USEFUL STEPS TO CREATE AND FILL UP YOUR RETREAT
We are all unique in our own way and that is what is so special about being human beings, because we are shaped by the experiences we go through in life, and through it we pick up good and bad things that make us who we are. Due to your uniqueness, you have those that love your work and those who don’t. And that is what we need to emphasise when dreaming on planning a retreat, create a unique experience that only you can deliver it. Those that love your energy and follow you every week on the mat will certainly consider it and eventually follow you.
But, like everything in life we need to build it up slowly, as you know nothing happens all of a sudden by magic. If you are dreaming on running a retreat that means that you have some experience teaching, you have an established clientele that love what you offer, you feel that you are at the right time to create one and you feel capable of going through a process, sometimes stressful but rewarding, in order to make your dream a reality .
Some people might find it easy to do and very obvious, but some others might find it difficult. Here we have put in place a few humble points that if done correctly we believe will end up with a successful retreat for you and your guests.
1 THEME IT : To start, you need to establish the Theme of your retreat which will give your guests the idea of what will it be and what will they get out of it. We all want to know the outcome when we invest in something, so if we give people the right information, and we mean precise information, we have many chances of getting people signed up.
2 TIMING : Always plan your retreat with at least 9 months to a year in advance to be able to have the appropriate time to offer it to your guests and give them time to save money to pay for the retreat.
3 RESEARCH & BUDGET : Look for a suitable Retreat Venue that goes in line with your theme, that can cater for the Amount of guests that you will feel comfortable with running a retreat, and which can offer you what you want in it so as to make it special and authentic. Find out all the costs such as venue, catering, transportation, experiences, goodies, comprehensive insurance, your flights and even costs such as currency exchange. A little tip on this last mentioned point, for frequent travellers I normally recommend Transferwise as they give the lowest exchange rate on the planet and it might give you the chance of charging your retreat in the currency where you are running your retreat so you don’t have to worry about currency fluctuations during the period that you will sell it.
Something that is not minor also, is to contemplate the Payment terms and Cancelation policy of the venue that you choose so that you are aware of them and then create your own retreat terms and conditions and cancelation policy.
4 CALCULATE YOUR PROFIT : In order to do this you need to take into account some points of vital importance such as, the Effort and Time that you put into creating the retreat, from doing the research to preparing the classes for it. That means, contemplate all the time it took you and value it as you normally do for your classes or sessions for example. Add to that the Loss of Income you will be having at home at the time of running the retreat. Also the Value of what you will be providing. Add up all these and then add it to the costs that you have researched in the budgeting stage plus a % that you will want to offer as discount for early bird bookings.
Once you have all these figures together, see what is the minimum viable number of guests to run your retreat being able to afford all the costs and your costs.
5 SALES STRATEGY : Think of how you will sell it. Once you have points 1 to 4 ready, and all the information has been gathered comment it to your crowd and see their reactions. From here you will gather valuable information that will give you an indication that you are on the right track to success, or you need to go back to the drawing board. It might be that is too pricey or the location is not attractive to people or it might be perfect to go ahead.
Once you start the sales stage contemplate these options :
Offer your crowd the Early Bird price as a benefit for booking early.
Offer Payment plan if possible by spreading their payments through the months left to run the retreat. Make sure that you can pay the venue reservation deposit with the first installments your guests will be paying and the successive payments needed to cover the costs.
Carrying out all these steps correctly, without overlapping or missing any of them should lead to a fully booked retreat and the beginning of a great retreat journey.
A few extra tips to consider if you still haven’t signed up all your crowd:
Look for groups on Facebook where people are looking for the theme you are offering and offer them spaces with a discount (which you have already budgeted for).
Ask for collaboration within your fellow Yoga instructors offering discounted spaces for their pupils.
We hope you find it useful and that we have contributed to the beginning of a successful retreat journey that will help you provide great value and experiences to your crowd.
Namaste