What’s the origin story of your business?
Hello, my name is Matt Walter and I am a PGA Teaching Professional at Indian Hills Golf Club. I started playing golf when I was about three years old and I have some family who has a background in that profession. In 2011, I started an internship at West Haven. I finished my degree and came back as an assistant professional. In 2012, I was in charge of managing the golf course and operations and teaching at the same time. After two years, I had to make a call. Do I want to teach full-time or do I want to be a traditional golf pro? My wife saw how happy I was with teaching and in 2014 I started to teach full-time. I’m well known for junior programs and have won many awards. Since I came to Murfreesboro it’s has been exciting ever since!
What’s an obstacle that you’ve had to overcome to build your business?
I would have to say trying to figure out who I was after the transition. I taught myself the education I needed and I learned how to be my own person without teaching under somebody.
What is unique about owning and running a business in Murfreesboro?
What is unique about Murfreesboro is the opportunity to have my own brand here. People usually are under other brands/ People. I believe it has been a unique opportunity for me to be able to express myself through my own name. Also, Murfreesboro is a great community and there’s a lot of opportunity here.
As a business owner, what keeps you up at night?
I would say everything! However, if I did have to pick one thing it would be marketing. I believe that marketing is one of the hardest things to tackle and I wanted to make sure that my brand is consistent with my values.
If you could wave a magic wand and make one problem go away in your business what would it be?
If I could wave a magic wand and make one problem go away in my business it would be to find multiple streams of income. I currently have an Instagram and Facebook that has created revenues for me and I always think it’s important to have that as a back-up plan.
If you could travel back in time to the day you started your business, what advice would you give yourself?
I would say spending more time on social media because it’s super important . Social media can take you very far depending on what you’re doing so I wish I would have started earlier in my business.
What time of the day are you most productive?
I am most productive before my family wakes up or after they go to sleep. I always want to make sure they’re taken care of!
What’s one thing you’d say to a person starting a new business?
I would have to say that one thing I would tell a person who starting a new business is there’s no such thing as a bad ideas. Keep going and be determined to last a long time and try your best to achieve that!
What’s one thing you’d say to a person who’d owned a business for a long time?
The advice that I would give would be to get around young people and listen to their ideas and try to figure out why they think that way. Sometimes people can get stuck in their ways and think that things have to go a certain way but being more open is always a good thing because change and growth is important for any business!
Learn more about Matt Walter Golf Academy by visiting their website!
