Departments SME

Business Lessons from Clear Lake Lodge

Clear Lake - Photo by Phil Symchych

How did you spend your summers when you were growing up? 

As a kid growing up in Dauphin, we went camping to Clear Lake in the summer, frequently meeting our Winnipeg cousins there for fun family times. We’ve even maintained the annual Clear Lake trips with our kids and my cousins’ kids, now overtaking numerous campsites and hotel rooms. 

Perhaps tired of the camping routine back then, my parents and aunt and uncle contemplated buying a business at Clear Lake. “This might be a good pre-retirement project,” they thought. The hunt for a business began.

They found a laundromat for sale. It had good cash flow but no room for two families with six kids in tow. Next, they found an older lodge for sale with lots of rooms for family. 

Upon reviewing the lodge’s financial statements, their accountant said, “Don’t buy it, it doesn’t make any money.”

But it had 22 rooms, lots of room for family and paying guests, and was the perfect pre/actual retirement project. They mortgaged everything and bought the Siesta Hotel. 

Oh, and interest rates were 23 per cent.

This was back in the days of Yellow Pages advertising (before the internet). The name was wisely changed to “Clear Lake Lodge,” to appear earlier in the phone book.

We all helped spruce the place up: painting, cleaning, cutting grass, cleaning the pool, and cutting more grass. 

However, the accountant was right. The place didn’t make any money. At least initially, due to the high interest costs.

Eventually, the place made some money, and it became a popular summer destination for families and groups, especially teachers.

It’s funny the things you remember decades later. If you ever stayed there, perhaps you may recall the great showers and fantastic water pressure. The water heater was the size of a Honda Civic, and you could always take a long, hot shower. 

Clear Lake – Photo by Phil Symchych

Here are the four powerful business lessons I learned from when our families owned Clear Lake Lodge.

Mom taught me about the importance of customer service, a skill I still value and use all the time today. Everything we did was focused on the guest experience. The guests came first, and we knew the importance of repeat business and referrals. She was a stickler for cleanliness. If it didn’t look clean and smell clean, it wasn’t clean. We used a lot of Pine Sol in those days.

Dad demonstrated what it took to keep the place looking “ship shape,” teaching my brother Mark and I the discipline he learned serving in WWII. We cut the grass, and then cut it some more. We washed the windows, and then washed them some more. A good job, we learned, left straight lines on the grass and no lines on the windows.

Uncle Peter was a real entrepreneur, and he taught me about open book management. He was a very patient man and an excellent teacher. He explained the financial statements and other business information to me—a teenager—as if I was an adult with a brain. I’ll never forget that, and it led me to becoming a CPA and eventually a management consultant. 

Uncle Peter continued his entrepreneurship by running “Tours to Ukraine” while he was in his eighties.

Aunt Norma taught us all to have fun. There was a piano in the main lobby, and she happily played and lead group singalongs. Our little family business felt like it turned in to a huge family on those summer evenings filled with songs and laughter.

Running a family business, especially a seasonal business only operating at full capacity for two months of the year when interest rates were 23 per cent had many challenges. Those challenges, especially the financial ones, caused a lot of stress, and there weren’t a lot of experts to turn to for advice in those days. 

Those experiences taught me the importance of communication and respect in the family unit. They also led me to my career choice of advising small/medium business owners on how to grow their business, increase profit, and create wealth for shareholders. 

It seems you can amortize the lessons learned from 23 per cent interest rates and apply them in the future. As inflation creeps up and interest rates rise again, let me reassure you, we’ll be fine. Just focus on customer service, know your numbers, keep your business presentable, and make it fun for your customers.

Topics

Highlights from Manitoba business

Stay informed on breaking news, announcements and more right here.