Consider this: ninety percent of the time, your boathouse building and equipment sits idle. Between morning and evening training sessions, during midday weekdays, and throughout slower seasons, your valuable facilities generate no income. What if you could change that?
The concept of sweating your assets was famously pioneered by McDonald’s in the 1970s. Ray Kroc realised that his restaurants sat largely empty during morning hours, with staff and buildings incurring costs but generating little revenue. The solution? McDonald’s breakfast menu, turning idle morning capacity into a profitable revenue stream. While few rowing clubs operate for profit, generating diverse revenue streams remains crucial to sustaining programmes, funding equipment upgrades, and supporting club development.
The Challenge of Revenue Concentration
Most rowing clubs depend heavily on three primary income sources: membership fees, regatta profits, and grants. This concentration creates vulnerability. A single regatta cancellation due to weather, a slight drop in membership numbers, or changes to grant funding can significantly impact your club’s financial health.
Diversifying income sources makes your club more financially resilient and less susceptible to disruption from any single revenue channel. It also provides opportunities to expand programming and reinvest in facilities without constantly increasing membership fees.
The Solution: SpaceToCo
Enter SpaceToCo, an innovative platform that functions like an Airbnb service for community spaces. This marketplace connects venue owners with people seeking spaces for fitness classes, meetings, events, and activities. For rowing clubs, it represents an opportunity to monetise idle time without disrupting existing operations.
Practical Applications for Rowing Clubs
Imagine an erg fitness class running at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday in your boathouse. This timeslot typically sits empty, well outside peak training hours. With a qualified instructor who understands rowing technique and equipment, you could:
• Generate additional income from unused capacity
• Introduce new people to rowing and your club
• Build community awareness of your facilities
• Create potential pathways to full membership
Other possibilities include hosting corporate team-building sessions, fitness bootcamps, physiotherapy consultations, or even renting meeting spaces for business offsite or local community groups.
How SpaceToCo Works for Rowing Clubs
SpaceToCo provides a comprehensive booking platform designed for community organisations. Key features include:
- Not-for-Profit Partnership Programme: Discounted rates specifically for community organisations like rowing clubs
- Single Club Account: One centralised booking system for all your venue spaces and equipment
- Security Bonds: You set bond amounts, which can be claimed four days after bookings if needed
- Document Management: Upload and manage risk assessments, insurance certificates, alcohol licenses, and other required documentation
- Internal Use Tracking: The platform can also handle your club’s internal bookings, creating a single system for all space management
Getting Started
Interested in exploring this opportunity? Watch short videos for how SpacetoCo makes it easy to manage bookings and book a demonstration of the platform at book a demo to see how it works.
Before listing your spaces, consider:
• Which time slots are consistently unused
- What insurance or liability requirements you need to address
- Whether instructors or renters need specific qualifications or inductions
- How bookings will be supervised or managed
- What maintenance or cleaning protocols are needed between uses
The Bottom Line
Your boathouse represents a significant asset that could be generating income during its idle hours. SpaceToCo provides the infrastructure to make this happen safely and efficiently, with protections built in for your organisation.
By sweating your assets more effectively, you can build a more financially stable club, reduce dependency on traditional revenue sources, and potentially introduce a whole new audience to the sport of rowing. It’s worth exploring whether this opportunity could work for your club.