Summer Camp Business Plan Template

Summer Camp Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Summer Camp business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Summer Camps.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Summer Camp business plan.

Executive Summary

Business Overview

Camp Cascadia is a new summer camp located outside of Salem, Oregon. The camp offers a retreat for young children and adolescents to make some friends and have some summer fun. We offer a season-long camp experience full of classes, games, and activities for all of our campers to enjoy. With our stunning location, fun activities, and professional staff, we expect to become the most popular summer camp for children living in the Salem area in the next few years.

Camp Cascadia is led by Jared Stockton. He has been a camp counselor and manager for several years, and has considerable experience teaching children recreational activities. He noticed that there were very few camps in the area that offered a season-long summer program for local children. Therefore, he decided to start a summer camp that would offer young campers a season-long retreat that they could enjoy while out of school for the summer.

 

Product Offering

Camp Cascadia will offer the best summer experience that a kid could want. The camp will be full of indoor and outdoor activities, including swimming, volleyball, arts and crafts, campfires, and hiking. All children who attend our program will have a summer full of fun, friends, and wonderful memories.

 

Customer Focus

Camp Cascadia will primarily target middle and upper class families living near the Salem area. This demographic often needs activities to entertain their children while they are out of school for the summer. They also have the disposable income to send their children to an overnight summer camp for several weeks.

 

Management Team

Camp Cascadia is led by Jared Stockton who has been working as a camp counselor and manager for several years. He started his career as a seasonal camp counselor, but worked his way up into a management position and oversaw the general operations of the previous summer camp program that he worked for. While Jared has never run his own business, his experience as a camp program manager has given him an in-depth knowledge of the summer camp business including the operations side (e.g., running day-to-day operations) and the business management side (e.g., finances, marketing, etc.).

 

Success Factors

Camp Cascadia will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• We will be the only summer camp in the area that offers weekly or summer-long overnight stays.
• Our location is perfect for taking advantage of the surrounding outdoor activities and natural resources.
• Our camp is run by an experienced camp counselor and program manager.

 

Financial Highlights

Camp Cascadia is seeking a total funding of $460,000 of debt capital to open its summer camp. The funding will be dedicated to the land purchase, supplies, marketing expenses, working capital, and three months worth of payroll expenses.The breakout of the funding is below:

• Campground land purchase, design, and build-out: $250,000
• Supplies for games and activities: $10,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $25,000
• Working capital: $25,000

The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for Camp Cascadia.

 

Company Overview

Who is Camp Cascadia?

Camp Cascadia is a new summer camp that offers young campers the ultimate summer camping experience. Campers who spend their summers with us will experience a summer full of fun, friends, and wonderful memories. With our range of activities, beautiful scenery, and friendly staff, campers who come to Camp Cascadia are sure to have the summer of a lifetime.

 
Camp Cascadia serves campers from the ages 9 through 13. We offer them a wide variety of activities to entertain themselves, including sports, swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, and more. Campers will be able to take full advantage of the perfect summer weather as well as learn new skills and make friends along the way. Camp Cascadia is an overnight camp, so campers can stay with us for weeks at a time or for the entire summer.

Camp Cascadia is led by Jared Stockton, an experienced camp counselor and camp program manager. It has been his dream for years to run his own summer camp that offered overnight programs. After years of research and planning, he is finally ready to launch Camp Cascadia.

 

Camp Cascadia’s History

Jared Stockton researched what it would take to create his own summer camp and did a thorough analysis of the costs, market, demographics, and competition. Jared has compiled enough information to develop his business plan in order to approach investors.

Jared incorporated Camp Cascadia as a Limited Liability Corporation in January 2023. Once the purchase of the land is finalized, the design and build out of the campground can begin.

Since incorporation, the company has achieved the following milestones:

• Located available property for sale that is ideal for a new summer camp
• Developed the company’s name, logo, and website
• Hired a general contractor for the build-out of the campground and its facilities
• Determined equipment and necessary supplies
• Began recruiting key employees

 

Camp Cascadia’s Services

Camp Cascadia is an overnight summer camp that provides a long list of activities for our campers to enjoy. Below are just a few of the activities we have planned every summer:

• Hiking
• Swimming
• Soccer
• Volleyball
• Arts and crafts
• Birding
• Scavenger hunts
• Races
• Capture the flag

Additionally, Camp Cascadia provides three meals each day for our campers as well as snacks and water throughout each day. Each camper is given a bed to sleep in each night as well as sheets and a pillow. Campers will also receive a couple of t-shirts to wear throughout the summer that have Camp Cascadia’s logo on them.

 

Industry Analysis

Summer camps provide young campers with an opportunity to play, learn new skills, and make new friends while they are out of school for the summer. There are many activities that summer camps provide, including sports, nature walks, and art and crafts. As such, summer camps provide children with great education and fun while school is not in session.

The summer camp industry has not fared well over the past few years and overall has decreased at a CAGR of 1.3%. However, this decrease is primarily due to the pandemic which halted all group gatherings and outdoor activities for several summers. Now that the pandemic is over, camps and other recreational activities are beginning to flourish again. As such, we expect that the industry will bounce back in the next few years.

Another factor that will contribute to the industry’s growth is the rise in disposable income worldwide. Most children who attend summer camps come from middle class or affluent families who have the disposable income to send their children to these programs. With more families having this disposable income, there is a larger market that will be interested in summer camp programs.

 

Customer Analysis

Demographic Profile of Target Market

Camp Cascadia will primarily serve families living within a 15 mile radius of Salem, Oregon. The community has thousands of families in need of fun summer activities to entertain their children while they are out of school. We expect most of our customer base will include middle and upper-class families who have the disposable income to send their children to summer camp.

The demographics of Salem, Oregon are as follows:

	Total	Percent
Total population	1,680,988	100%
Male	838,675	49.9%
Female	842,313	50.1%
20 to 24 years	114,872	6.8%
25 to 34 years	273,588	16.3%
35 to 44 years	235,946	14.0%
45 to 54 years	210,256	12.5%
55 to 59 years	105,057	6.2%
60 to 64 years	87,484	5.2%
65 to 74 years	116,878	7.0%
75 to 84 years	52,524	3.1%

 

Customer Segmentation

Camp Cascadia will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Middle class families
• Affluent families

 

Competitive Analysis

Direct and Indirect Competitors

Camp Cascadia will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

 

Salem Summer Camp

Since 1952, Salem Summer Camp has been the most popular camp for daytime summer fun. Young campers from the age of 5 to 12 can come on a daily basis for outdoor sports, arts and crafts, and wilderness exploration. The camp is run by dozens of camp counselors and can accommodate over a hundred campers at a time. However, Salem Summer Camp does not offer any overnight stays, so families who want their children to stay at the camp throughout the summer will be more inclined to send them to Camp Cascadia.

 

Willamette Sports Academy

Founded in 2002, the Willamette Sports Academy is a year-round sports camp that helps kids improve their skills in several sports including basketball, soccer, football, and volleyball. The academy is at its busiest in the summer, when it offers several camp programs to help kids improve their skills. Willamette Sports Academy is a day camp and only appeals to children who are interested in sports. The wide range of programs and activities at Camp Cascadia will appeal to a much larger demographic, so we expect Willamette Sports Academy to be a minor competitor.

 

Mountain Summer Arts Academy

Mountain Summer Arts Academy is a summer day camp for children and adolescents who want to improve their art skills over the summer. They offer a variety of activities, including painting, pottery, writing, and theater. While Mountain Summer Arts Academy will continue to thrive and help kids learn important skills, we expect them to only be a minor competitor. Since they only provide art and crafts activities, many families who want their children to explore nature and play sports throughout the summer will be more interested in sending their children to Camp Cascadia.

 

Competitive Advantage

Camp Cascadia will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

• Location: The campground is located in a beautiful state park, offering easy access to stunning views and plenty of hiking trails.
• A full summer of fun: Other local summer camps offer limited services, such as only day activities or shorter overnight stays. Camp Cascadia is the only camp in the area that allows young campers to stay for the entire summer.
• Management: Camp Cascadia’s management team has years of summer camp experience. This allows the company to market to and serve customers in a much more sophisticated manner than competitors.
• Relationships: Having lived in the community for over 20 years, Jared Stockton knows all of the local leaders, newspapers, and other influences. As such, it will be relatively easy for Camp Cascadia to build brand awareness and an initial customer base.

 

Marketing Plan

Brand & Value Proposition

Camp Cascadia will offer a unique value proposition to its clientele:

• A prime location in the heart of nature and away from the bustling city
• Plenty of hiking trails and scenic areas to enjoy
• Plethora of activities to entertain our young campers
• Overnight stays that last a few weeks or the entire summer

 

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Camp Cascadia is as follows:

Social Media

Camp Cascadia will invest heavily in a social media advertising campaign. The company will create social media accounts and invest in ads on all social media platforms. It will use targeted marketing to appeal to the target demographics.

Website/SEO

Camp Cascadia will invest heavily in developing a professional website that displays all of the features and benefits of our summer camp. It will also invest heavily in SEO so that the camp’s website will appear at the top of search engine results.

Direct Mail

Camp Cascadia will blanket neighborhoods surrounding its location with direct mail pieces. These pieces will offer discounts and promotional incentives for people to choose our campground for some summer fun.

Pre-Opening Events

Before opening the summer camp, Camp Cascadia will organize pre-opening events designed for prospective customers. These events will create buzz and awareness for Camp Cascadia in the area.

 

Pricing

Camp Cascadia’s pricing will be moderate and on par with competitors so consumers feel they receive great value when sending their children to our summer camp.

 

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Camp Cascadia.
Operation Functions:

• Jared Stockton will be the Owner and Director of Camp Cascadia. He will oversee all the operations of the company as well as partake in scheduling and managing all summer camp activities.
• Jared is joined by Travis Blyg, who will be the Assistant Director of the summer camp. He will help manage the camp counselors, run activities, and assist with administrative functions, such as bookkeeping and marketing tasks.
• Jared will hire a Maintenance Director who will keep the camp clean and maintain all equipment.
• Jared will also hire several camp counselors every summer to help manage the run activities and care for the campers.

 

Milestones:

Camp Cascadia will have the following milestones completed in the next six months.

• 2/2023 Finalize land purchase
• 3/2023 Design and build out Camp Cascadia
• 4/2023 Hire and train initial staff
• 5/2023 Kickoff of promotional campaign
• 6/2023 Launch Camp Cascadia
• 07/2023 Reach break-even

 

Management Team

Camp Cascadia is led by Jared Stockton who has been working at summer camp programs for several years. He started off as a seasonal camp counselor, but worked his way up into a Program Manager position. The camp he worked at was only a day camp, so the young campers would go back home every evening. Jared saw that there was a demand for an overnight summer camp program that allowed campers to stay for weeks at a time or for the entire summer. He has been planning out his summer camp business for the past few years and is ready to launch it this summer.

While Jared has never developed his own summer camp business, his experience as a camp manager has given him an in-depth knowledge of the summer camp business including the operations side (e.g., running day-to-day operations) and the business management side (e.g., finances, marketing, etc.).

 

Financial Plan

Key Revenue & Costs

Camp Cascadia’s revenues will come primarily from the fees we charge for families to send their children to our summer camp. Families have the option to pay in full for eight weeks of summer camp fun or to pay a weekly rate if they plan to send their children to our camp for just a few weeks.

The land purchase, supplies for the activities, and labor expenses will be the key cost drivers of Camp Cascadia. Other cost drivers include taxes, overhead, and marketing expenses.

 

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Camp Cascadia is seeking a total funding of $460,000 of debt capital to open its summer camp. The funding will be dedicated to the land purchase, supplies, marketing expenses, working capital, and three months worth of payroll expenses. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Campground land purchase, design, and build-out: $250,000
• Supplies for games and activities: $10,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $25,000
• Working capital: $25,000

 

Key Assumptions

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of campers each summer:
• Year 1: 30
• Year 2: 50
• Year 3: 75
• Year 4: 100
• Year 5: 150
• Weekly summer camp tuition per child: $500

 

Financial Projections

Income Statement

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

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