After being open for just over a year, friends Andrew Perkins and Todd Moreau, who are based in Brantford, have successfully translated their passion for golf into a thriving business.
Perkins, who is an electrician by trade, explained how both he and Moreau utilized simulator technology to extend their playing for the full year and eventually leading them to start ‘Anytime Golf,’ 24/7 self-access golf simulators.
“We’re both avid golfers [and] play outside regularly…with the Canadian winters, we had a lull when playing golf. The only possibility would be to go away to a warmer climate to play golf, which is expensive and hard to do. So, that’s when Todd took the initiative and started to build a personal golf simulator in his garage,” Perkins said. “It evolved into a high-end golf simulator and it was something that we really liked to do. We ended up having a weekly league out of it, and a couple other friends would get together too. And we thought with our [shared] passion for golf, [that] we could turn this into a business.”
Moreau, who’s a paramedic supervisor, discussed how they translated their golf-simulator model into a business and developed their idea into a viable plan.
“It was a long process to figure out the correct business plan. There was talk initially about having a full-service venue [but] put that on the back burner…when we started researching 24-hour simulators, which have become more popular…that’s when we decided to go that route. We looked at how some other businesses in the GTA were running, and then we used that [to] build off of it and develop our own product,” Moreau explained. “I think a lot of the benefits to the simulator depend on what you’re looking for…like practicing. Once you’re in there and you get used to the software…you’ll see how much more benefit you can get from practicing inside versus outside, as far as being able to see where you hit the ball…or how far you have hit and carry the ball, it’s a lot of information, but once you start honing that, that’s when you can see substantial improvements in your game versus hitting it on the range…as far as playing the actual game, I think a lot of the features that will captivate the users is just the fact that they can continue playing in their regular rounds with friends for 12 months.”
Nevertheless, technology has been key to Anytime Golf’s continued success.
“It’s very realistic, but it does take some getting used to. What we’ve done is we’ve tried to implement first-time user videos to go over the key highlights that they need to know to get started quickly and understand how the software works. We also encourage people to give us a lot of feedback so we know how and where to improve,” Moreau said. “We’ve added a bunch of short, ‘help’ videos to get them through common problems…so they’re not wasting their time. But I think usually, after 15 to 20 minutes of playing around with the software, a lot of people feel comfortable enough to start playing and having a good time.”
And after a year, the entrepreneurial team found an overwhelmingly positive response from customers especially utilizing the centre around the clock.
“The feedback has been very positive [and] we have a very high percentage of repeat customers…once they come, they realize how much they enjoy it with all the courses we have to offer. There are over 1,000 courses available through our software, which also offers local courses which people can go play in like…the Walter Gretzky golf course. Todd has actually built that course for the simulator using LIDAR data, so it’s an exact replica of what you would play if you’re a regular at the Walter Gretzky golf course,” Perkins noted. “We were also very surprised at the usage during off hours. We thought that the 24/7 model would be good for giving people options [for playing times], but we didn’t realize how many people actually would utilize those off hours. There was definitely a void for people that are shift workers or people that don’t have time in the evenings…so it’s really around the clock.”
The centre has also offered an opportunity for customers to participate in a league, which enhances their experience.
“We were just testing the waters [and] seeing how everything went. We have definitely built off that in the summer and saw what the positives and the negatives were of the league last year. And now I believe that we’ve got one of the best leagues going. We offer things that others can’t…like they’re not forced to a specific time to play their league. We’ve also developed a league site where they can go on. They can see their handicap, [or] how their handicaps are improving and developing. There’s tracking for the overall leaderboards and points and prize payouts…so it’s really come a long way,” Moreau said.
Nevertheless, ‘Anytime Golf’ has truly appealed to customers in the area, and it has also attracted attention in regard to growing the business.
“Through one of our contacts…we knew somebody in Orillia that was interested in opening up a golf simulator. They heard how we had been doing…they then asked if we would be interested in selling a franchise. We then started to do the research on how to start a one and get the wheels in motion…going to franchise shows, reading up on what’s all involved in franchising, talking to lawyers [and] accountants, and we came to an agreement with them for a franchise in Orillia, which opened in December 2024,” Perkins said.
Moreau then continued on Perkins’ sentiments; with a mutual desire to grow the operations into a franchise.
“We’re interested to see how the ‘Anytime Golf’ franchise goes in Orillia; I believe it will be very successful [as] they’re opening a model that’s identical to us. They’re going to run all the same software and the same user interface features that we have at our store. We’re hoping to expand on that, so people can see how great our product is. Maybe they live in a city where they see a void that could use something like what we’re offering, and we’d love to see it expand out to other franchisees,” Moreau said. “We’re also constantly building off of what we have [in order] to improve our product, [and we are] always looking at ways to make the experience truly one of a kind and unique for our golfers, [and we] want to give them things that no other place can, and we’ve been slowly working towards that with various features we have, but we want to really expand on It, you know, become the premier indoor 24/7 facility.”
