When analyzing the efficiency of your aquatic operation’s business plan and financial sustainability, it’s extremely important to know where you’ve been in order to know where you are headed and how you can get there. There are several categories that can give you a good indication of your overall financial situation in terms of revenues and expenses, and analyzing evaluating these can help you determine in what areas you can increase revenues and decrease expenses, the key to financial viability and continued success. The following are the key areas you need data for in terms of both revenue and expenses:
- Total Attendance
- Total Revenue
- Admission Revenue
- Rental Revenue
- Food and Beverage Revenue
- Retail Revenue
- Daily Revenue Average
- Daily Attendance Average
- Total Expenses
- Total Salary Expenses
- Total Operational Expenses
- Expenses Per Operating Day
- Expense Per Guest
- Salary Expense Per Day
- Guests Needed to Cover Expenses
Aquatic facilities should track these numbers on an annual basis and keep a 3-5 year track record so it can be compared to the current financials of your operation. This will help you to see areas where your operation is thriving, as well as areas that provide opportunity for growth. For example, analyzing your personnel salaries on a year to year basis will help you to see where you currently stand on labor expenses compared to the previous years and will better enable you to identify if you are overstaffing your operation, or staying on par with your 3-year average. When starting to track these numbers on a year to year basis, it will be a great benefit to the efficiency of your operation and help you to better meet your financial sustainability goals.