The Ultimate Business Tool For Retailers And Ranges: Performance 20 Groups Explained

By Richard Abramson

Performance 20 Groups Allow Retail Operators and Range Owners to Share Best Practices, Improve Their Business and Navigate Obstacles

As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another. To make yourself better, there is a mutual benefit to making others better through mentorship, followership and leading. The Iron Sharpens Iron principle will give you a focused set of ideas that can be applied in both your personal and professional life. You will find that the premise of every leadership book is the attempt to improve yourself and your organization to achieve higher levels of performance. P20 Groups allow you to sharpen your iron through interaction with non-competing business owners, share your knowledge and learn from others.

What is a Performance Group (P20)?

A performance group is a group of 8-10 non-competing business owners with similar business models who meet regularly to share operational and planning ideas and to act as a “board of advisors” for each participant. Meetings are led by a skilled facilitator, exploring financial benchmarks under a structured agenda, financial analysis training and administrative support.

What is the impact? With consistent accountability, you integrate financial benchmarking into the ongoing process of monitoring and managing your business. Applying this process with a group of your peers provides a pool of “best practices,” or standards, from which to draw when implementing your plans. You’ll achieve your goals far more quickly and efficiently than doing it on your own.

What are the results? By focusing management efforts on a plan your team can go beyond crisis management and actually create the company they want to own. What makes it work? You do. Participating in a Performance Group will give you a resource for solving your own business management challenges faster and more effectively. A “Mastermind Group” for you to draw on and exchange ideas.

Over the last 20-plus years, thousands of business owners just like yourself across a variety of industries have applied P20-proven techniques to their businesses, resulting in greater profits and improved cash flow. A number of retailers and shooting range owners have been involved in P20 Groups for more than 15 years and feel it is a critical element in the growth and profitability of their businesses.

What makes this process so valuable?

Peer group exchange and support
A skilled facilitator
Regular financial benchmarks and structured meetings
More control of the financial side of your business
An understanding of what drives profits and cash flow in your business
Strategies to plan a more profitable future
Pricing techniques that will immediately increase your cash flow
Practice with industry-specific case studies and real-life examples
Establish stretch goals with a support system to help you achieve them
A candid, plain English approach
Networking, idea exchange and close interaction with non-competing, like-minded business owners across the country

What Are Financial Benchmarks?

P20 Groups participate in a financial reporting system that will provide the differentiating point in the market that can catalyze the success of your business. Group members report their financial results in a structured input form so that operating results can be compared to their peers in the P20 Group. This information is compiled by a third party into a reporting book that is used in P20 meetings to exchange ideas on improving performance and profitability. Owners provide ideas to improve performance in every area of the business based on performance metrics, business development and profitability.

Range owners and Retail operators have described P20 as “the best business improvement program they have ever participated in” and “they will never look at their businesses the same way again!” P20 Groups accomplish this by utilizing a unique combination of information, motivation, coaching…and humor!

Here are just a few of the skills P20 can help you build:

Diagnose, monitor and improve your company’s financial performance
Use break-even analysis to make better decisions relating to cost, price and profits
Avoid cash crunches and increase cash flow
Plan for and manage growth

Meetings of P20 Groups

Face-to-face P20 meetings are held twice a year and are typically held at one of the Group member business facilities on a rotating schedule. This allows other group members to become familiar with your operations and personnel and to provide insight and ideas for improvement and learn from your strengths. A typical schedule is to travel to the location and conduct a half-day meeting on Day 1; A full day of meetings on Day 2 and; A half-day of meetings and return travel on Day 3. Group dinners are arranged on Days 1 and 2 to facilitate networking and additional learning opportunities.

Meetings are attended by business owners (or the managing owner if there are multiple owners) as well as key operations personnel selected by the owner. Owners typically include one or two operations personnel in the meetings. Full participation and sharing are expected from the participants as there are learning opportunities for everyone in the Group.

Group Configuration

Over the years of P20 Groups, it has been determined that similar-sized businesses tend to work better than busineses with a wide disparity of business models and sizes. The initial groupings of shooting sports industry groups will consist of the following elements:

The owner or managing owner must participate
Similar business models
Participants in a group shall be geographically separated by more than 100 miles from other participants and all members must agree on other participants.
Initially, the groups will include 8-10 participants and can grow in the future at the discretion of the individual participants.
Group Configurations:
- Multiple facility operators
- Individual operations with greater than $5 million in total revenue
- Individual operations with less than $5 million in total revenue.

There may be more than one P20 group within each of the group configurations.

Take action Now! Contact the Author Richard Abramson regarding Performance Groups in the shooting sports industry!

Will you be at the 2025 SHOT Show^®?

SHOT University 2025 is offering a great opportunity for you to learn more about Performance Groups in a panel discussion of operators who have been involved in Performance Groups for many years. You are invited to participate in this learning opportunity at SHOT Show on Tuesday, January 21 from 9:30-10:30 in the Murano Ballroom, Level 3.

Shot University - Performance 20 Groups — **Learn More and Register**

Enroll in this and other educational opportunities during the SHOT Show registration process, or add sessions anytime to your registration.

Seats will be limited. Enroll early to get your spot! Enrollment Fees Per Session: $40 NSSF Members | $75 Non-Members. Learn more about NSSF Membership here.

Hear what other industry professionals say about P20 Groups

“On top of sharing detailed financial information and best practices, we drive substantial value in having this group of peers in our industry that we can lean on for advice, expertise and experience. When we run into difficult situations or have a big decision to make – we have a quasi board of directors that we can ask for guidance.”

– Mark Gore, Black Wing Shooting Center
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“After sitting in multiple meetings with others involved in a P20 group over the years and hearing about how beneficial it was to them I jumped at the opportunity to join the group that Dick and the USCCA were starting. Everyone involved is successful in their own right and the benefit of having a group of folks across the country to access when issues arise or problems occur is priceless. I’ve changed the way we looked at marketing, I’ve added suppliers and have even changed how I reward employees based on what I’ve learned.”

-J. Westrom, Davenport Guns
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“Being part of a peer group is a huge advantage. We’ve made dozens of improvements due to what we’ve learned in the group. Our income has increased due to these changes. Our company has been restructured and become better at communicating by implementing a suggestion from another member.”

-S. Eaton, Fletcher Arms
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“There is no other way to get such accurate and honest feedback about your business than from your peers in a performance group. This is the best way to get ideas that have been proven to work in your industry. There is not a better way to truly understand the performance in each segment of your business. Take away the best ideas and learn what didn’t work from successful peers in your industry. Build relationships that strengthen and grow your business.”

– J. Wait, Okeechobee Shooting Sports
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“Performance Groups in the firearm industry provide valuable networking opportunities, allowing members to share best practices and industry insights. They help generate innovation and efficiency through collaboration, helping businesses stay competitive in a highly regulated market. Furthermore, these groups offer tailored feedback and benchmarking, enabling you to identify growth areas and optimize operations for better success in YOUR business. Ultimately your group controls who participates in the group and you can get great feedback from other businesses that closely resemble yours.”

-Ken P., Ultimate Defense

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