McHenry Sportsmen's Club - Cost per Round Number

McHenry Sportsmen's Club

What is our Cost per Round Number ?

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Summary Analysis of Cost per Round

What is our Cost per Round Number ?

As most of us already know, it costs money to shoot trap and the operation of our club has a lot to do with that cost.
Our club has a fiscal goal to make each month that all of us can hepl keep as low as possible.

That goal is "our Cost per Round".

This "number" is the computed cost per round, which is what we use to determine the club's price for shooting a round of trap.

There are certain FIXED overhead costs that must be overcome:

Insurance and grounds costs remain fixed regardless of how much shooting we host.
Other costs such as electricity and targets bottom out quickly and only increase when shooting increases.
We have to provide just over 50 full squads (that is 250 individual rounds) each month just to clear what we have no direct control over.
Then we start working on our operational costs, including those associated with the initial 50 squads.
December through March can be anywhere from 3.00 to 6.00+ per round (mostly due to weather).
Spring and Fall normally help us recover from the winter slowdown.
Summer has its own shooter attendance issues which can result in higher operational costs.
Two or three bad days in a month can have an adverse effect on the month's fiscal outcome.
Too many bad months will force our club to raise its line fees.

As of September 1, 2006, a round of trap (25 single targets) may be bought for one of four different prices:

2.00 (if you are 18 years or younger with a prepaid youth card).
3.75 (if you use a shooting coupon).
4.00 (normal cash price for members).
6.00 (normal cash price for non-members).
Additional shooting activity is available and posted at the club.

The club may offer rounds or a coupon book to a member to show appreciation for a service provided.
There is no money collected for these rounds but we must arrange for these rounds to be shot which increases her workload.

The above is considered to be the club's "Line Fees".

For us to maintain these prices, we have established a maximum cost per round of 3.25.
This cost per round is what it cost the club to provide the round for you.
If this number is higher than 3.25, we are paying you to shoot at our club.
Please note: The current maximum cost per round is now under review and will be adjusted up or down in October, 2006)

Remember, the club is a "Not for Profit" organization.
The club earns only the required funds needed to operate our facility.
The only "paid" associates are the trap help.

Everything needed to provide the round is included (except certain non direct cost items).
There are other costs involved in running the club that must come from any "profit" over and above the actual cost.

At the end of each month, we crunch all the numbers and compute what a single round of trap actually cost the club to provide.

This computed number is "our Cost per Round".

Currently, with what we charge you for a round, that number must be 3.25 or lower.

The only real adjustment we can perform to reduce this number is to try to schedule the right amount of trap help for a given day.
Most everything else is a fixed cost per round not under her control.
This is not as easy as it may appear.

Our club cannot control the weather or force members and guests to shoot.
The more rounds that are purchased and shot, the more our fixed costs may be spread out.
This lowers the cost per round.

We has to schedule trap help in advance or we will not have any when needed.
She usually knows how much is needed and how many hours to schedule for a particular day.
Sometimes her estimation may not reflect reality, but most of the time it does.
As mentioned before, only so much can be forecasted in advance.

There are times when she may "miss" this estimate:

Weather is better than expected... more shooters and not enough help.
Weather is worse than expected... less shooters and too much trap help.
Other issues, such as other events at other locations conflicting with a shoot day.
For whatever reasons, more or less shooters show up breaking established patterns.

The only things that can improve this number are:

Trap help scheduling.
Lower operating costs (such as targets, electricity, etc).
MORE SHOOTERS

The club requires a base amount of cost to operate in a given day; additional fixed cost normally develops when activity is high.
If you have a real slow day, even if all the trap help is sent home, the cost per round will be very high.

For example, if only one squad goes out, and it starts raining forcing the club to close, you could have a cost per round exceeding 10.00 for the day.

On the other extreme, if we are very busy and short handed, and members help out, we could have a cost per round on only 2.00.
The cheapest would be a full squad going out and shooting with no trap help.

The 3.25 has some of those "unsupervised" rounds factored in.
Personally, I like to shoot five rounds by myself on a field with no trap help.
The club makes out on this because I can do this while our trap help is running other squads.

To help keep our costs down, two things can be done by our Members and Guests:

Offer to assist when there is need and you are able.
Most important... Support your club by coming out to shoot.

Our line fees are reviewed based on the activity described above.
Line fees are based on the cost of shooting.

The more rounds the club provides, the lower the cost per round becomes.

Nobody at the club really wants to raise the line fees.
As long as we keep this number at 3.25 or lower, we will not have to.

Membership dues are based on the cost of maintaining our physical facility, insurance, and other non-shooting expenses.

The more members join the club, the lower the dues based on the current operating accounts.

Raising membership dues, well that is another story.
We really do not want to change membership dues either.

Membership dues may change when we either have too much to too little money in the accounts required for non-shooting expenses.
Membership dues may go up and down based on what it costs us to run the physical facility.

Want to build a real cool clubhouse? That will raise the membership dues but not impact line fees.

Targets go to 10.00 per box, that will raise line fees but not membership dues.

Do you want to know how your money is spent...
Come to one or more meetings, held on the first Thursday or each month at the Club and find out.
Don't like our prices, or want to see some "change" ?...
get on the board and help fix it.