S2E19 - Paul Richards: Why Experience has become the New Product

Welcome back to the Emajin Golf Podcast: Beyond the 19th. In this episode, we sit down with Paul Richards, founder of Amateur Club Golfer, a bespoke international golf tour business built around one simple idea: people should arrive as golfers and leave as friends. After years running franchise businesses, Paul made the leap to build something at the intersection of his two passions, golf and creating great experiences for people. Paul shares how his background running franchise businesses, from school photography to food, shaped the way he thinks about delegation, seasonality and delivering a seamless experience when so much of it is out of your hands. It's a conversation about building a business around genuine hospitality, and what it really takes to keep customers happy when things don't go to plan. We explore: • How Paul went from franchising into building bespoke golf tours • Why he delegates to specialist local operators instead of trying to do everything himself • The revenue and staffing challenges of running a highly seasonal business • What "arrive as golfers, leave as friends" means in practice • How to respond when something goes wrong that's outside your control • Why clear communication and following up matters more than perfection If you're a founder, business owner or executive who wants to understand what it really takes to build a business around experience and trust, this episode is full of practical, honest insight from someone who's done it across multiple industries. 🎧 Tune in now to hear how Paul turned a lifelong love of golf into a business built on relationships.