00:24.84 ModGolfPodcast Welcome to the ModGolf Podcast, where we speak with the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the disruptors, and the influencers who are shaping the future of golf. My name is Colin Weston. I am your host, and thanks for joining us today. 00:36.86 ModGolfPodcast We're into season 17 now, almost 200 episodes of the ModGolf Podcast since I started this in 2017 with a couple of stories with a couple of friends and now it's just, yeah, it's kind of taken on a life force of its own, which excites me. So I've returned from the PGA Show about a month ago in Orlando, met some great people down there for the first time that we're going to have on the podcast this season. 01:02.86 ModGolfPodcast But the gentleman that I have on here, I've known for a couple of years, but has been so darn busy starting up a business, which originally was a side hustle because he is the head professional at his home course. 01:17.30 ModGolfPodcast He's managed to squeeze us in today. And that is Jeff McGregor who is the Founder of The Cart Locker. And we're going to get into all of those good things today. 01:30.78 ModGolfPodcast So with no further ado, I want to welcome him. Jeff, welcome to the ModGolf Podcast! 01:35.40 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Hey Colin, thanks for having me on. It's well overdue and just a pleasure to be on an awesome podcast for golf and innovation. So thanks for having me. 01:44.98 ModGolfPodcast You're welcome! Well your story, Jeff is right in the wheelhouse of what we love to shine a light on here with ModGolf, and that is anytime we can combine entrepreneurship, innovation, that passion for golf and business, and the game, then that's not a trifecta. 02:04.15 ModGolfPodcast Is that a quadfecta? Is that even a thing? I don't know. It is a thing now. There we go. 02:07.44 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 02:07.47 ModGolfPodcast It's not a it's not a quadruple bogey. That's a bad thing, but yeah, it's definite it's definitely got all the things going on here. So, You have a little time right now because you're working on the Cart Locker business or taking that to the next level because it's a little cold for you right now. So why don't you start by letting everybody know where you are? You're a Canadian guy like myself, but I'm on the West Coast in Vancouver where it's not as cold, and no snow on the ground, but you're a little chilly and frosty this morning, aren't you? 02:34.76 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah, it's been quite the cold snap here and in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The entire country has been under a cold snap, to be honest. But yeah, it's based at Glendale Golf and Country Club, a top 100 course in Canada, and I'm very lucky to be a part of a great organization and club. 02:54.27 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And very blessed to do the Cart Locker as well. And in bringing an innovation in the golf business, it was just about fixing a problem at the club. 03:06.01 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So it's been quite the venture and yeah, it continues to progress and fix a huge issue in our great golf business. 03:06.26 ModGolfPodcast Nice. 03:13.85 ModGolfPodcast Well, we're going to dig into that, Jeff, as far as the problem you saw, the pain points and all those good things. 03:15.70 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 03:19.17 ModGolfPodcast But I'm going to use this as my segue this morning here, the fact ah you're a little icy up at Edmonton. So we're going to do an icebreaker question that we like to start the podcast on most episodes. 03:30.25 ModGolfPodcast And that is your first ever golf experience. Who invited you to play golf and welcome you the first time, whatever age that was? 03:40.88 ModGolfPodcast Tell us about that first positive experience you had and who was that person that helped make that happen? 03:45.69 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ You know what? It was my junior high teacher. He took out a group of golfers and i was about 15 at the time, just before I was grade nine, going into high school. And he took a group of us out golfing and it was the Tiger Woods era, 1999. And yeah, it turned into a huge passion and I played soccer and hockey and ended up quitting everything and started just golfing full time and, grew up at the old local Muni at the Riverside golf club in Edmonton here. And then, that was my first experience. I had McGregor blades to be honest. I bought them. I had to play some McGregor's from Sport Chek and that was my last name. So I bought the clubs and worked my way through into some TaylorMade Burners over the years and then everything else. But it's been quite the adventure and then getting into the golf business as well. 04:47.98 ModGolfPodcast Love this. Love this. Okay. So let's get to the starting point with you with the Cart Locker. So you've been in the golf industry for quite some time now, both as the head professional there at the club, and now as an entrepreneur. So can you walk us through your journey and what initially sparked your interest in the business side of golf and how did that lead to the start of the Cart Locker? 05:09.22 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah, so I grew up at Riverside and then I got into the business and went to college and university in Edmonton at Grand Macuna, then moved to Calgary for 15 years and spent 15 years at Inglewood Golf and Curling Club. 05:22.21 ModGolfPodcast Mm-hmm. 05:22.55 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And it was a perfect place as a young professional to grow. And you had the corporate end of the business, your in the center of Calgary you've got a great base of membership and it was a semi-private facility so you're getting the public as well for teaching and you're getting all facets of the golf business. Very busy place doing about 40,000 rounds in six months and i was very lucky to get the head pro job there in 2012 and 2013 the floods hit so we had to rebuild the golf course. 05:59.70 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And in 2020, I went to the private side of the business and took the opportunity here at the Glendale Golf and Country Club and started the day of COVID. 06:10.43 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I think it was March 23rd. So it was quite the adventure. 06:14.44 ModGolfPodcast Right. 06:15.32 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And then, yeah, when I got to the club here, there was a huge issue with motorized carts downstairs in what we call the dungeon. 06:27.33 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And I'm like, how do we fix this? 06:27.46 ModGolfPodcast right 06:30.50 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So I came up with the idea to come up with a locker system outside and partner with the manufacturer, which is one of my members here at the club. And we started the Cart Locker. And it was never supposed to be a business. was just fixing a problem here at The Glendale. We started with 18 lockers, and now we're up to 115. And then I had a bunch of industry individuals, professionals and GMs and members and board members calling and committee members calling me from all over the place when they heard that there was a problem to fix. And we turned it into where it was a commercial product and we went through a bunch of different models. And it's a big investment, obviously, when you're going to make sure that the product is quality. And so we went through about six or seven different models and came out with a commercial stainless steel powder coated and a bunch of different design work. And then you look in, you do the trademarking, the patenting, all that stuff to you're working on towards. 07:41.28 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And yeah, it's just turned into where,I'd say 80% of the private clubs in Alberta have it, and then it's across all of Canada, and now we're into the United States at several courses down there. So then going to the PGA Show last year and launching, and then this year, once again, being down there, and the feedback you're getting from current customers and future customers, it's been it's been tremendous, to be honest. 08:04.69 ModGolfPodcast Nice. Nice. Okay. So you talked about the AHA moment there, but you saw that significant pain point in the golf industry that you had a solution to solve there. 08:07.62 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 08:45.48 ModGolfPodcast Jeff. so you identified kind of the AHA moment where you saw the pain point in the industry, your own club that needed solving there. And then you started to scale that up a little bit. 08:56.51 ModGolfPodcast I want to hear about that next step of where you thought or saw that this could be a business and a venture and how get people to pay for this. Would it be the golf courses, would it be the individual? So talk about the early days. I know that a lot of entrepreneurs and with some of the ventures I've worked on back in the day, it's like "well what is the pricing model? Is it a b2b play, is it business to consumer or is it a combination of both?" So tell us about where you discovered that this is more than just something that someone needs but this could actually turn into a profitable business. 09:32.66 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah thanks Colin. So you're trying to figure it out, it's my first time getting into my own business and incorporating, finding your business plan and looking at how we did it at the club here. It's a big capital project. Depending on if you're United States or Canada impacts the pricing model, but it is a capital expense for most most clubs. There's the option of thinking outside the box. And what we did is so we did lease agreements with our membership. 10:08.44 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And so the members, they were very happy to have a problem fixed and have their own locker space and to have their motorized car at the club and not take it to their car. So there's two different lease models, but a three to five year lease, and that paid for all the units up front. 10:25.48 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And the club owned the units. And that worked out very well. And a lot of clubs have done that, have taken on. But the Cart Locker it's a capital expense and they pay for it upfront and their ROI is between two and five years, depending what you're charging per season. 10:42.25 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ The units are designed to last up to 25 years. So you're it's a really good investment on that end. I looked at the business model, with every locker I'm selling a cart. So it was the clubs gaining a significant amount of revenue from just fixing a problem. 11:00.36 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And they're selling carts as well. On a labour, the staffing component of having to deal with the motorized carts every day and having to bring it out and bring it downstairs and now the liability is off the staff for the most part, unless you're treating it as a service, which it's a lot easier to get a motorized cart out of a locker instead of having to go down to the dungeon. And also you're taking away the liability on an insurance factor of having these lithium batteries indoors all the time. 11:32.18 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 11:32.25 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Because there's been a lot of clubs that have burnt down and over in Australia and Europe as well, in Spain, and one last year in the United States. So it's a win-win-win. 11:46.59 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Every angle I looked at it when I did the business model, it fixed the problem at the club. It provides way more service to the membership. The club pro is happy and the outside service teams are happy because they don't have to deal with these motorized carts as much, it's a lot more efficient as it takes the liability off the club and then you create a new revenue source as well. 12:12.32 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ There's a lot of wins with The Cart Locker. So that's when I thought, "hey, I've got a business model here and how do i how do I scale it?" And what I did is I built a footprint. I had proven concept here at The Glendale and I had proven concept. My first club actually was Pritis Greens, a major private in Calgary. 12:32.81 ModGolfPodcast Mm-hmm. 12:32.88 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ They inquired. And based on my experience and my connections in the golf business, I don't think this ever would have been come to fruition without them, because of the trust factor I had with a lot of professionals. They knew it was a good product. 12:46.33 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ It wouldn't have happened as fast. And then Vancouver Golf Club bought them. We're going to new climate on the west coast. So I was totally nervous, wondering how are these lockers going to work with memberships? And you're just trying to figure it all out. And, and how is the product going to respond, because that was my first time dealing with stainless steel. And we've now figured out that they're bulletproof. 13:20.23 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah, Vancouver Golf Club recently did a reorder on theirs, but then it transferred into a bunch of different clubs in Alberta, and then it got into Ontario. I think a big thing is this proven concept and reputation and knowing that you've got a great product that's going to be sustainable long-term, and it's made very, very well. 13:41.92 ModGolfPodcast Well, you threw a lot of great insights out there Jeff. 13:44.88 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 13:45.37 ModGolfPodcast Key messages there for our listeners, and I'm going to dig into a couple of them. Well, one especially when you were talking about leaning on the connectivity and the relationships you've already built up, and yourself being in the golf industry for a couple of decades already and then be able to reach out to people and just ask, "are you willing to try this?" And the fact you've already cultivated that level of trust through relationships over time. 14:14.69 ModGolfPodcast Those are the things that I do encourage anybody out there listening that has an idea for a venture, whether it's a product, a service, or an experience, lean on what you know already. And myself, I'm as an example of that, my background is in architectural design on the sports side and the event side. So those are the things that I lean into. Those are my strengths. 14:34.78 ModGolfPodcast And where I have my gaps, I bring in other people and I don't try to do it all, but embrace the power of relationships and just asking sometimes, I know sometimes as humble Canadians, we don't think we should be asking, but the fact is put it out there and you'll be amazed at who's willing to help you. So that's fantastic. So thanks for sharing that. So hey I want to ask you, because of course we are on an audio podcast here and you and I are just waving our hands in the air. 14:58.69 ModGolfPodcast You and I will be jumping on a video call for the ModGolf YouTube channel where we can show some examples and some visuals and videos of The Cart Locker in action. But why don't we pull back here a little bit, Jeff? Why don't you share for our listeners, if they're still a little confused or don't quite know what it is that you're doing with The Cart Locker, why don't you walk through the customer journey? 15:21.52 ModGolfPodcast As a member at their club, and they have an electric cart. So walk through what you do and the service and benefit you provide. 15:33.37 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah, absolutely. So a member shows up at the facility. There's two options. They're going to be a service oriented club or they're going to be a member oriented for the locker system. 15:47.56 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So I recommend the member option just because members like having their own locker. So you have a key golf shop as a key membership as a key. 15:58.53 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ We like the padlock system. There is an electronic option available, but I just like the padlock. A little old school that way. But a member gets their own locker, so it's all numbered. one to For us, it would 1 to 115. 16:12.36 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So locker number one, member opens up the locker. There's two power outlets inside the locker system. So you can you can charge your remote, your battery. A lot of members will charge their Garmin, cell phone, GPS, all the other of the other gadgets that are out there. 16:31.82 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And so now you have a place to store your cart inside and it fits all, ah the car lockers fit all the power caddies out there and motorized carts, which has been great. 16:42.86 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So a member will take their cart out, whether it's an MGI, Moto Caddy, Stewart, Formula, Bag Boy, all of them. But they'll take their cart out, put it down, and then they'll go to outside services and grab their bag and the outside service team will help put the bag on the cart and then you're off to the first tee box. And then you bring it back in, drop your clubs off for club cleaning and then take your cart to the locker. 17:11.15 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Now there is a few clubs, very high end private facilities that the back shop has the key and it's a universal key and they'll take the carts out for the membership and have everything ready to go. It just all depends on what type of club you are. I believe that the motorized carts are a first world problem. And It doesn't matter where you're at, but you'd want your own locker and bring the carts out and put your clubs on there. So you can go both ways and there's the cart lockers are very sufficient for service or membership. 17:55.50 ModGolfPodcast Nice, nice. Okay, want to talk about the business model a little bit as you started to get some traction and started to scale. 17:59.57 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ yeah 18:02.39 ModGolfPodcast As an entrepreneur, I'm sure you've had the business model canvas and talking about your total accessible market and your serviceable obtainable market. So your TAM, SAM and SOM and all these acronyms we throw out there in startup world. 18:15.29 ModGolfPodcast But as far as your total accessible market, I'm assuming that you're looking to focus for now on North America of private clubs. That's really where you work, not like where I play in Vancouver here at some of the municipal courses or ah or open to the public with the university golf club. So so how big is your serviceable, obtainable market or your SOM, as we call that you see in North America and then perhaps like even expanding in Europe and around the world? 18:42.69 ModGolfPodcast So how but how big of a pie is this for you with Cart Locker? 18:46.22 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So, as you're expanding and scaling, dealing with all these trademark and patent pending and all that stuff. But, I see this being a private, semi-private and public model. 19:05.46 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ We've talked about the private, talked semi-private, but from the public maybe resort standpoint, what I see down the road is that public facilities are going to treat motorized carts like power carts. 19:23.25 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And this is where I see it going because it's an opportunity for revenue. Courses are so busy. You'll have a rental fleet at a facility and you'll have to store that and we've had a lot of inquiries for that. We do have some demo units going out to public facilities this year, and it's going to be interesting to see how that that plays out. 19:43.10 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ But it could be a part of the business model down the road as clubs look for new opportunities to generate revenue. Where a public player is going to a facility they say, "Hey, these are your options, whether you're coming to Pebble beach or wherever you're going to look at, whether it's UBC and here's your locker." 20:04.16 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Number one, you can put a pair of shoes in there while you're out in the golf course or your attire. 20:06.80 ModGolfPodcast Right. 20:08.00 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And here's your cart for the day and it's a service a day rental. So, I do see that coming down the road at just a matter of going from there. And from a global standpoint, if you look at Europe and you look at Ireland and Australia we've had a lot inquiries out there and we are looking at going there. So for example, Port Stewart, I'm dealing with their general manager David McLaren right now. He has his member side of things. So then he wants to do a rental fleet for public players that come to play Port Stewart. And if you've ever been to Port Stewart, it's a very special place right next door to Portrush where they're hosting The Open this year and yeah, great facility and a great spot to go tee it up. 21:02.19 ModGolfPodcast Well, I have the good fortune of being there in May. I'm speaking at a golf business technology conference in Belfast. And a couple of days before I am going to be going up to Portrush, I've managed with a local connection, actually, the first episode of our Season 17 who we just had on before yours. I encourage people to go back and listen to that episode with Hazel Thompson. I met her at the PGA Show, and she was part of the Irish contingency, and she lives up in Portrush and is a member. 21:28.07 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Oh man. Awesome. 21:29.12 ModGolfPodcast With her company, Accelerator Luxury Golf Tours. And Hazel's invited me up to play a couple of rounds at Portrush. So me and my 16 handicap are going to give it a go up there. 21:38.49 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Well, you're going to have a great time. It's a special, special place. We played Portrush a couple years ago, right after COVID and had the opportunity to get out there and we had 60 mile an hour winds, but it was and raining, but it was pure golf. 21:55.05 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And we've got Portrush and Port Stewart and then there's Castle Rock right there. 21:59.26 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 22:00.10 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And if you can make it up to Rosa Pena at St. Patrick's, I'd fully recommend that one too. 22:05.75 ModGolfPodcast Well, I'm looking to play a bit of golf there, not even worrying about keeping a score. 22:05.79 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Special place. Yeah. Yeah. 22:10.07 ModGolfPodcast It's all about the experience. 22:11.66 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Oh, it's very special. And yeah, you'll have The Guinness which is very cold there too. 22:19.80 ModGolfPodcast That's very true. 22:20.68 ModGolfPodcast And I believe that Bushmills with their distillery is just down the road from there too. 22:23.26 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 22:27.12 ModGolfPodcast All kinds of good stuff. 22:28.00 ModGolfPodcast Okay, back to you now. Enough about Hazel from our last episode which once again, I encourage people to go and listen. 22:29.68 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 22:32.84 ModGolfPodcast We'll put the link in the show notes for that one with Hazel. That was a lot of fun to do. So just expanding on the size of the market. So just give us an idea here with a couple of stats. 22:43.60 ModGolfPodcast I understand there's about 15,000 golf courses in Canada and the US combined. So I'm wondering about the size of the overall the market. I'm curious, what is the percentage of golfers that own electric golf carts as compared to walking with a pull cart or trolley like I do, or people that get in a ah two-seater cart? So what are the percentages of people that actually need your product and how many golf courses out there are your potential client base? 23:20.79 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ That's a great question. And there's a lot of data for that which is starting to come out. The motorized cart business has quadrupled in the last couple of years. 23:33.46 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ It's starting to level a little bit because everyone got into the game with COVID. 23:33.57 ModGolfPodcast wow 23:39.12 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ But motorized carts, the younger demographics behind them, and that's been the game changer. But from a club standpoint, there's roughly 3,500 private clubs in the United States, and there's about 300 to 400 here in Canada. 23:55.67 ModGolfPodcast yes 23:55.84 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So from our from my standpoint, dealing with clubs, I'd say 300. 25 to 50 percent depending on the on the facility that are getting motorized carts. A lot of members will walk the front nine with their cart then ride the back. It all depends but from a percentage standpoint i'd say it's about 25%. If you're playing in Vancouver most golfers are walking, at those facilities whether at Marine Drive or you're at Beach Grove or UBC, mostly walkers. In the United States, it's the same thing. We've dealt lots of courses on the West Coast and East Coast, and it's a lot of walkers. 24:44.98 ModGolfPodcast Right. 24:45.67 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ But if you get into like your um your high-end privates in Midwest and New York, they have big caddy programs. 24:54.60 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So that's an area where I don't see, based on the economy and everything, but it all depends on if the caddy programs last long-term. But what we've noticed is remote motorized carts, a lot of members are starting to utilize those instead of having to take a caddy. 25:12.55 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And I'm a big supporter of looping because I caddied myself at the Vintage Club. 25:17.74 ModGolfPodcast Okay. 25:18.83 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I do see that motorized cart game flourishing, because it gives your yardage with the GPS, and it gives you everything right there. So I do see the caddy programs declining in the future. 25:34.08 ModGolfPodcast Right, right. 25:34.97 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Just based on the feedback that I've received based on motorized carts. So, the percentage of clubs we're trying to get into, we're just trying to solve a problem in the business. 25:38.40 ModGolfPodcast Got you. 25:45.06 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And that's a big thing. My sales manager, Mark Corrigan, he's developed an entire landscape and dealt with, I'd say 80 to 90% of the clubs in North America. 25:56.30 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Which is tremendous. And he really got the word out that we do have a solution. It's a new product to the market, right? It's a new solution. 26:07.74 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So it just takes time for clubs to talk and we're dealing with clients like Des Moines country club, for example, in Iowa. They held the Solheim Cup a few years back and it's a great private club, 36 holes. we provided They just got The Cart Locker and they're really excited about it. I was talking to their outside service manager. He's really excited to fix the problem there at the club. So it takes time for clubs to understand that we've got a great solution and it's going to provide membership with a great fix for hosting their motorized carts. 26:49.80 ModGolfPodcast Okay. Yeah, I was really interested to ask you the question on the marketing side, that business piece, the fact you're running a lean, mean, small team here. 26:59.49 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 26:59.97 ModGolfPodcast You only have so many marketing dollars right now. 27:02.63 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 27:03.38 ModGolfPodcast So the PGA show, because you're able to connect directly with golf course owners, I'm curious to learn about your strategies, expand on what you already mentioned there, what that we call the marketing funnel at the very top. And for you, the top marketing piece is awareness. People who don't even know what the heck Cart Locker is, or don't really understand the kind of the problem or opportunity that lies before them with your product. Tell me a bit about that as far as how you're able to, in the most efficient, cost-effective way for you and the team on that marketing side to connect even more? You touched on it a little bit, but I'd like you to expand on that and use an example, at the PGA Show and perhaps with the NGCOA, the National Golf Course Owners Association in the U S and Canada. 27:48.78 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 27:50.94 ModGolfPodcast So how do you go about getting the biggest bang for your buck and your time there? 27:56.04 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Gorilla marketing, that's my big one. It costs a lot of money to start a company and to get things going. My first thing has been LinkedIn, I have a lot of connections on there and that's where you get to see your traffic and I'd fully recommend any entrepreneur and innovator to really utilize LinkedIn, and build your network. 28:09.54 ModGolfPodcast Mm-hmm. 28:18.11 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I see ModGolf on there all the time and that's definitely been a starting point for me. Then getting into the social media side of things with Instagram and Facebook. 28:30.58 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I have a great, marketing manager, Mercedes. She's been fantastic. Just making things very professional. Because that's not my cup of tea, doing the PDFs and building the newsletter and doing that stuff. 28:45.89 ModGolfPodcast Right. right 28:47.64 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I wanted to give back to get involved with the junior golfers, so we did the Maple Leaf Junior Tour. 29:00.02 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I started with my own association and we're working our way into other associations now with PGA Alberta, I sponsor every year the Pro Assistant. And I'm sponsoring the North South hockey game in a couple weeks where we have all the North pros versus the South pros, so it's a good little shindig. 29:15.60 ModGolfPodcast Nice. 29:16.69 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Rick Young has been awesome with Score Golf. And he knows The Cart Locker is a great product. 29:24.25 ModGolfPodcast yes 29:26.77 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And he's helped me a lot with getting the word out and it was product of the year this year in Canada from ScoreGolf. That was a pretty proud moment to be honest. 29:37.80 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ It was a special moment to create a solution and as a kid I was always watching ScoreGolf and Bob Weeks and and Logan and the rest of them on there. 29:48.52 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, yeah. 29:48.84 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So it's pretty cool to get a product recognized through them and it's greatly appreciated because you're trying as an entrepreneur, you work so hard and you know this, trying to build a business. And my sales manager Mark's has taken a lot of that stuff over from me. 30:10.42 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ We've got a good business model going. He's very soft sales and he started Mickelson National with Kevin Thistle back in the day and really understands personal touch and it takes time for things and to understand the sales cycle. 30:26.05 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ That's the big thing. It could be one, and it could be two, it could be three or four years based on it. You're going through the head pro, then you're going to committee or you're going to the GM and then you're going to the board. 30:34.49 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 30:39.08 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ They might decide, "Oh, we're going carry it over for another year." It just takes time but I'm in this for the longterm. We signed a deal with PGA magazine a couple of year agreement with them. Brian Foligno with their general managers side of things. It's been great with them. They do a weekly send out and a lot of good personal touch points. 31:09.89 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ That'd be our big partnership. And then going to the PGA Show would be the really big one. First year you're learning as an entrepreneur is launching a brand new product to the market. 31:21.90 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And it's a big investment. 31:25.20 ModGolfPodcast Mm-hmm. 31:25.98 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ You can ask anybody that puts a booth in there, it's a great show to be at and you have to be there if you have a new product in the market. First year we did a big booth but this year we toned it down a little bit. I'm trying to work with what my budget is. 31:55.91 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ We had a great time down there this year and it was a lot less stressful. The second year going down there, getting there in advance and going to play a couple rounds of golf. 32:05.30 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 32:10.43 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Because we like to tee it up and just really enjoying it. The biggest thing is and I can't say this enough, if you're an entrepreneur and you're stressing all the time, you're going to burn out. 32:23.06 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ You got to really enjoy and embrace the innovation, the opportunity and and the and the relationships. 32:31.52 ModGolfPodcast Absolutely. 32:31.96 ModGolfPodcast So you threw a lot of great, great stuff out there. One thing I will reinforce here for people listening, and I know way back in the day, 10 years ago, when we launched our first golf venture, we were all in and probably went in hard a little bit too early. 32:34.92 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 32:46.85 ModGolfPodcast What you're doing, you're basically working two full jobs at once. As the head pro that you continue with and then also with The Cart Locker. There may be a day that eventually Cart Locker will become so all-consuming that that's what you'll do full-time. 33:03.36 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I will. 33:03.71 ModGolfPodcast But right now, you're playing it very smart here, that you haven't given up the daytime job and you're still able to work and move Cart Locker forward. 33:14.54 ModGolfPodcast I love that you've managed to strike that balance. A lot of entrepreneurs and myself included back in the day, go too deep, too quick. You're trying to strike that balance, which there's no playbook on that. You're figuring it as you go, but I think that's really commendable. 33:28.50 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. Thanks Colin. I'm a club pro and I really enjoy what I do. I'm on the PGA of Alberta board. This year I was very blessed to have been recognized PGA of Alberta club professional the year. 33:42.52 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ That's a big honour in our association, probably the pinnacle award within the Alberta zone. 33:44.88 ModGolfPodcast Yeah. 33:49.16 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah, you put so much time in over the years and I love what I do. So what I've been fortunate to do, based on the business model is Mark's taken that but role of the selling component. 34:03.61 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And most of our sales cycle, this is an off-season project, right? In the summertime there hasn't been, unless we're going to like Texas or Florida or somewhere, Mark deals with that. But overall, it's more an off season venture with the buying shows and everything else. I've been very blessed and lucky to be able to do that. And our membership and our GM has been great. He knows that we do a great job here and I got a great team at the club so that I'm able to do a little bit of both. 34:31.34 ModGolfPodcast Nice. Love this. Love this. All right. So we are, as I mentioned earlier, going to jump over to a video call where we're going to have a different conversation. We're going to be able to visually see The Cart Locker on there because there will be a video. 34:50.16 ModGolfPodcast And we're going talk about key takeaways for aspiring entrepreneurs, talk about entrepreneurial lessons learned. 34:56.88 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 34:57.18 ModGolfPodcast Navigating setbacks, you started from scratch and you've had to pivot a little bit and adapt over time and the advice you can give golf industry entrepreneurs. We're gonna hold off on that, but I do encourage our listeners to jump over to the ModGolf YouTube channel. I will include the link in the show notes here for this podcast with Jeff. 35:15.73 ModGolfPodcast But as we finish up, I want to talk a bit about product design. My background as I mentioned, in architecture and also in product design. What you're doing here is not a digital product. 35:28.57 ModGolfPodcast It is a physical product. And when we talk about about hardware, there's the joke that they call it hardware because it's so hard. It's expensive. 35:35.44 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ yeah 35:36.13 ModGolfPodcast So I want to learn from you here, Jeff, what we call an MVP, the minimal viable product. The first thing that you did at your own club, then tie that into market research and the product design and the different iterations. You mentioned earlier that you had six different iterations of the product. 35:52.79 ModGolfPodcast So talk about that from idea to execution. Tell us a little bit about that journey with the product. 35:58.73 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ With ah the locker system, I partnered with a well-known manufacturer and he's very due diligence on stuff. So we went through some different model options. 36:11.74 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Obviously, if you're bringing it outside, the number one thing is it's gotta be durable and it's gotta be long lasting. So that was the first area. And how big of a locker space do we need, right? 36:25.36 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And how are how are we gonna fit two power outlets in there? So that was the other component. 36:32.24 ModGolfPodcast Right. Hmm. 36:32.67 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So we figured out, the first models that we did at the club here were that they were too small. We only could fit a couple different types of motorized carts. So we had to expand that. And as you get feedback, that's when you're able to go into different models and then you get the right exact model. 36:52.17 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And you gotta be in different climates, right? So if it's raining, how does the water flow off and not just sit on the top of the unit? So we have tilted tops. 37:03.39 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ How do we get the units to be commercialized and drop shipped to a facility? So we have adjustable bases. 37:14.52 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So now you can adjust them, you can peg them into the ground. It depends on how you want to do it, but they're adjustable. We can drop ship it at the club. Shipping, number one, that's the hardest thing. 37:26.64 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ You live and learn on certain things. You want to get a good shipping company. Our first units we sent down to a facility in Calgary and they were damaged which is the worst feeling in the world. 37:38.76 ModGolfPodcast Really. 37:39.59 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ yeah so now we professionally crate them. We crate every single unit and there's a cost to it but my peace of mind and the customer's peace of mind is there. We take the brunt of that cost but it's all about your brand and you want to make sure that those units are perfect when they show up and we have had zero issues since then. 38:05.20 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I had damaged units were coming back from the PGA Show this year. So I've been dealing with that. That's an example because I didn't use my normal shipping company. 38:14.88 ModGolfPodcast Okay. 38:18.58 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And we had a couple issues with some dents in the units taking it from Orlando all the way up to Edmonton. And I used a company that I normally don't use. 38:29.77 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And unfortunately, we had some damage on the units. But yeah, we didn't have them properly professionally crated on the way back. 38:40.17 ModGolfPodcast Right. 38:40.41 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ But yeah, going back to the units and adjustable bases, we now have venting system in the back so when it does get hot. 38:50.84 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So you don't want the batteries overheating. We're just completing our fireproofing. That was something that we never really thought about. 38:59.97 ModGolfPodcast Right. 39:00.84 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So that's pretty exciting to know what the the fire rating will be. 39:13.40 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And there's some other additions coming in the near future, with how our electrical setups are. Because right now we do tie into the building power and we have some exciting stuff coming as we move forward. 39:23.49 ModGolfPodcast Right. 39:29.79 ModGolfPodcast It sounds like you're always innovating, always iterating. 39:32.00 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Correct. 39:32.11 ModGolfPodcast I like i love this, always evolving. 39:32.70 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. Yeah. yeah 39:34.76 ModGolfPodcast So I want to ask you, back to the early days when you first started as a head golf professional, that is your strength and your happy place and the relationships you built. 39:38.64 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 39:48.72 ModGolfPodcast How did you navigate without getting overwhelmed when creating this product? Wondering "where do we build this? Do we ship it out to China? Do we do it locally?" What are all the touch points on the journey for construction, design, manufacturing, delivery and all that? 40:06.64 ModGolfPodcast How did that not completely grind you down or overwhelm you? 40:10.61 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah, that partnership with the manufacturer and their company has been great to deal with. As you move forward with different concepts on what the costs are going to be and what's sustainable and what are clubs going to pay for a unit. It costs a lot of money to to build a powder coated stainless steel locker with a custom etched logo on the front. I include the locks, then the crating, everything's all in there, right? 40:34.77 ModGolfPodcast Right. 40:40.38 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And there's a cost. I'm a big believer in brand and I did look at China and overseas, but the cost of shipping it all the way back is way just as high as it is building them here. 40:53.44 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ In the North American market, private clubs are looking for something from North America. You look at some of these carts that come over from Asia. I know a club here in the city that brought in some power carts from Asia and they fell apart in the first month or two. 41:14.91 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I don't want that if my name's attached to something. I don't want to deal with it from overseas. I want to make sure it's perfect when it arrives and I can see that product going out the door and it's checked off as viable, right? 41:27.20 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So the cost probably would be cheaper to do it overseas, but to bring it back, you're not saving any money. 41:55.57 ModGolfPodcast right 41:56.46 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ But at the same time, the dollar is at 1.42. So, or 1.41. So you're going to take a hit on your margins. You're going to get hammered. But at the same time, you just got to work with it, right? And that's that's been... 42:12.19 ModGolfPodcast Right. 42:15.23 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ There's always moving parts in business in general, and you're going to have to deal with stuff all the time, whether it's shipping, whether it's manufacturing, whether it's the dollar. Yeah, then running a business and getting started, dealing with the manufacturer and you're trying to figure out expenses and everything else. We use a premium QuickBooks, for example, just tracking our expenses. And as an entrepreneur, I can't stress that enough of just making sure you're up to par with your taxes, your expenses, commissions for sales, all that stuff. 42:53.28 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Because it can add up real quick and you don't realize where you're at. And I can't stress that enough to make sure you're doing even a biweekly or a monthly look at all your expenses. And like, I don't have a huge volume, we average probably 12 to 15 sales a year. 43:13.10 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I couldn't even imagine companies, small businesses like a Dormie Workshop, for example, they're doing a million head covers or whatever they do per year. 43:20.80 ModGolfPodcast Yes, yes. 43:20.90 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So it's high volume. So you really need to track your expenses and your marketing and all that stuff. 43:27.42 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, I agree that it's not the glamorous side of being a founder in the startup world, but it is absolutely imperative that you've got that piece in place. 43:36.87 ModGolfPodcast And as you mentioned, there are lots of tools out there to help you get it right at the beginning, set that foundation so that you're not scrambling afterwards. 43:46.96 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ And especially the professionalism of the programming and all that stuff for invoices. So yeah. 43:53.46 ModGolfPodcast Good stuff there. So, hey, to finish up here, like i said, we're going to jump on a video call where we're going to dig more into your entrepreneurial insights, things that have worked, the things that haven't. 43:54.98 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 44:06.39 ModGolfPodcast We're going to going to get into that a little bit here. 44:07.53 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 44:08.59 ModGolfPodcast But the one thing I wanted to finish up here, just as far as other partnerships, I'm really curious with the number of manufacturers of power carts now, and you said that it's quadrupled as far as the usage. So this is an expanding marketplace. 44:24.49 ModGolfPodcast Do you see any opportunity there with partnerships with any of them? Have they reached out to you? Because I'm assuming that you want to be as agnostic as possible, that you want your lockers with the power and the physical dimensions to be able to fit every single cart in the world. 44:36.60 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Yeah. 44:38.22 ModGolfPodcast But I'm curious about that. Can you tell us some stuff there without naming names. 44:45.38 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ We're non-biased. Every time we sell a locker, you're selling a cart. So we're a real benefit to the motorized cart companies, whether it's MGI or Moto Caddy, Stewart, Formula. 44:55.51 ModGolfPodcast yes 45:03.17 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ There's so many different cart manufacturers now, but we have a good relationship with Miranda at MGI. We're always trying to look at different opportunities. Yeah, we'll see down the road what happens. 45:26.24 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ I've sold over almost 200 carts here at the club for MGI carts. 45:35.04 ModGolfPodcast wow 45:36.22 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ That's one that our members have really liked. There's lots of good carts in the market though. Yeah, we'll see what happens in the future with any partnerships or cross-marketing. It'd be great to get some help from them, as an entrepreneur that really is helping their business. 45:57.34 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So who knows what happens in the future. 46:01.18 ModGolfPodcast Love this. Love this. 46:02.47 ModGolfPodcast Okay. So as we're finishing up here, why don't you let everyone out there know, because I know we've got a lot of people listening to the podcast that are in the golf business. Some of them are managers or operators or even owners of golf courses. 46:17.40 ModGolfPodcast So why don't you let them know what's What's the easiest way, both on social media and your website, that they can learn more about The Cart Locker? 46:24.53 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ We've got a fantastic website with just everything on there regarding the product. Have a look at it. There's lots of different areas where you could use to bring to a board or to bring to your management team to see if this could be an option. 46:41.96 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ If you want to reach out to Mark at the cartlocker.com, Mark Corrigan, he's our national sales manager. And he can go through all the products with you regarding Cart Locker and different ways to finance it, the different options. 46:56.99 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ There's so many options like our colour coating. You can get any colour you want to match your clubhouse. 47:03.95 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ So yeah, you can reach out to Mark and then you can also check us out on our Instagram page, our LinkedIn or Facebook page. 47:15.84 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Different photos where clubs put The Cart Locker at their clubhouse using different colours or custom matching. So have a look at the website, thecartlocker.com. 47:31.76 ModGolfPodcast Good stuff. Okay. Well, as I always do, I will include the links that Jeff had just mentioned in the show notes to make it nice and easy for all of you listeners to check out The Cart Locker. So with that, Jeff McGregor, founder of The Cart Locker. 47:48.88 ModGolfPodcast Thanks so much for sharing your entrepreneurial journey and everything that you've done so far. It's exciting because guys are just getting started here. You're only a couple of years in and I can see the potential here. So I have a feeling this is the first of many conversations over the next couple of years that we're going to have with you. So hey, Jeff, thanks so much for joining us all here today on The ModGolf Podcast. 48:09.88 Jeff MacGregor _Cart Locker_ Thank you very much for having me on. It's an absolute pleasure to be on here. And I always love listening to your expertise on innovation within the golf business. So thank you.