Oct 5, 2025

Notes from “Middle Earth”
Playa Caracol, Panamá 

“We sure make a lot of money from it!”

(Can’t read the full email – click here for the online version.)

As I write this missive, workmen and women are coming and going. They are attempting to fix various warranty issues with our beach resort condo before the date expires. They are working to repair things like cracks in the walls, tiles and water damage to a windowsill plus other odds and ends.

That my wife has been after the warranty team to fix these things since June is another one of those vagaries of life here in Panama. Time is always tomorrow and then the work is usually done slowly, often sloppily despite the excessive managerial oversight.

It is both infuriating and comical.

Earlier in the week we visited the development where we have purchased property with the intention of building a house. There the roads are all roughed in, wells and a massive water tower built and a few “show homes” nearing completion. No owner can officially begin construction yet because at least one ministry must still give its approval thus the titles to each lot cannot be transferred.

After our inspection, we decided to visit the one facility in our area that seems to have tennis courts. Everywhere else, here and in most of Panama, one can find Pickleball and Padel courts, but few for tennis.

The facility we were visiting lies inside a large, gated community called Coronado – the first beachfront area to be built decades ago and populated by many of the Panamanian rich from the city. 

Tennis is a minor footnote at this club. Where once there were 6 courts, only 2 remain;  the majority having been turned into courts for Pickleball. The reason is simple. Most members of the club are retired seniors, aged 60 and up. The Boomer generation of North America, getting older and less agile, has piled into this easier and less active sport, away from tennis. 

Golf is still very popular, and the course still receives the lions’ share of member participation. On the day of our visit, however, all facilities were quiet. The only people we saw were a couple of elderly ladies enjoying a late lunch at the restaurant. The reason became clear as the director of the club went into more detail about its operations.

The majority of the members spend only the winter in the area, comprising primarily of citizens from Canada and the US. Canada is especially well represented since there are direct flights to a nearby regional airport during the winter – thus folks can avoid the longer drive and at times, choked traffic, from Panama City. 

Like many clubs, membership includes an upfront life-time fee, then a monthly amount that includes usage of the facilities and a consumable portion at the restaurant. On the surface, if few new members are added regularly, the monthly payments did not seem to be adequate to cover the cost of yearly maintenance. But subsequent conversation revealed an interesting fact.

During the high season when most members arrive, the restaurants do a very brisk business – especially in the high-margin, beverage department. 

The director quipped; 

“I don’t know how they are able to drive their carts back home after the amount they consume. I’d be in the ditch if I drank even half what they do! But we sure make a lot of money from it.”

One can debate the merits and ethics of consumer behavior but not the economics. It is instructive that this operation knows its numbers. In fact, the director stated that their club had the best golf pricing in the entire country and that pricing worked because they knew that the volume of members using their facility translated into large profits with their food and beverage units.

What about you? Do you know your or your clients’; numbers? What your margins are? What they should be? 

Most business owners are woefully ignorant of what their financials are telling them nor are they able to use those numbers to help them adjust and change their business strategy to increased profits.

This is the kind of training and assistance we provide for our clients, whether they are VIP, one-on-one clients or they are members of our Do-It-Yourself Business Academy. 

Regardless of where you are or what level of mastery you have, you can find out how to improve any aspect of your business, be it your marketing or your financials by grabbing my free training here. 

Until next week, 

Stay healthy and focus on profit! 

 - Hugh 
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert

P.S: Tiny, consistent wins—1–2% changes—can compound into 50–100% more profit in a year. Our team built a tool to unlock those gains. If you’re curious about how this can transform your coaching business, click here to explore further.

★ BECOME A HIGHLY PAID BUSINESS COACH WITH #1 COACHING PLATFORM ★
I am looking for individuals to help handle the exploding global demand for business
coaching services. I’m willing to train [at my expense] the right individual with a
passion for wanting to help small business owners become successful.
NO travel - work from home. $225,000 first year income. If you or someone you
know is interested, click here and an 8-minute video will explain it all.