Hudson Valley Swim: From Backyard Pool to Successful Franchise

Jeff Gartner, President and Founder of Hudson Valley Swim, discussed the journey and franchising of his swim lesson business in a podcast with Scotty Milas. Hudson Valley Swim offers a full range of swim lessons, from infants to adults, including special needs and competitive swimmers.

The Company’s Origins and Early Growth

Hudson Valley Swim started in 2003 when Jeff and his wife Joan hired a swim instructor for their children and neighborhood kids in their backyard pool. Recognizing the potential, Jeff decided to turn it into a business. A significant challenge initially was finding a year-round indoor pool location in New York. Marketing in the early days before social media involved less effective and expensive methods like radio, newspapers, and mailers. Social media played a crucial role in the business’s growth through sharing engaging content and word-of-mouth marketing. This success in scaling to multiple corporate locations by replicating effective strategies led to the eventual decision to franchise.

Mission and Purpose

A core belief of Hudson Valley Swim is that “swim lessons save lives”, a term they have trademarked. Jeff and Scotty highlighted the alarming statistics that less than half of children in the US know how to swim, while 85% spend time around water, leading to a high number of drownings. They consider swim lessons a critical, mandatory activity, unlike extracurriculars such as gymnastics or dance. There are 11 fatal drownings daily and another 8,000 near-fatal drownings annually, which can result in long-term health issues.

The Franchising Journey

Hudson Valley Swim began franchising in 2022. Jeff mentioned that the decision to franchise wasn’t solely due to the challenges of managing corporate locations. He was approached multiple times by Franchise Sales Organizations (FSOs) who recognized the strength of his business model. This, combined with his background in business process automation and a desire to help others and give back to the community, motivated him to explore franchising. Jeff is passionate about the business and believes there are others who share his desire to provide this vital service.

Unique Business Model: Pool Rental

The Hudson Valley Swim model is unique because it’s a pool rental model. Franchisees partner with existing facilities like fitness centers and tennis clubs that have underutilized indoor pools. This offers several key advantages:

• Low initial investment as there’s no need to build a pool.
• Fast time to market, potentially as little as three months.
• Reduced operational costs.
• Win-win partnerships where Hudson Valley Swim brings new potential customers to the partner facilities.
• Hudson Valley Swim has a national contract with a large fitness facility to provide franchisees with pool access and is working on securing more such agreements.

Ideal Franchisee Profile

The ideal Hudson Valley Swim franchisee is community-oriented and passionate about running a business they can be proud of. An aquatics background is not required, but they should be driven to make a difference in their local community. Other desirable traits include being potentially risk-averse, not necessarily needing a high net worth, and being open to starting with a part-time schedule focusing on after-school and weekend programs. Husband-and-wife teams or partnerships are also a good fit.

Staffing and Operations

Hudson Valley Swim prioritizes hiring very experienced and inspiring swim instructors. They look for instructors with significant experience who view teaching swimming as a career and can inspire their students.

While they seek pool availability seven days a week, franchisees typically start with afternoons and weekends, which are high-demand times, especially Saturdays and Sundays. There is potential to expand into daytime hours with programs for preschoolers, special needs individuals, adults, and homeschool groups.

Current Status and Growth

Hudson Valley Swim is an emerging brand with one operational franchisee and a second launching soon. They are focused on streamlining their processes for efficient onboarding of new franchisees.

Jeff believes that a 30-minute conversation could be truly inspiring for those seeking a low-risk, scalable, and inspiring business opportunity.