How to Run a Retreat: 17 Expert Tips From a Retreat Leader
I know from personal experience just how transformative hosting a high-ticket retreat can be for a small business owner. My first retreat allowed me to generate an entire month's worth of income from one week-long retreat!
But when you have so many ideas and unfinished passion projects, how do you know if starting a retreat is right for you? It takes a lot of work, doesn't it? Well, I'm here to help!
While leading your first retreat might seem daunting, this blog will help make it easy by reviewing important aspects of a retreat business. If you've been looking for a way to use your skills outside the therapy room, help clients accelerate their healing, and earn more money, it's time to learn how to host retreats!
Why therapists should consider running retreats
As much as you love being a therapist, providing talk therapy day after day can get a little stale. Wouldn't it be nice to take a break from healing mental health disorders and instead focus on wellness? You may have found yourself wishing you could travel without taking a financial hit, fantasized about incorporating yoga or meditation, or leading workshops and doing more teaching.
Offering a retreat once or twice a year is a great way to add some variety to your business and get to work with clients in a different way. Plus, your unique skill set and vast training and experience give you a leg up as a retreat leader. A lifestyle business simply doesn't have the background and training to deliver the depth of experience you can.
Benefits for therapists
Running a retreat gives you a chance to use your therapeutic skills in a new way, craft unique events and healing experiences, diversify your income streams, and get out of the day-to-day grind of seeing therapy clients.
Let's face it: as much as you love your work, it would be nice to catch a break from working directly with mental health and trauma every day. A wellness retreat will allow you to focus your talents on helping people thrive through a mix of interactive workshops, soulful experiences, group work, and so much more.
Here are just a few ways that expanding your offerings can benefit you.
Diversify Income Sources: Adding retreats provides a new revenue stream, increasing financial stability and growth.
Increase Earning Potential: Retreats often command premium pricing, significantly boosting your income for a much lower time investment on your part.
Leverage Your Expertise: Use your accumulated knowledge and skills to develop a curriculum that not only educates but also earns.
New Professional Challenges and Opportunities: Retreats allow you to apply your teaching and group facilitation skills in fresh, dynamic settings. You can use your skill as a yoga instructor, artist, musician, or medicine worker more fully.
Wellness Focus: Shift from intensive trauma work to promoting wellness, providing a refreshing change that benefits both you and your clients.
By incorporating retreats into your business model, you open up new opportunities for professional development and personal fulfillment. This venture not only broadens your skill set but also enhances your ability to impact your clients' lives on a deeper level.
Benefits for clients
Most retreat businesses don't have your background and training. Though you wouldn't be providing therapy during a wellness retreat, you still get to bring your years of experience as a facilitator, healer, and teacher helping you generate loyal fans who will want to attend your retreats again and again.
Here's how wellness retreats can allow you to serve clients in new ways.
Accelerated Healing and Progress: The immersive nature of retreats allows attendees to make significant progress in a short period. This is especially true for retreats that are focused on a particular goal or activity such as a writing retreat for aspiring novelists. Intensive sessions can lead to quicker breakthroughs compared to less frequent support.
Holistic Wellness: Wellness retreats often incorporate various practices such as yoga, meditation, and healthy eating, providing a comprehensive approach to physical, mental, and emotional health.
Community and Support: In-person retreats foster a sense of community among participants. Attendees connect with like-minded individuals, share experiences, and build supportive relationships that can even extend beyond the retreat.
Personalized Attention: With a smaller group setting, clients often receive more personalized attention from the facilitator, allowing for tailored guidance and support.
Stress Reduction: Retreats set in a tranquil environment can help participants escape the stresses of daily life. The peaceful setting, combined with relaxation techniques, can significantly reduce stress levels.
By attending a wellness retreat, clients not only experience immediate benefits but also gain tools and strategies that support long-term health and well-being. This holistic approach can lead to lasting positive changes, making wellness retreats a valuable investment in one’s health journey.
The ultimate guide for running retreats:
17 tips for making your lifestyle business idea a reality
Whether your retreat lasts a day, a whole weekend, or longer, this step-by-step guide will help you prepare to run retreats and streamline your retreat planning process.
The past few years have seen a huge rise in personal development retreats and the wellness tourism market is projected to continue to grow. From planning, marketing, and running a retreat, this information below with help turn your passion project into a magical retreat.
P.S. Looking for more tips?
Check out my podcast episode that breaks down the building blocks of building and running a profitable retreat.
How to plan a retreat
Because of their complexity, begin your retreat planning one year in advance for longer, international retreats. This gives you plenty of time to work out the details and ensure your great idea is transformed into a perfectly planned retreat. Once you're an experienced retreat leader, you'll need less time to plan. The same is true for smaller, local retreats.
1. Identify your retreat purpose and target audience
Don't jump ahead researching retreat venues before identifying your retreat purpose. Slow down and attend to this detail first. When you start planning your own retreat, you should have a clear idea of who your retreat is for, the problem it helps them solve, and how you help them solve it. This can be included in your retreat mission statement.
2. Choose an inspiring retreat location
Hosting retreats presents a unique opportunity for both you and your participants to travel. While it may be fun to choose a far-flung location, it's best to choose a location that you're familiar with and has an established hospitality business industry.
While it may feel safer to choose a location close to home, you might consider hosting a retreat in a location where your buying power is higher. This will help keep your costs down and increase your profitability.
3. Reserve the right retreat center
The right retreat venue is going to depend on the kind of retreat you're hosting. A meditation retreat would benefit from being in a quiet, calm location. A yoga retreat will need a venue with a large practice room. Always consider your venue costs when pricing your retreat to ensure you're charging enough to cover expenses and then some.
4. Work with a lawyer to ensure you have the right legal forms for a retreat business
Because you're a therapist, you'll want to take extra measures to ensure your license is protected and you are following laws and regulations. Determine if you will need to create a new business to host a retreat.
5. Craft an effective retreat program
Successful retreats provide a mix of experiences for attendees that allow for learning, community building, and relaxation. While it may be tempting to pack the schedule with retreat events, don't forget to leave downtime for integration so that clients can get the most out of all the incredible experiences you've organized for them.
Inspiring people all day takes a lot of energy! Don't forget to include self-care time for yourself and nominate someone from your team to be on call if you need a break.
6. Calculate your costs and price your retreat
The biggest costs for your retreat are typically the venue and personnel costs. I like to price my retreats such that one or two participant sign-ups will allow me to cover all my costs. Knowing I've covered my costs early on makes it so much easier to show up in my marketing with confidence!
Think about pricing your retreat in a way that will make you feel the most calm and confident—and makes the most sense for your business. Make sure you know how many participants you'll need to sign to break even.
It may be tempting to price your retreat low thinking that will be more enticing to prospective attendees. But a low price may indicate a low-value retreat and harm your ability to attract attendees!
A thoughtful retreat format, inspiring venue, and curated experiences will create an amazing experience for both you and your participants.
How to market a retreat
Your marketing strategy should include publicizing your retreat on every marketing channel you're currently using. Depending on your capacity and resources, you may even consider adding additional marketing channels to increase exposure and sign-ups. If you plan to run a high-ticket retreat, ensure your marketing is polished and professional to have the best chance of selling out your retreat.
7. Choose a compelling and descriptive name for your retreat
Your retreat name should be enticing and accurately the purpose of your retreat. Though the name you give your retreat matters, don't get stuck on this step.
8. Invite your social media followers
Prior to your retreat, increase your presence on your social media channels to warm up your audience before you start directly selling. Once you're actively promoting and selling your retreat, you can share who your retreat is for and the 'problem' it's solving, feature pictures and videos of your venue, share the retreat schedule, engage followers in your stories, and address any objections potential attendees may have.
9. Ensure website visitors get the information they need
If you're already leveraging SEO consider creating content that will generate traffic from your ideal audience. At the very least, create a compelling sales page for your retreat that includes all of the details they'll need to buy in.
10. Leverage email marketing
Your email list is where your most loyal audience members hang out. Make sure to give them plenty of opportunities to say yes to your retreat. Email marketing is a great place to go into more detail, track higher levels of interest through click tracking, and target more engaged segments of your audience.
11. Reach out directly to increase retreat bookings
Though it can be time-consuming, personally contacting people who have shown interest in your retreat can be the difference between having a few sign-ups and selling out your retreat.
12. Screen potential attendees
This may not be necessary for every retreat. However, if you are a new retreat business, leading an intimate retreat, or asking attendees to travel long distances to unfamiliar places, make sure to screen potential clients ahead of time. You want to ensure that participants are prepared and are a good fit for the retreat experience you've planned.
Whatever you do, go all in on your marketing. Your confidence in your retreat will make others feel comfortable saying yes. If you need support around being able to do this, consider working with a business coach or signing up for my next retreat where I will teach you how to lead your own.
How to run a retreat
13. Meet with your whole team at the retreat venue ahead of time
Arrive at the retreat venue with enough time to familiarize yourself with the location and do any final prep for attendees to arrive.
14. Sometimes less is more
Don't feel obligated to pack every moment with activities. Your attendees will appreciate having time to relax and integrate.
15. Take the pressure off your retreat attendees
Remember: it is not your retreat participants' responsibility to make you feel like you did a good job. You set up the circumstances for them to have an amazing experience, but you can't force outcomes. Guide your attendees with a gentle touch and remember that they're on their own journey.
16. Prioritize your own self-care
The days will fly by and it can be so easy to forget to eat and take care of your own basic needs. Make sure to ask for help from your team and take breaks.
17. Gather feedback to gain valuable insights and testimonials
Request that retreat goers complete a questionnaire at the end of the retreat. This will give you valuable feedback you can use to inform future retreats to make the retreat experience even better.
These are some of the key aspects of leading a successful retreat, but remember you will learn so much by attending retreats as a participant and leading your own.
Final thoughts on running retreats
By now, I hope you're feeling more confident starting your own retreats business to grow your income, serve your clients, and use your skills in a new way.
If you're thinking, "But wait! I still have questions!" I hear you. Though this guide is thorough, it's no replacement for attending your own retreat business training.
And that's why you are so invited to Elevate Retreat for Therapists: the retreat where you will learn how to add a revenue stream to your business and increase your income by leading your own high-ticket retreats.
