Choosing the Right Club – Why the Wrong Tools Are Costing You Money | The Tee Box Series for Business Part 2

In the first installment of the Tee Box Series for Business, we talked about stepping up to the tee and finding the intrinsic spark and drive required to succeed. It’s that mental clarity, motivation, and readiness to commit to the next shot, whether in golf or business, that sets the tone for everything that follows.

Now, we move into the second article in the series: Choosing the Right Club. While on the surface it may seem like a simple equipment preference, Milwaukee vs. DeWalt, Deere vs. CAT, Titleist vs. Ping, what we’re really talking about here goes far beyond brand loyalty. This is about strategic decision-making in your business. It’s about using the right tool, the right person, or the right process at the right time. And if you get it wrong, you’re not just risking a bogey, you could be losing serious money.

Volition: The Power to Choose

In his book Fly Into the Wind, Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, former PGA pro and founder of Folds of Honor, uses the word volition: the power to choose. That single word carries weight. In golf, with up to 14 clubs in your bag, you’re making constant decisions based on variables, distance to the pin, wind speed and direction, lie of the ball, course slope, and personal confidence with each club.

Business is no different. Every decision matters and the variables shift daily. You’re choosing how to approach projects based on job site conditions: rural or urban, commercial or residential, industrial or infrastructure. You’re evaluating resources, staffing, capital investments, and risk. So how do you choose the right “club” for your business?

Start at the End: Reverse Engineering Success

I’m currently working with several clients who are launching new business units that complement their existing operations. When you’re standing on the tee box of a brand-new venture, the first question isn’t what tools do we need today, it’s where are we trying to go?

I go back to the wisdom of Stephen Covey: “Begin with the end in mind.”

What does success look like at year five? How big do you want to be? How much profit are you aiming for? Are you building something to sell or something to scale?

Just as in golf, if you want to hit the pin from 150 yards out, you don’t start swinging blindly. You, account for slopes, hazards, wind, and your own ability. In business, the parallel is understanding your market, analyzing the competitive landscape, assessing internal capabilities, and then choosing the right tools, systems, and people to get you there.

Photo Licensed through Adobe stock by Barna Tanko

Photo Licensed through Adobe stock by Barna Tanko

Choosing the Right Club Takes More Than Instinct

It’s tempting to go with what’s comfortable, like reaching for your 7-iron every time you’re unsure. But that’s not a strategy. That’s a habit. And in business, habits can be costly.

Let’s zoom out for a moment. Maybe the club isn’t a piece of equipment at all. Maybe it’s the software you’re using. Or the staffing strategy you’ve implemented. Or even the leadership style you’ve adopted.

Here are a few areas where choosing the wrong “club” can lead to missed opportunities or wasted money:

• Technology: Using outdated systems that don’t integrate or automate key workflows.
• Roles: Promoting based on tenure instead of skill or leadership ability.
• Processes: Relying on legacy operating procedures instead of streamlining with current best practices.
• Equipment: Overinvesting in what you want instead of what you actually need for your market.

Choosing the right club, be it a person, process, or piece of equipment, starts by asking one question: What is the result I’m trying to achieve?

Designing Your Game Plan Like a Course Map

Think of the back of a golf scorecard. It provides a bird’s-eye view of the entire course: each hole, the distance, the hazards, the par. This is how you should think about your business strategy.

I often coach clients to work backward. Start with what year five looks like, then build a roadmap from there:

• Year 5: Define success, revenue targets, team size, market share, profitability, exit strategy.
• Year 3: Determine what needs to be true in year three to make year five achievable.
• Year 1: Set operational, financial, and staffing goals to build momentum.
• First 6 Months: Take practical, tactical steps to get the ball rolling, recruit key talent, secure capital, and implement core systems.

By building this roadmap, you develop the ability to “see the course” before you swing. You identify your hazards and bunkers, your straightaways and doglegs. From there, your club selection becomes not only easier, but it also becomes strategic.

People Are the Clubs in Your Bag

Don’t forget that your team is your toolbox. In golf, some clubs are more forgiving than others. Some offer control, others offer power. It’s no different with people.

You need:

• Field crews who are skilled and consistent under pressure.
• Estimators and project managers who can see three moves ahead.
• Administrative support to keep compliance, payroll, and HR running.
• Sales and marketing pros who understand your brand and your customers.

It’s not enough to have the right people. You need them in the right roles, working toward the right outcomes. Misalignment here is one of the most costly and commonly overlooked mistakes I see in construction businesses.

When I Was Running My Company…

I’ll be honest, I didn’t always choose the right club. When I was growing my company, I made some decisions based on gut feeling instead of strategy. Sometimes they worked, often they didn’t. But I learned to look forward, to visualize where we were heading, and to choose based on that picture, not just the problem in front of me.

There were moments when I was tempted to swing hard and hope for the best. But I found success came when I slowed down, looked at the whole picture, and asked: What’s the best tool for this job, given everything I know right now?

The Cost of the Wrong Club

Choosing the wrong tool, person, or system can cost you thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, over time. A software system that doesn’t integrate with your accounting platform can eat hours every week. A foreman who can’t lead drains the morale of an entire crew. A $75,000 piece of equipment that sits idle for nine months is just overhead dressed up like progress.

Every misalignment adds friction to your operation. Every inefficient tool adds strokes to your scorecard. It’s not about doing more; it’s about doing better.

Final Thoughts: Be Deliberate with Your Choices

The best golfers don’t just play the game, they study it. They know their equipment. They know the course. And they make every decision with intention.

In business, don’t just swing, select. Take time to think about your next move. Know where you’re going, know the conditions, and choose your “club” accordingly.

Whether it’s your next hire, your next piece of equipment, or your next market move, make sure it’s the right choice for where you want to land. Because the wrong club might still get the ball off the ground, but it rarely gets it in the hole.

Next in the Tee Box Series for Business:
“Out of the Sand Trap – Dig Your Business Out with Vision, Not Just Vigor”

In this Tee Box Series article, we’ll tackle a challenge that every business owner eventually faces: getting stuck in the day-to-day grind. Much like finding yourself in a sand trap on the golf course, many leaders dig furiously, working harder, longer, and with more intensity, only to realize they’re not making meaningful progress. The issue isn’t a lack of effort; it’s a lack of clarity and direction.

Stay tuned as we trade passive movement for purposeful momentum, on the course and in your company.

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