ST. LOUIS, MO (December 16, 2004) – On the theory that timing is everything, Greg Busch and LTS LeaderBoard “met” at the most opportune of moments. He was looking for a chance to return to the sports world in some capacity, and LeaderBoard was looking for an entree into the Midwest.
It was a match made in Canada, home of the company’s corporate headquarters. Now, the father of two owns LeaderBoard’s 21st franchise, in his birthplace -- St. Louis. That meant by the time the 2005 golf season opened, he would be scoring charity and corporate tournaments and assisting other fundraising events, in the entertaining fashion that has become the company trademark.
His calling card is now LeaderBoard of St. Louis.
“I wasn’t necessarily looking for a franchise,” he says. “I was looking for something that was sports-related, and that was fun. It could be an idea or an existing business. When I saw LeaderBoard, I thought: ‘Wow! This is interesting. It seems to include a lot of those elements, golf being one of them.’ My passions are sports, including golf.”
At 34, Greg’s resume was filled with sports, much of it at ESPN, FOX and NBC after he graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in finance. He worked in production of everything from arena football to the Olympic Games in Atlanta with events like the Super Bowl, Wimbledon and Xtreme Games in between.
In 1997, all that changed.
“I don’t know that I decided it wasn’t the life for me as much as circumstances dictated that it wasn’t, but I’d had enough of playing the game,” he remembers. “I was getting married, and Jennifer’s father and I were looking for business opportunities and when we found one, that kind of sealed the deal.”
Jennifer was a teacher (she’s now a stay-at-home mom with two pre-schoolers) in St. Louis. The business opportunity Greg and his father-in-law found and invested in was Light Dental Prosthetics. He became Chief Operating Officer.
“The business that I run day to day as COO,” Busch says, “grosses around a million dollars a year. I didn’t know anything about it, so there was a big learning curve, but it’s not my passion, so I was looking for something that was. We’re actively trying to find someone to buy into it.”
On the Internet, he discovered LTS LeaderBoard, then in 18 U.S. locations, Canada and Australia.
He was smitten.
“It almost makes you wonder, you know, that if something is too good to be true, usually it is,” Greg adds. “All the people we’ve met and talked to, and there’s been nothing negative. That’s the surprising thing. No negatives that I can tell. It’s hard to convince people because it’s a convoluted idea. That’s the thing. I know it’s convoluted yet I totally get it. It’s win-win. You work for yourselves, on your own terms, at your own pace.”
Initially, he intended to work with his cousin and best buddy, Matt Schuman, who lives in Chicago. Matt’s plan was to commute, as necessary, but that was before he opened LeaderBoard’s first Chicago office a couple of months later.
While LeaderBoard was founded on its expertise at scoring and entertaining at charity and corporate golf tournaments, it has the tools to make corporate sponsors and event organizers happy at almost any kind of fundraiser.
“I hope to do 15 to 20 tournaments the first year, which is probably not that aggressive, but we wanted to go low to see if the business made sense, to make sure it was a financially sound model,” says Busch. “And you can always develop the market for non-sports events, too –- things like putt-putt and karate tournaments. With my experience in television, I have some ideas about presentation, and we are an entertainment company.”
As he considered buying the franchise, the words of a friend rang in his ears:
“He had just changed careers, and told me he wasn’t making any money but he was happy as hell. I want to be successful and make money, but you’ve got to like what you’re doing.”
For him, those good times started with good timing.
Media contact: Greg Busch 314-368-4059
Gerry Lev, President, LTS LeaderBoard 604-468-2211 (ext. 103)
