Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Collette.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I went to Ayer middle school and high school, graduated in 2004. I went to UMass Lowell began playing disc golf after playing ultimate Frisbee in college. I traveled around New England, living in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island while playing, practicing, and eventually entering the pro disc golf divisions in tournaments. Like everyone with a hobby, I was looking for ways to turn my hobby into a career. There isn’t enough money in winning tournaments to pay the bills, but I reached out to multiple companies and considered moving to many places across the country to take entry level jobs at disc golf manufacturers.
Cut to last year….I’m living in Rhode Island. While I was on vacation in North Carolina for the 4th of July, I see a Facebook post from a friend of mine, who owns Hawk’s Nest Disc Golf in Ayer, MA. He says he’s putting the business up for sale….
About 6 years ago John Borelli opened a disc golf pro shop on the Devens Disc Golf course; his shop was called Killer B Disc Golf (B for Borelli). With Devens Disc Golf as one of the most popular courses in New England, locals flocked to the store to buy discs, gear, bags, equipment, apparel and more! After a couple years, John’s wife accepted a job with the Professional Disc Golf Association and they both moved to Georgia. The shop moved with them and the store in Ayer was vacant again. A couple years later, local disc golfer Marc Duci decided to reopen the store and rename it Hawk’s Nest Disc Golf in recognition of the red-tailed hawks that live and look over Devens Disc Golf course. Around this same time, Devens opened a 2nd course on the same property, turning it into the only property in Massachusetts (and most of New England) to have two completely separate courses on one property, including a pro shop. The store was run by Marc and one employee.
Back to last year, in North Carolina…
I bought Marc’s remaining inventory, store displays, and social media presence/website. I restocked the inventory with help from my mom and reopened after I returned from the disc golf world championships in Kansas last summer. The locals have been a tremendous support, and I used to describe the experience like this, “You know you made the right choice when you open a business and the locals thank you for reopening. They thanked me for opening a business, let that sink in.”
We hosted our first big 144-person in the fall and gave away more than $5k in prizes to the players. The locals have kept the business open through the winter by supporting us during the slow season. Now that it’s spring/summer, we’re back and strong! We hosted another big 144-person event in April which sold out in just a day. We’re hosting another one in July that sells out every year! We submitted a bid to the New England Flying Disc Association (NEFA) to host the 2017 New England Disc Golf Championships and we were selected! We’re building a temporary course that will be big and exciting and hard! We’re currently working with companies to select a title sponsor and will have video coverage as well. The event is at the end of September and we’re hoping to give away (with NEFA) more than $10k in cash and prizes!
Within the month, we’re planning to launch our first online store so we can sell across the country! Being able to sell online during the winter to players in better climates will be a HUGE benefit.
Disc golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Here are two charts of demographics to give you an idea of quickly it’s growing!
http://www.pdga.com/files/2016_growth_docs.pdf
http://www.pdga.com/files/2016_disc_golf_and_pdga_demographics_final.pdf
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It certainly hasn’t been smooth, but it’s been exciting nonetheless. Since we opened late last year, we didn’t have a lot of time to ramp up before the winter came. Being a nice-weather sport, most of our business happens before the winter so it was tough to make sure we kept costs low while still supporting our customers.
I also have a full-time job working for Kaplan Test Prep. Kaplan has me managing the relationships with colleges and universities in Boston and Worcester. Since I work from home, it allows me to be flexible with the time spent working for the store. I have support from a couple employees to help me with work during the week, and I cover most shifts during the nights and weekends when I’m not traveling to play and promote at disc golf tournaments.
Hawk’s Nest Disc Golf – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a disc golf pro shop. We sell mostly discs to players, in addition to bags, apparel, custom-designed discs, snacks, targets, lessons with me, etc. We are opening our online store later this summer.
I will try to be modest, by only telling you about what our customers have said about our store. They say that they like having me (a pro) working at the store. They trust my recommendations and we have a LOT of new players! We also have an employee who is a female pro and they appreciate her recommendations as well, since she can speak to a different type of player. We are all passionate players first, and employees second.
The mission of Hawk’s Nest Disc Golf is threefold:
a) #growthesport
b) Support the Community
c) Help every disc golfer become a better player
Our customers have recognized what we do, and 100% of our reviews on Square (our point-of-sale system) are positive. Here are some!
“The lady that helped up was wonderfully helpful! I wish I had gotten her name. I came in to purchase for my husband, who is also left handed, and she went thru my list with me offering great suggestions and advice.”
“Relaxing place to stop in and enjoy everything disc golf.”
“The owner was very helpful and runs a great disc golf store.”
One thing to note: We consider one of our purple cows (http://www.sethgodin.com/purple/) to be our buy-back policy. We will take any disc back, even after it’s been thrown. There are no other retailers that we know who offer this policy, since discs are always sold brand new. Taking back discs that are thrown guarantees the customer gets a disc that will help them get better and therefore supporting the mission of Hawk’s Nest. This also helps the store stock the used shelf!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is 90% enjoying your life every day, and 10% paying the bills. Our parents’ generations and going back thought we had to pay the bills first. Many people today want to enjoy their life 100% and sometimes forget that we just need to pay the bills first. I believe in the right balance: that is doing what you love, and doing it in a way that lets you be happy while keeping the lights on!
Unless we fulfill the mission of Hawk’s Nest, we won’t be successful.
Pricing:
- Disc Golf is free to play! And it’s as easy as throwing a frisbee!
- Discs aren’t expensive! You can play with just one and they start at $9.99
Contact Info:
- Address: 210 West Main St, Ayer, MA 01432
@Devens Disc Golf - Phone: 978-490-7201
- Email: hawksnestdiscgolf@gmail.com
- Instagram: @hawksnestdg
- Facebook: facebook.com/hawksnestdg
- Yelp: yelp.com/biz/hawks-nest-disc-golf-ayer
- Other: hawksnestdg.com (blog)
Image Credit:
Sam Gaddes
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
