Page 11 - GBC summer 2015

When did you decide to go into the real estate business on your own?
I was very impressed that my boss could sell 45 houses in two weekends. I decided real estate was a business I would like to be in. He also sold the houses before he built them. Therefore, he needed to borrow very little money to build them. He had a strong reputation and people trusted him and therefore wanted to buy his product.
I learned the importance of the experience you provide to customers and the connections you make. If people know you and trust you, then they will buy your product. Once I have learned and understood those values, I was comfortable to go out on my own.
Those are also the same values I apply to our KaneffGolf group. We always aim to do better than we did in the previous year, both from a top line perspective but also in improving on our service to customers. It has been 25 years since we started operating golf courses and we have been very successful. We take customer service very seriously. Each customer is looked after like he or she is our most important customer. We treat them with white gloves.
How did you transition from the real estate business to opening your first golf course?
I didn’t know what a golf ball was until 1957, six years after I first arrived in Canada! I was building a house near Credit Valley Golf Club and someone broke one of my windows with a golf ball.
The golfers immediately approached me and said they would pay for the damage. I contacted my insurance agent and he said that golfers were the nicest, most honest people in the world. And, he was right.
So, after I discovered what golf was, I rented some clubs and played for the first time at Peel Village Golf Club in Brampton. My friends also started to invite me to play, and since I was in the real estate business, many business associates and customers would invite me as well.
Iggy Kaneff
Innovator. Entrepreneur.
Industry Leader.
Golf Business Canada 11