How do You Budget & Price Your Retreat for Success?
I know budgeting and pricing are not the sexiest part of planning your retreat.
It's way more fun to focus on your destination, decide on the venue, or plan your content and itinerary.
But ultimately, your budget is the foundation for your retreat. It's the structure upon which the success of your retreat rests on.
No matter how great your content, venue, or menu is, you're doomed if you have no clarity on your numbers.
I see budgeting and pricing as one of the biggest obstacles retreat leaders face, especially if they don't understand the complexity of retreat costs.
It can all be confusing because there are so many moving parts:
You have many different vendors and different prices for accommodations.
You have variable and fixed retreat expenses.
You have to account for your travel costs and pay staff or a co-leader.
You have to think about meals, extra activities, and gifts.
You have to think about marketing expenses, taxes, and insurance.
There's just a lot that goes into budgeting and pricing your retreat.
Over the years of planning retreats and helping other retreat leaders plan their experiences, I have fine-tuned the budget and pricing process into an easy 6-step formula.
👉🏼 You can access that formula here if you want to take a peek.
In this blog post, I want to share 3 big mistakes people make when budgeting and pricing their retreats and how you can avoid making those same mistakes.
Mistake 1: Pricing Before Budgeting
You have to understand your expenses before setting the price for your retreat.
Getting clear on your expenses will help you make your desired profit while you guarantee a fair registration price for your clients.
I often see retreat leaders pick a number out of a hat of what "sounds like a good price" but later regret the decision because the numbers just don't add up down the line.
This is shaky territory to be in since you have to pay all of your venues, vendors, and staff before you account for profit and compensate yourself. The risk is losing money, and that, of course, is not good at all.
To avoid this mistake, make sure you have a clear retreat budget that breaks down every single expense per participant.
Having the cost per client is how you know HOW to set the right price for your retreat.
You will adjust your numbers more than once during your planning process, so make that process seamless and easy by setting up your spreadsheet from the get-go. Always use a spreadsheet or a budgeting tool to do the calculations to prevent any mistakes as you crunch the numbers.
Here's a basic list of Common Retreat Expenses:
Client accommodations/ lodging
Meals
Your travel
Your accommodations
Your students' travel (if included)
Marketing Costs
Credit card transaction fees
Staff or co-teacher compensation
Gifts for your students
Extra activities
Other vendors
Gratuities for retreat staff
When deciding on your retreat price, consider two additional things:
Time Away From Regular Work
You are putting in A LOT of time and energy into planning your retreat, and you will also be taking time off from your regular business/work activities for this retreat. When deciding on your retreat price, be sure to know the value of your time.
The Real Value of Your Retreat
What are your students going to get by attending your retreat? What is the transformation and results you are offering them?
Remember, they aren't just signing up for three yoga classes, six healthy meals, and beach time. Your retreat clients are going to your retreats with a transformation in mind. When pricing your retreat, always get clear on your retreat's "bigger picture value" based on the results you promise your students.
Mistake 2: Not Setting A Minimum Student Number
When you are budgeting and pricing your retreat, it's important to set a few scenarios to see what the numbers look like with different numbers of participants (i.e., 10, 12, or 20 clients).
When you do this, please don't set your retreat's price based on the max or the ideal number of students you want to host.
I see this mistake quite a bit as retreat leaders jump to the best-case scenario to set their price tag.
Instead, use a baseline of a lower number of participants to price your retreat.
I call this your Minimum Viable Number of Students or MVNS.
If you price your retreat to make a profit with this lower number, every other higher scenario is a cherry on top in terms of profit.
Setting this lower number (MVNS) means your retreat will profit with less effort because you’ll need a lower number to cover your expenses and hit your desired profit goals.
If your goal is to fill your retreat with 20 people, your MVNS should be around 8-10. Please remember to set this number based on your budget so that it makes sense for your retreat because every retreat is different.
Mistake 3: Not Having Clear Profit Goals
This may not seem like a big deal, but I often meet retreat leaders who have no idea of their financial goals when it comes to their retreat.
Setting your retreat profit goals is actually a crucial step in the process of pricing your retreat, and you want to set these goals early on.
Without that step, how do you know if the retreat works for your business? Or if the time and money investment are worthwhile for you?
Your profit goals help you set the parameters for what type of retreat you will create, how many clients you need, and what expenses you can afford.
I like to help my clients set 3 different profit goals using the Good, Better, and Best model.
Good goal = This profit meets my financial needs and I'm happy with it.
Better goal = This profit is much better than I expected.
Better goal = This profit exceeds my expectations. I'm thrilled.
Setting these profit goals will depend on your unique business and financial circumstances. Every retreat leader is different, and thus the goals you set can vary quite a bit from another retreat leader seemingly creating a similar retreat.
It's important not to compare yourself with others here but rather go with what feels right for you.
If you avoid making these mistakes you’re on the right track to successfully budgeting and pricing your retreats!
Learn how to Make More Revenue with Your Retreats!
Access our Retreat Budget & Pricing Tool - a proprietary method developed over years of planning my own retreats and used by dozens of retreat leaders around the world.