Keep your head down. Follow through.
Those are words every successful golfer takes to heart. And professional golfer Brian Benedictson knows those words are also the key to running a successful business.
From a workshop in Courtenay, the Comox Valley born and raised Benedictson oversees production of his golf training aid, the Swinkey – a device that has found its way into golf bags the world over, including PGA pros Fred Furyk and Davis Love III.
“I first thought of (the idea) in 2008. I was playing the Canadian Tour and had about a half a dozen training aids that I used quite regularly. One for swing, one for putting, one for fitness, one for video, one for stretching.
“I thought, why can’t I have an all-in-one tool that’s simple, easy to use and fits in your bag so you can take it with you? Essentially, that’s what the Swinkey is – an all-in-one multi-tool that fits in your bag.”
Benedictson began building prototypes, and has each one displayed on a wall in his workshop. “In 2008-09-10 I was playing competitively on the road most of the year and was building prototypes on the road in the RV.
“That went well. I built 50 and brought them on the Canadian Tour, first introducing them at an event in Vancouver. I started showing them to guys on the tour and within two weeks I’d sold all 50. I got great feedback,” Benedictson said.
“It was time to start a business, manufacturing, sales. I started a company with zero business experience. But I had experience in playing pro golf and a college degree in construction management, and I’m kind of a handyman-carpenter, which helped in building prototypes.”
Benedictson had business partners for the first few years, but for the last year has been going it alone, with some of his former partners now shareholders.
“We all worked together, had highs and lows, learned a lot, got beat up in the business world a little bit, but just kept on learning and working hard and applied the same principles from playing golf – practice hard, work hard, be smart and deal with the ups and downs.
“At the end of the day I’ve been at it about three years and sold 15,000 units. We have about 92 players on the PGA tour with a Swinkey in their bag,” Benedictson said.
He notes all orders in Canada and the United States are shipped from his Courtenay workshop. “I have distributors in about a dozen different countries,” he adds, listing Japan, Germany, Australia, Korea and Switzerland as examples.
Despite that international scope, Benedictson says there was a time about six months ago when things were going so bad with the business that he was very close to packing it in.
“I kept believing in myself kept working hard. There’s a waterfall of things to do. I just pounded hard, kept my head down. At the end of the day, you work hard and believe in yourself.”
In April, that perseverance helped Benedictson land a partnership with the Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA). He notes the Swinkey is a great fit for junior golfers as it helps them develop the fundamentals of the game.
Taking a hiatus from the Canadian Tour has allowed Benedictson to refocus his efforts with the Swinkey, and he says things are going well now. So well, he turned down an opportunity to appear on CBC’s Dragon’s Den show, where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts and products to a panel of Canadian business moguls who have the cash and the know-how make it happen.
He demonstrated the Swinkey at an audition in Campbell River and said it went well. “I got a call three weeks later to say I’d been selected to appear on the show. It was supposed to happen (last week), but I didn’t go.
“I just feel that I finally got a hold of the business. I’ve got it under control. It was a little too complicated before. Too much going on. Pushing too hard and trying too many things. Now it’s simplified and needs to stay that way before getting more complicated. At this time I don’t want any more business partners.
“I’ve toned it back to more of a mom and pop operation. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to go big. I want to sell two million. But you’ve got to sell 100 right before you sell two million. The problem was I tried to sell a million without selling a hundred.”
While the feedback on the Swinkey has been positive, Benedictson notes that in a tough economy people aren’t spending as much on golf. “But we have a niche, and people like dealing with us. We have good customer service. I’m always available and answer all the e-mails and phone calls.”
While working hard and keeping his nose to the grindstone, Benedictson laughs when he says, “I’ve made about as much money (with the Swinkey) as I did playing pro golf, which is diddly squat. I’m making enough to break even now,” he adds.
Continuing his role as innovator, Benedictson is working on a Swinkey Lite and developing a new golf invention. He also coaches golfers at Sunnydale. (He can be reached at 250-897-5750 for more information on both his coaching and the Swinkey).
“The 1-2-3 is to get this business going, put another couple of good years into it and take it as far as I can then get back on the tour,” said Benedictson, who at age 33 certainly has the time to put that plan into action.
And about that name? Besides rhyming with Slinky, Benedictson notes Swinkey comes from the swing being the key to the game of golf. It’s one of about 20 names he was considering, others being “The Twig,” “Equip Stick” or simply “It.”
