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As it stands, these solutions are more a set of goals then practical
solutions, a great place to start, but it takes effort to make them
happen. There are 3 separate business entities each having
their own duties to implement these goals.
Customers
Karters are the customers, and the root source of
nearly all the revenue into the sport. Customers divided have
the least influence on the sport; Customers united have the
most influence on the sport. We've all heard it a thousand
times "FRAGMENTED". Fragmentation is greatest among the
customers and radiates through all other business entities in the
sport. Without some form of unity among the customers, the
business model will remain Status Quo.
There is a sense of complacency among the Customer entity.
With over 95% of the Customers attending events as Recreational
Racers, the element of complacency is a given; However when
Customers are spending the volume of hours and dollars they do to
compete without realizing it they are in effect turning this
recreation into more then just a casual hobby. When a new rule
change affects a racer's wallet or spare time they have two choices;
spend the time/money or stop racing.
The first step to defragmentation is for Customers to form an
alliance. That may sound like more of an ideal then a goal,
and without a handful of volunteers to make it happen it will remain
an ideal. Status Quo.
The primary business objective for Kartweb is to assist karters
as Customers. We can provide a foundation to facilitate an
alliance but only with help from the Customers themselves.
Customers need representation from each of the 3 divisions who can
manage an alliance within each division, yet extend full cooperation
among each of their counterparts from other divisions.
Communication will be vital and a protocol of communication within
the Customer entity as well as beyond the customer entity needs to
be established. There numerous communications resources
available at no cost. Merely airing the woes on a public forum
is not the answer - and over-reliance on this as the medium to
implement a solution is very counter productive to the end goal.
Any Volunteers? Drop a line to
tech@kartweb.com
Organizations
Organizations are a key part of the problems and the
solutions. There are no "evil organizations", each of them
offer great programs, events, and many other essentials to the
sport. They are all to be commended for the excellence they've
provided to the karting community over the years. Each of the
"Big 3" have their own various ingredients for success as well as
their own set of dynamics for customer dissatisfaction.
Each of these organizations operated somewhat as a monopoly in
each of their divisions over the years. Despite the crossover
attempts of an organization into a foreign region, it's not a
question of offering a better product - it's just a different
product. Without a substantial improvement to the product
itself, all that does is fragment an already over-fragmented
business entity.
There are several common broken elements among the "Big 3".
First and foremost are their identities as "National
Organizations". While they may host a few Nationals in
foreign divisions these events hardly qualify as a National Level
event that draws customers uniformly distributed among the 3
divisions.
Second on the list is the nearly non-existent level of
co-operation among these organizations. Looking at the
business model of karting, an Organization really only serves a
few purposes;
- Collaboration with other Organizations
- Race Event promotion within a Division
- Race Event Insurance - Local/Regional/Divisional
- Race Series Management of points structures, reporting
results etc.
- Local/Regional Options Classes & Rules
Third in line, is the lack of uniformity of rules.
While most customers have put this as the leading issue, the
reason this problem exists is due to the first issue. While
there has been some effort to maintain some similarities among the
smorgasbord of classes there really hasn't been a concerted effort
at the level that provides customer satisfaction. New
classes will be born, old classes will disappear within the
National Class Scope. A good example is with Rotax - for
2006 Rotax has grown to where they no longer need to be aligned
with National Organizations.
From the comments and inputs of Customers on this subject, it
appears that "12" is the magic number for the quantity of National
Caliber Classes. Just which classes make the cut? That
should be determined by the number of total number of entries
reported by all regional and national series promoters for the
previous year, from any series that travels to different tracks
(including independent series).
Some of the rules for a given class will differ across the 3
organizations. How to fix that? Again it's the numbers
that need to decide. For example in the Jr1 class, there is
sufficient participation to be one of the 12 National Classes, but
each Division has different rules - in some cases very different.
Rationalization down to a single set of common rules needs to be
"weighted" by which Division has the most entries, then by how
dramatic are the cost impacts to the other Divisions? Yamaha
& Comer consolidations are probably the most impacting. They
both need to be allowed yet they need some appropriate handicap.
Compromises need to be targeted to solve at least a 2/3's
majority. Promoters at the Regional and local level still
have the option to run these classes under the rules they choose
fit, but at the Divisional and National level they must conform to
one set of standards.
The rules need to be developed by a Technical Committee formed
from among the Customers with equal representation from each
Division. To avoid a conflict of interest none of the
Technical Committee members can be part of the retail business
entity, although they are free to get advice from anywhere in the
industry. Technical Committee members should not be a
participant in the classes they provide input with for that year.
These rules MUST be accessible electronically without joining
any one of the organizations. Obviously the web is a natural
way to manage this distribution. Further, rules need to be
free of conflicts of interest from advertisers who sell any of the
products identified within the body of rules. There are
plenty of opportunities for advertising revenue outside the sport,
it's high time the organizations come out of the dark ages in this
respect.
For some organizations this will be a tough nut to swallow.
What this amounts to is a major restructuring and alignment of the
industry similar to when Company A buys out Company B and lays off
1/3 of the staff and results in better lower priced products to the
customers. Of course none of this will happen without an
alliance among the Customers.
Retailers
Retailers are in three groups and need to be condensed to
two groups;
- Importers/Manufacturers
- Professional Dealers
- Hobby Dealers
Hobby Dealers are a problem in the sport mostly because they have
no value added to the business in the long run. Where there
are some valid Hobby Dealers operating due to an area not having the
sales volume to support a Professional Dealer they are an exception.
The current business cycle has has most Retailers stuck on a
treadmill. The current business cycle is to offer "Product of
the Year" and next year find something new. Typically a
customer life cycle is about 3 years and that offers the opportunity
to make one "big sale" about every 3 years. Where Retailers
are missing the boat is in bringing in new customers to the sport.
The treadmill is based on a philosophy of "recycling the customer".
Retailers have too much influence on rules as a matter of obsoleting
products at an accelerated rate. In turn this drives customers
away from the sport resulting in a stifling karting as a whole.
There in lies the very core of karting's growth problem.
No one really intended the Organizations or the Retail Industry to
migrate down that path, it is just a natural order of progression
that took place. In part because one of the most important
elements to the growth of any business entity was missing all along;
A sound Business Plan that includes a direction for marketing.
Most Kartshop owners are probably among the nicest people you'll
find in the sport. They work long hours, tend to give racers a
lot of breaks, and few drive a Mercedes or own a 2800 Square foot
home. (Make that 1500 Sq Ft in California). They aren't
there to rip off the racer is it might appear - they are there to
make a fair living. The problem is most of them don't really
have the best marketing skills and work in an industry where
developing those skills isn't visible.
This is an area where Customers with marketing skills and Local
Clubs need to come together to work with the Retail Industry to
market the sport beyond the karting community. Exposure
opportunities take the entire karting community to make successful.
Little things like Swap Meets at Public Places - even Used Parts
Auctions can gain an "entertainment" exposure to the public.
Just about every town near a track has an Auto Show, but that
shouldn't be the limit of marketing - and often is. You might
be surprised at the value a nice display of TAG's have at a Golf
Course where you might find a few sports cars in the lot.
There are plenty of Public Schools that will invite a speaker in
when they have a message relating to the higher academic ethics of
most karters, or the outstanding behavior and parent-child bonding
experience of a sport. The point is the marketing of karting
must grow beyond the typical word-of-mouth of friends of karters
themselves to grow the sport.
We sincerely hope that the National Council Meeting introduces
the formation of some effective committees to move the sport
forward. While many of the things prescribed above might be a
"pie-in-the-sky" ideal they are all necessary steps to get the sport
back on track and grow. No one can do it alone, it must be
done together.
Once again, any volunteers? Drop a line to
tech@kartweb.com |
