2020 Year In Review

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all continue to be safe and well. Like every other business, I want to take a moment to reflect a bit on the past year and the year ahead.

2020 started well with lots of big plans, some shoot-for-the-moon goals, and a few exciting partnerships with some awesome Kansas City golf clubs. While the first half of the year ended up proving rather challenging, the last half of the year led us to the best possible situation we could have hoped for, all things considered. As previously discussed, in 2020, I found myself not just the owner of Nelson Hill but also the creator and curator of all things Nelson Hill. This ended up leading to far more flexibility and precision in the prototyping and production process along with what feels like an endless sea of potential for future products. With this newfound range, while we weren’t able to achieve most of our initial goals, we were able to pick up some really good momentum as we worked our way through the holiday period. So to all those that have supported us along the way through purchases, subscriptions, newsletter and social followings, or simply humoring me in endless conversations about golf stuff, thank you! It’s been one hell of a ride thus far and we’ve got some good things coming for 2021.

Lots of fun stuff coming in 2021! Photography: Haik Kavookjian

For those of you that remember our very beginnings, we had initially planned to donate a 1% of all our profits to the First Tee of Greater Kansas City. When the full brunt of 2020 hit, however, I removed the First Tee donation declaration from our home page because I didn’t want to lead anyone on. Who knew when or if we’d even make it to profitability? And if we did somehow achieve that, would we have to take the Amazon business model path and perpetually re-invest everything back into the business, therefore not having anything to share? The last thing I wanted to do was falsely advertise a reason to believe, so I took it down and hoped we’d find a way to give back as the year passed.

With that said, I’m excited to say that while we didn’t achieve our early 2020 goals, we were able to change our give-back pledge from a portion of our profits to a portion of our revenues! And as the end of December 2020, Nelson Hill is officially a First Tee Club member. Our intent is to give back to local golf charities every year, come hell or high water, and hopefully find some other great causes along the way. I didn’t participate in The First Tee program when I was growing up, but I was lucky enough to have family and friends that allowed my love of the game to grow exponentially. Golf has given so much to me over the years. So when I started Nelson Hill, I wanted giving back and paying it forward to be a top priority of the company.

The First Tee logo is a metaphor for the growth guidance at the heart of The First Tee. A compass symbolizing directionality & guidance. Together, with your support, they’re helping kids write their growth story.

That’s all I’ve got for you all at the moment. We’ve got a lot of fun stuff planned for 2021. New products, new offerings, and the same timeless golf goods mission. So have a safe and warm winter season because before you know it, the course will be green again and we’ll all be back at it!

Best // Eric