What’s the key to leading successful retreats?

Short answer: It’s choosing the right “type” of retreat for you and your business.

Let me explain…

Over the years of coaching people on planning their dream retreats, I have come to understand that the key to success lies in leveraging your current skills and honoring where you are in the journey of leading retreats.

So many people have dreams of planning extravagant retreats across the world when, in reality, they don't have the know-how and resources to pull that off… YET.

So what do you do? Give up on your retreat goals?

NOT AT ALL.

You start small with a manageable retreat that allows you to gain the experience you need to plan that amazing retreat of your dreams in the near future. This is what I call:

👉🏼 Validation Retreats

See, it's not only you that needs to “warm up” to retreats. You also want your community to get used to the idea of retreating with you. It's a synergistic process.

What you are focusing on with Validation Retreats:

Market Research: understanding what your community wants and needs in a retreat.
Retreat Planning Skills: learning the basics of planning a retreat, from the organization, logistics, budget, and pricing to marketing and selling your retreat.
Starting to Build Your Retreat Community: getting your clients and community to see you as a capable and skillful retreat leader.

On the other hand…

If you have planned a few retreats, you now understand the process a bit better. Your focus now is to get more clients and charge more for your retreats. You are ready to move to the next level and go with:

👉🏼 Niche Retreats

What you are focusing on with Niche Retreats:

Marketing Skills: you want to learn more refined and advanced marketing strategies to understand how to reach a broader group of people within your ideal client target market.
Niche Skills: you want to develop more specific and niche retreat content that provides your ideal clients with their desired results.
Expand Your Retreat Community: you want to grow your community with ideal students that you can serve and support with your niche retreats.

What if you’re a pro at planning retreats?

You now may want a retreat business that, in a way, runs on its own and runs smoothly, where you are not involved in every single aspect of it. You are ready to outsource and elevate all aspects of your retreat game with:

👉🏼 Premium Retreats

What you are focusing on with Premium Retreats:

Streamlining Processes: it's time for you to make your retreat planning process more effective to plan more retreats. One way to do this is to outsource parts of the retreat planning process. You may also consider training other teachers, coaches, or wellness professionals to lead some of your retreats altogether.
Business Skills: you also want to focus on developing your business skills to grow your business to new heights. You may need to hire people to help you with marketing and other areas to set off your business growth.
Revenue Growth: you are ready to grow your revenue with your retreats by charging a premium price for your experiences. You want to find high-quality clients that are willing to invest in themselves by attending your retreats.
Complimentary Offerings: You may want to venture into the online space and look at digital options to compliment your retreat content, such as online-based coaching programs, workshops, or memberships.

Although I believe that every retreat leader should consider these 3 categories or levels of retreat planning for optimal results, I don't think there is a specific timeframe to go through these stages. Some people move quickly through these, and others take their time.

It is an individual journey, and that is how everything in your business should be. It’s all about honoring where you are now while you set goals of where you want to take your retreats in the future.

If you want to learn more about these categories and where you fall as a retreat leader, make sure you take my Retreat Leader Quiz. Once you take the quick 2-minute quiz, you'll get prompted to a training video + resources to help you with your specific needs depending on these 3 levels.