From Nothing To Something
Starting a camp from scratch
By Chris Howard
Photos: Chris Howard
Starting something from nothing isn’t a simple task. In 2015, Canoe Kentucky—a canoe and kayak outfitter with decades in the livery business—was facing a problem. The company noticed a steady decline in the number of “younger” customers. Sure, business was fine; people still wanted experiences—even if they were short-term adventures—that could be posted online. There were couples on dates, friends having a day out, etc. Missing were the kids staying at home behind screens or for fear of danger; the parents weren’t bringing them along on these experiences. If the trend continued, in 10 years, there would be no new customers. To solve the problem, the company invented CKY summer camp—a program just for kids.
The summer of 2015 was a wet one that forced the closure of the rental business for the majority of the time, which caused an even bigger income issue; after all, who wants to paddle in a flood? This also meant no cash flow after a long winter. The owners shifted focus and went all-in on a four-week, summer-camp program with no real plan other than to get kids outside, diversify the business, and find something for employees to do. Canoe Kentucky marketed the camp at a local event on Derby Day—one month before the camp would begin—advertising canoeing, kayaking, fishing, and overall outdoor adventure. The camps would run for four individual weeks. The first season was rough, not for the kids who took part, but for the staff members navigating their way through a world they didn’t understand, parents using the camp as a daycare service (as the price was fairly low), and kids being scared of the outdoors (not to mention being responsible for the safety of other people’s children). The business owners spent those four weeks working camp, paddling canoes and kayaking with the kids, going fishing, and teaching skills, using local parks and public land to operate day to day. After that summer with 39 kids and eating a lot of fast food, the decision was made that the camp needed help. This is where I came in.
Fast Forward To March 2016
I was starting a new job, and coming from a fully-functional, experiential-education facility, I was facing a challenge. I was to take this small summer-camp program and make it operationally smooth, grow the numbers, bring in capable staff members, and make it sustainable—all in a new city that I was not familiar with and without actual camp facilities. In an effort to guide those who want to start new programs, here’s how I did it with my best advice.
Growing Numbers
Step by step, start wrapping your head around what needs to be done. First, develop an elevator pitch. “What makes this camp/program appealing to parents vs. others in the area?” Frankfort, Ky., is not what I would call an outdoor-oriented community; while some people push being outside—myself included—most of the city is stuck in its ways and quite frankly doesn’t seem to care about growing outdoor activities. So the challenge was to sell outdoor experiences to this population, and provide a reason for why parents would send their kids and grandkids to this camp instead of keeping them behind a screen all day. Once you have a pitch, the next step is to begin marketing through all outlets, although the best is word of mouth. In my case, those 39 kids did have a great time the first summer, right? I used those parents as the biggest cheerleaders, urging the kids to come back and bring a friend. Camp reservations started to roll in. So I accomplished the first issue by growing the numbers.
Recruiting Staff Members
Next, it was time to recruit staff members. Canoe Kentucky already has a huge presence in the community, with a good reputation from past employees, so I built on that. But these new staff members were not being hired to drive shuttles, throw boats, or run a cash register. They were going to care for children—and a lot of them. Setting a cap of 20 kids per week meant hiring four staff members for a 1:5 ratio. But I also needed to build a true camp culture in a place where it didn’t exist. The solution was to hire for personality; I decided everything else could be taught. I was lucky that several people in town were looking for a first job; I hired three high school seniors and a college freshman. Doing this meant they didn’t need housing, and as a bonus they had connections to the community and helped drive even more kids to camp because they had the parents’ trust that I had not yet earned. Best of all, three of them knew each other fairly well, so there wasn’t a lot of worry about staff members clashing.
Next, I had to make them capable and competent. While some had experience in watching kids—either younger siblings or at church functions—none had experience in the world of outdoor adventure; a few had never even been in a canoe (which was important). So staff training that year meant getting members used to being outside, figuring out what they were going to do on the water, and learning how to manage children. I led them through a few days of mock camp, where the staff took part in each activity, and they helped me get familiar with local parks. At this point, we were learning together and learning one another’s strengths and weaknesses. We were “ready” for camp. The rest would be on-the-job training, trial by fire. While this approach may not work for everyone, I assure you there is a solution for staffing issues. You just have to keep trying.
Smoothing Out The Kinks
The 2016 season consisted of all-day camps for eight weeks through the summer. Campers met at an outfitter retail location and began each day on the lawn of the old state capitol building downtown. It wasn’t ideal, but using public space was the only option I had. It worked. As at other camps, days began by campers getting to know each other, playing some games, learning the rules, and knowing what to expect that day, etc. From the lawn, we would travel by bus or shuttle van to that day’s destination. Most days we spent on or in the water, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, or even rafting.
A few days a week, depending on the weather, we were on land. This presented a new problem I hadn’t addressed fully—what to do when it rains. Without a shelter and limited resources, this was a huge problem. The solution was to find community partners—local parks with proper facilities, museums, and even other camps. The problem I faced was that the camp wasn’t making money—it was lucky to break even and was held up by the rental business, for the most part. But the camp had something to offer that others did not, so “trades” were made. My camp traded a day of canoeing for a day of shelter at another camp, traded a community education program for the local parks in exchange for using their facilities, etc. The result was that ours was not just a canoeing camp but a full community camp with many partners and moving pieces. In turn, this increased word-of-mouth because campers were seen in public having fun and different experiences; it created an environment where kids wanted to come back week after week because they were never bored.
Sustainability And Profitability
After surviving and even thriving in 2016—seeing almost 100 kids come through camp—it was time to reflect. The camp staff and I spent a day together reviewing the season, addressing issues, and dealing with them. We planned for 2017 and what we thought the season would look like. First, since the camp was providing a premium service for little money, prices needed to be increased. A tiered structure was designed to encourage parents to book early; prices increased as the season grew closer. I started attending camp fairs in surrounding cities, even offering a shuttle service from other cities to get campers. We began offering day programs to school groups and even overnight trips to private schools to keep Canoe Kentucky in parents’ minds year-round.
However, the single-best thing that made this program successful was hiring local staff members with a passion for kids. By the middle of the first season, the staff had a rhythm and a culture, and I was fortunate that all of them returned in 2017. To this day, two of my original staff members are returning for roles in 2020; they have handled training for new staff members and college interns who have come and gone, and it has made my role as camp director so much easier. Kids return year after year to see their favorite counselors.
Not Just Surviving—Thriving
The program that began in hopes of getting younger paddlers in the doors of the livery has grown, with more than 280 campers in 2019, and 10 weeks of overnight camps with climbing, canoeing, survival skills, environmental education, and more. From this, a shoulder season developed with dozens of school field trips and homeschool programs; it’s even helped bring more families paddling together. The program turns a small profit with room to grow, and in the off-season, summer-camp registrations now keep the canoe business floating—no pun intended.
Improvements can be made, of course, and each year new policies are put in place. We all have to grow and adapt to the changing culture, but if the drive and passion are there, a new program can survive and thrive in any environment. Start small, offer different levels of challenge, and don’t be afraid to dream big. It’s a puzzle; surround yourself with good people to fill the gaps, take risks, and watch what happens.
Chris Howard is the Community Outreach Coordinator for CKY: Canoe Kentucky in Frankfort, Ky. Reach him at Chris@canoeky.com.