke should definitely devote more of his energy, says Elin Raymond, president of The Sage Group and the Upsize Growth Challenge marketing expert, is into a clearer marketing plan. His efforts so far have been scattershot, admits Imdieke, since his time has been consumed chasing cash.
Simplifying his Web site is the first step, says Raymond. His message should be straightforward, but right now it’s getting lost among the clutter of photos, and assorted colors and fonts. “I want to be able to scan it and move on,” she says.
Nathan Johnston, associate partner and senior consultant with Minneapolis-based IT firm Clientek, the Upsize Growth Challenge technology expert, says there are several inexpensive, off-the-shelf software products Imdieke can use to build a more interactive Web site. He suggests Imdieke find a way to upload customers’ batting statistics onto the site, which would drive traffic.
Imdieke says he hands off Web duties to a friend, who gets paid in free facility usage. But this person has trouble keeping the Web site up to date, he says.
Such informal handshake agreements can lead to lax standards and broken promises, says Michele Vaillancourt, an attorney with Winthrop & Weinstine, and the Upsize Growth Challenge legal expert. Instead, “get it in writing,” she says. A letter to memorialize an agreement needn’t be more than three sentences, and it will hold outside parties more accountable, she says.
Front line upgrade
Imdieke should also aim for uniformity in his front line, says Mary Korthour, senior manager of product marketing at telecommunications provider Eschelon Telecom.
Right now, Imdieke or one of his five part-time employees answers the phone. He says his employees are good at giving out pat information about company hours and directions, but often stumble when it comes to giving a complete picture of all the services Line Drive Sports offers.
Imdieke can remedy that communication hiccup with an auto attendant, says Korthour. Customers get an overall description of the company’s offerings, and can press a number to get more specific details. She says such a system costs under $20 a month.Tom and JoAnn Imdieke, Line Drive Sports: 651.490.7898; ti1025@comcast.net; www.linedrivesports.com
