Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Martine Brouillet, owner of Camp Tournesol Inc., located in Kilworthy, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We run the largest French camp in Ontario, as well as a virtual academy offering tutoring and group classes. Our customers are families who value bilingualism and choose to register their children in the French immersion track at school.
Tell us about yourself
I am Martine Brouillet, a Montreal-born French Canadian entrepreneur. Throughout my career, I have founded or co-founded several businesses across multiple industries, including a financial tech company, a film production company, and an emerging virtual learning company. My passion for bilingualism led me to start a French camp for second-language learners in 2001. This has become my flagship and has now grown into Ontario's largest French-language day camp, Camp Tournesol. I am a graduate of McGill University.
In 2020, I received an award of excellence for my resilience, adaptability, and entrepreneurial spirit from Canadian Parents for French (Ontario). I am the winner of Fondation Franco-Ontarienne's 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year award and the Mississauga Board of Trade Entrepreneur of the Year. These awards recognized my accomplishment during the COVID pandemic. Faced with the complete closure of my 3000+ campers in-person programs, I reorganized my operations, reduced operations expenses, invested aggressively in developing class content, and leaned on my network to turn a moment of crisis into a huge success with 4000 registrations from March to August. I have served on many nonprofit boards.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
From 40-day campers and two weeks in a church basement in 2001, I have grown my business to 11 campuses spread across the GTA, and I am expected to welcome over 3000 campers in 2023. Our ability to not only weather the Covid pandemic but thrive through it gives me a lot of pride. I also take a lot of satisfaction in seeing the many alumni of our camp (campers and staff) go on to pursue a fulfilling career in teaching French as a second language.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Being an entrepreneur is a lonely journey. Building a network of advisors and support has been a long process, and being faced regularly with hard decisions that impact the success or failure of the business requires a lot of strength and confidence.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Find your passion. Do not look for a fast money scheme. These will not have staying power. The more passionate you are about your business core products and services, the more likely you will be successful.
- Focus on quality. Customers are hard and expensive to acquire. Keeping them is the key. Figure out what they want and what will make them come back.
- Invest in hiring "good" people and pay them as well as you can. They will be your foundation to grow your business.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.camptournesol.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martine.brouillet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camptournesol/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/martine1889
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martine-brouillet-3258451b/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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