If you're weighing Shotgun Golf against a restaurant, a gym or another simulator brand, here's how the numbers line up.
Financial comparison
| Shotgun Golf | Average QSR food & beverage franchise | Average fitness franchise | Typical 24/7 golf simulator franchise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial investment | $475K–$610K | $500K–$1.5M+ | $400K–$2M+ (boutique to big-box) | $350K–$900K |
| Revenue model | Low revenue, high margin: bay hours, memberships, events | High volume, thin margin: food and labour eat most of each sale | Membership volume with high churn | Bay hours; often staffed |
| Royalty rate | 7% | 4–6% | 5–7% or fixed monthly | 6–8% |
| Royalty in dollars | 7% of a lean revenue base: fewer dollars than a lower rate on restaurant-scale sales | 4–6% of $1M–$2M+ annual sales | 5–7% of membership revenue | 6–8% of a staffed venue's revenue |
| Marketing fund | 3% | 2–5% | 2–4% | 2–3% |
| Staff on site | 0 — fully automated | 15–30 across shifts | 4–20 (front desk, trainers, cleaning) | 0–2 (often part-time host) |
| Labour cost | ~0% of revenue | 25–32% of sales | 20–30% of revenue | 5–15% of revenue |
| Cost of goods | ~15% (utilities, consumables, merchant fees) | 28–35% food and packaging | 5–10% retail and supplements | 10–20% |
| Gross margin on core sales | 85%+ | 30–40% | 50–65% | 60–80% |
| Operating hours | 24 h / day, 365 days | 14–18 h / day | 16–24 h / day | 24 h / day |
| Footprint | 2,000–3,000 sq ft | 1,800–3,500 sq ft plus kitchen and venting | 2,500–15,000+ sq ft | 2,500–5,000 sq ft |
| Build complexity | Framing, low-voltage, bay enclosures; no kitchen, plumbing or venting | Commercial kitchen, hoods, grease traps, health permits | Showers, HVAC loads, heavy equipment | Similar to Shotgun Golf; varies by simulator brand |
| Simulator technology | TrackMan iO in every bay | — | — | Mixed; often camera or photometric systems |
| Recurring revenue | Memberships, credit bundles, loyalty app | Little; transactional | Memberships (high churn) | Memberships at some brands |
| Owner time commitment | Semi-absentee; remote monitoring | Full-time operator or GM | Full-time GM typical | Semi-absentee |
Category ranges are compiled from public franchise disclosure summaries and industry benchmarks and describe typical concepts, not any specific brand. Shotgun Golf figures are illustrative model assumptions, not a forecast of what any location will earn.
Why choose Shotgun Golf
The same dual-radar launch monitor used on the PGA Tour, with 400+ courses. Golfers who know the difference choose it, pay for it, and tell their friends. Cheaper sensor-based systems compete on price; Shotgun Golf competes on the experience serious golfers already trust.
Booking, payment, access codes, bay control and support run on our platform. No front desk, no shifts to cover, no payroll eating the margin. Automation is not a feature bolted on; it is the operating model, refined location after location.
Memberships, credit bundles and the SG Points loyalty app work across every location. A member who joins in Markham plays in Mississauga. Each new location makes every membership more valuable, which is a network effect a standalone venue never gets.
Golfers use the bays to practise, play leagues, take lessons and socialize in every season, and a 24-hour bay earns in hours a staffed venue cannot open. Memberships, leagues and events keep the calendar steady, while a restaurant lives on the lunch and dinner rush and a gym on January resolutions.
No hoods, grease traps, health inspections or venting. A Shotgun Golf build is framing, electrical, low-voltage and bay enclosures, which is faster to permit, cheaper to construct and simpler to insure.
Golf Canada, Golf Ontario and Canadian Franchise Association memberships, national SEO and paid-search campaigns, and a growing footprint from Ontario to the Prairies. Lenders and landlords recognize it, and members find it.
Most owners run a location semi-absentee with remote monitoring and a maintenance routine, which is what makes a second and third location realistic. A restaurant or gym owner is usually running one business full-time.
Site selection support, pre-approved layouts, a fixed equipment list, three days of operator training during construction, and marketing that starts before the doors open. The ideal path from signed agreement to opening is about four months.
Request the FDD and tell us where you'd like to open. We'll walk through the numbers for your territory together.