How did you get into the industry?
From a very young age in Venezuela, I already worked in the world of sports camps for children. Due to the critical situation in my country, I decided to emigrate to the United States, seeking a safer life with better quality. With my degree in Psychology, I came here and I studied for my Masters in Family Therapy and obtained different certifications in the field of human behavior. Upon graduation, I began my private practice as a psychologist, life coach, and clinical hypnotherapist, and it was there that I became aware of the growing need to create more extensive programs that equip children and their families with life tools that will help them cope with all the challenges that modern life imposes. At that moment, I decided to leave my practice and dedicate myself to creating a program for children that will combine the physical and sports parts of camps with a professional and unique system of social and emotional learning, or as it is also known, life skills. And what better way to broadcast these programs than to offer them during the more than 600 free hours that children have during the year in their school breaks?
I spent a full year researching how kids learn these life skills faster and more effectively and how to apply them to camp programs, and that’s when the concept of Camp Unbeatables came about.
I started doing a pilot test in a camp with 25 children in the condominium where I used to live, basically with the kids of my friends. And, without having to say much more, 15 years later, we have worked with close to 10,000 children in South Florida.
Now, ready to expand our concept nationally and internationally, and thus add more “Unbeatables” to our society.
Through a unique blend of the virtual and real worlds, a powerful reinforcement and motivation system, and a robust program of physical activities and sports, the children who attend Camp Unbeatables learn how to be happier and more successful in life, in a fun and entertaining way.
Let’s discuss some challenges that you’ve faced and/or some successes you have encountered.
My challenges have been first of all the language. I arrived in the United States without knowing any English and so I had to work and study for my master’s degree.
- Having to quickly integrate into a new culture, without family, without any support.
- Obtaining my legal status to be able to work.
- Learn from scratch how businesses are done and maintained in this country, and how is the world of finance is completely different than in my country of origin.
- Starting a unique business in a relatively new field, such as life training for children.
- Having to report to board meetings of condominium associations; having to compete in public bids against very established companies in the market.
- Having to work with city bureaucratic systems maintaining a neutral and professional position without falling into politicization.
I don’t want to sound sexist or biased, but being a very young woman and with my accent, it took me a while, especially at first, to be respected and taken into account for my experience and knowledge.
Then, there is the challenge of growing the business regardless of the competition since now schools and many other organizations are doing camps.
COVID was a big challenge, as we couldn’t do camps for a whole year, and the following year we had to restrict the number of children.
The next exciting challenge is to enter into a new world for me, franchising, while still keeping my camps going.
Now, the counterpart to all those challenges is that I have received many rewards. I learned another language quite well, I proudly became an American citizen, I graduated with honors and a perfect score of 4.0 in my master’s degree, taking the award of the best student of the year in the entire university. I have obtained a very solid preparation in the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of human beings through certifications as a nutritional expert, personal trainer, lifestyle coach, clinical hypnotherapist, yoga and meditation instructor. Our company has repeatedly won bids from giants like the YMCA, Disney and other well-established youth program companies; we won the annual Minority Chamber of Commerce award for the educational program of the year; we were selected among all the companies in South Florida to make a presentation to the producers of Shark Tank. So, we can proudly say that we are the only children’s camp company in the entire United States that uses a program as complete, unique and professional as ours.
Is there anything that you would like to add regarding your training and support model?
We are ready both with our training program, procedure manuals and with our successful experience of 15 years to give the best training and support to our franchisees. Projecting and emulating our mission and mystique of work to those who are willing to repeat our business will be very easy for us.
What does your franchisee do in the business every day?
Being a seasonal business, our franchisee may have a regular job and dedicate certain hours of the day to organizing the camp for the next session. As the start date approaches, this preparation will require more time and dedication. During the dates of the camp, this person will have to dedicate full time to the management and administration of it.
During the previous months, before camp starts, he/she could also have an assistant hired for certain hours a day to help in the preparation of it.
In your own words, describe the ideal franchisee.
I have 4 ideal franchisees:
– A mother with children in elementary or secondary school, member or former member of the PTA or PTO, always very proactive in her children’s education, with executive and administrative skills.
– College or university teacher, or school principal, who either wants to have an extra income on school breaks or who is thinking about the transition to a personal business.
– Immigrant with capital seeking to settle in the United States through establishing a business and has had camps for children in her/his country.
– An established children’s program (school, daycare, after-school program) that is seeking to reinvent the business and improve its image and income.
What are your goals for your company in the future?
- Have as many franchises as we can manage consciously and efficiently.
- To be recognized nationally and internationally as the best camp program for children.
- Keep adding new elements to the program that make it difficult to beat any other company.
- Maintain amazing support to our franchisees so that they feel “safe” and proud to belong to this “social movement”.
- Have our “Unbeatables Characters” as icons and role models for the youth in social media, TV, printed material, figurines collection, etc.
- Have the best results evaluation system in terms of the effectiveness of the program.
- Involve families in such a way that Camp Unbeatables results in an experience of transformation and improvement for the entire family system.
Thank you to Gabriela Casanas for conducting this interview. For more information about the Camp Unbeatables franchise opportunity, visit their franchise page at www.unbeatables.org.
MORE FRANCHISE DETAILS
Training and Support
Camp Unbeatables’s expert support team is there for every franchisee to help guide and support the life of the franchise agreement. This will include everything that a franchisee will need, including marketing and operational support, refresher training, administrative support, research and development, and more.
What is the Fee Structure?
Franchise Fee: $30,000
Royalty Fee: 7% of gross sales
Estimated Initial Investment Range: $89,900 to $115,500 (includes franchise fee)
Territory Definition?
Each territory will include a defined area and will be documented generally as a population base ranging from 250,000 to 500,000 people.