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A four-bay indoor golf simulator in Chester took £63,980 in its first winter, then lost £15,000 over the summer: a clear lesson in seasonal fixed costs.
monthly range £2K–£17K · avg spend ~£25/visit in winter, ~£17 in summer
Four founders borrowed £100,000 for rare Korean moving-floor simulators; winter made about £8,000 profit, summer lost £15,000, and a paid video-and-Meta push grew Instagram followers instead of bookings.
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Pro Sim Golf is an indoor golf simulator facility in Saltney, Chester, operated by four founders and no employees. It opened with four simulator bays using Korean golf technology, movable floors that reproduce 54,000 course lies, different surfaces for bunker shots and rough, and hundreds of virtual courses. Customers pay about £30 an hour for the top bay, with prices varying by bay. The founders reported first-year revenue of £63,980 during the six winter months and about £12,819 across the summer period, with monthly revenue ranging from £2,000 to £17,000. They reported roughly £8,000 profit in winter and a £15,000 summer loss. Four founders borrowed £100,000 from the British Business Bank for startup costs, including technology, and also financed some equipment. A marketing contractor produced videos and set up Meta ads (the package cost is given as both £35,000 and £3,500 in the episode), and the campaign ran at about £30 a day for roughly 90 days; it grew the Instagram following without bringing in a visible wave of bookings. Customers spend about £25 per visit in winter and £17 in summer. The business wants summer profitability and multiple locations, but its immediate challenge is attracting customers. The episode’s presenter argues for clear marketing roles, a sharper offer, and learning to run measurable direct-response campaigns.
For a £30-per-hour simulator venue, the first reliable customer pool is golfers who already practice and take lessons, not people shopping for a generic rainy-day activity.
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“Highest has been £17,000. The lowest has been £2,000.”
0:51 · hear it in the video“We made about 8,000 pound profit in the summer.”
13:06 · hear it in the videoData credibility: Figures come from cofounder Lucy Davies answering host James Sinclair on his podcast, plus the host's summary board: first-year revenue of £63,980 in the winter months and about £12,819 in summer, roughly £8,000 winter profit and a £15,000 summer loss, a £100,000 British Business Bank loan, £30/hour for the top bay, and average spend of about £25 (winter) and £17 (summer). All are founder-reported and unaudited. The marketing package cost is inconsistent in the recording (£35,000 in Lucy's captioned answer, £3,500 on the host's board), so no figure is relied on here. The business is at Unit 5, Marley Way, Saltney, Chester (website given as prosimgolff.co.uk).
A first payment for Pro Sim Golf arrives when a golfer books a bay for an hour, at about £30 for the top simulator. That transaction is immediate and easy to understand, but one hour of casual play may not cover the venue’s fixed costs, equipment finance, and quiet summer periods.
The strongest growth loop for Pro Sim Golf can start with visible proof of improvement. A golfer sees measured ball flight and shot outcomes, returns to work on a weakness, and brings a playing partner or coach who wants to compare results.
An indoor golf venue can feel like it has stopped working when summer bookings fall, even though the winter cohort may still be healthy. Treat seasonality as a calendar problem with weekly evidence.
Pro Sim Golf sells access to four indoor simulator bays in Saltney, Chester. Its equipment combines virtual courses with physical feedback: the floors move to reproduce 54,000 lies and the bays include different surfaces for rough and bunker shots. The inventory spans hundreds of courses. The top bay costs about £30 per hour, and the other bays have different prices depending on their technology. That makes the offer more than a screen-based golf game. It can serve practice, skill development, and social play, but each use case needs different scheduling and messaging. A serious player may care about repeatable conditions and shot feedback; a group may care about course selection and a bookable shared session. The founders describe the technology and the price, not the exact tracking metrics or how the bays differ, so a copycat should check those details on site before promising them to customers. This is a physical venue model, not a software product: local density, utilization, equipment cost, and seasonal demand determine economics. The founders’ stated ambition is multiple locations and a recognized brand, which will require a repeatable operating playbook before expansion.
The core revenue unit is a booked simulator hour. The venue’s best bay is about £30 an hour, with a different rate by bay. First-year revenue was reported as £63,980 during six winter months and approximately £12,819 over the summer, while monthly sales ranged from £2,000 to £17,000. Those figures point to utilization as the central lever: the same four bays can produce very different income depending on the month and the number of paid hours sold. The founder said winter generated about £8,000 profit, while summer produced a £15,000 loss. The business is therefore exposed to fixed costs that continue when golfers move outdoors. Memberships, prepaid session packs, lessons, leagues, and group bookings are plausible revenue extensions, but their pricing and margins are not established by the episode. The team should test add-ons that improve off-peak occupancy without discounting the most demanded winter hours. Track realized price per bay-hour, repeat purchase rate, and contribution after equipment financing, utilities, payment fees, and coaching costs. Those measures will reveal whether more bookings create durable profit.
This is a capital-heavy local venue rather than a low-cost software startup. The four founders borrowed £100,000 from the British Business Bank and invested it in startup costs, including simulator technology; they also financed some of the equipment separately. The transcript gives no full cost breakdown, but it does make the biggest economic pressure visible: the business can lose money in summer while winter profits are not enough to offset that season’s shortfall. The founders also paid a marketing contractor to produce videos and set up advertising; the cost is given as £35,000 in Lucy's answer and £3,500 on the host's summary board, so the true figure is unclear. A Meta campaign then ran at about £30 per day for 90 days. That spend should be evaluated against attributable bookings and repeat visits, rather than follower growth or video views. Keep a monthly cash forecast that includes loan payments, equipment finance, rent, utilities, maintenance, and the cost of opening each bay. Before adding a location, establish how many paid hours each bay needs to break even in a winter month and a summer month. Since customer revenue is local and capacity is finite, careful utilization and pricing matter more than broad reach.
Copy the focused physical experience: four specialized bays, multiple course choices, and equipment that makes a virtual round feel closer to real terrain. Copy the visible hourly entry price too; a golfer can quickly decide whether to try one session. The founders found a comparable simulator facility in Cardiff, and the episode describes this Korean technology as rare when they opened, with only a handful of sites in the country. That early scarcity helped explain the opportunity, but it should not be treated as a lasting moat. Lucy herself notes that ordinary simulator venues are now everywhere; the difference has to be the experience, not the screen. Change the launch sequence by validating the full year, not just winter demand. Before committing to expensive equipment, collect paid deposits or presell memberships to local golfers and coaches, then model summer occupancy separately. Do not assume that polished video or generic awareness creates visits; the venue needs a specific audience, offer, and booking path. Build referral relationships with local golf instructors and clubs, and make the session useful enough that they want to return. Expansion should wait until one site has predictable summer acquisition, strong repeat behavior, and clearly assigned operating roles.
Seasonality is the clearest risk. The founders reported a £15,000 summer loss after about £8,000 of winter profit, and said the business borrowed more money after a difficult summer. If outdoor play draws the core customer away for several months, debt and equipment finance continue while bay revenue falls. Customer acquisition is another risk: the episode describes a paid video-and-ads engagement plus a three-month Meta campaign that grew Instagram followers without clear evidence of bookings attributable to it. Spending can rise while attention metrics improve and cash remains tight. The four-founder structure can slow decisions if responsibility is shared vaguely. The episode explicitly recommends clearly defined roles and direct marketing skills inside the team. The model also has local competition and physical capacity limits; a second venue would multiply equipment and fixed-cost exposure if the first has not solved its low season. Track cash runway, bay utilization, repeat rate, and paid acquisition cost by season. If summer offers cannot fill otherwise idle hours at a positive contribution, reserve cash and a smaller operating plan matter more than expansion.
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