As the pandemic began to wind down, my husband and I drove our neglected SUV out onto the open road. Along with millions of other newly-freed Americans, we added almost 4,000 miles to the odometer, taking backroads from Westport, CT to Naples, Florida and back via Nashville. We stopped at pretty beaches and replaced lunch with a different brand of milkshake every day. All chocolate of course.
When we got to Daytona we veered into central Florida. We expected a swampy, alligator ridden wasteland but instead found green, rolling ranches dotted with cows that looked like saddle shoes and lots of shiny horses. Huge golf communities were there too. Hundreds of identical houses butted up to the greens.
One community, The Villages, lured us in with signs boasting amazing amenities. It was like a town, many towns actually, but because we don’t play golf it was difficult to wrap our heads around the landscape and behaviors. Entire families puttered past us in golf carts filled to the brim with grocery bags. Freckled and wholesome teens tore past in a bumper-cart race with backpacks flying. Skinny roads made just for carts ran parallel to the actual road — you know, the kind of wider road that actual cars drive on. We were disoriented, confused, and it was getting close to milkshake time.
We were not actually lost because we were not actually looking for anything. So, when we spotted a group of eight men, each in a golf cart in the cool shade of a live oak tree with their feet up with not a care in the world, it was obvious that we had stumbled upon a classic American icon. Two foursomes just off the course. We knew because they all looked so happy! Men near golf courses always look this way.
They were also uncharacteristically approachable so we stepped out of our vehicle and approached them, with caution so as not to spook them out of their good moods. After all, we did not arrive in a cart and we were not wearing moisture-wicking golf attire. We were aliens still in our pandemic-white faces — ghostly compared to their rugged tans.
Speaking of actuals, we didn’t actually know what we wanted to ask them, so, in an uncharacteristic flash of genius, I asked if anyone knew where we could find a chocolate milkshake.
That broke the ice! They were obviously hungry and happily began pointing their golf clubs in eight different directions. A few of them guffawed over an inside joke about what would happen if we went too far and crossed a certain bridge.
We didn’t actually care about finding shakes. We were too busy grinning with this bunch of guys who had clearly found their happy place. They were home and nothing and nobody could ever convince them to leave. It was all really, really enviable.
So, these golf guys got me thinking. What would it take for a business owner to feel this much at home with a website design team?
Just like the golfers in my story, a business owner would want a website design team they can connect with and trust. A team with high energy. A website team that loves bouncing new ideas around and recognizes the best ones. A web team that stays on top of the latest tools and offers targeted solutions to support solid business goals. A team and a partner you actually enjoy working with. And finally, a team that is so hard-working that sometimes there’s nothing left for you to do but put your feet up and relax in the shade!
Most small businesses, like golfers, just want a team they can comfortably call home.
If you are looking for a new website team to call home, give us a call.