I think one of the biggest mistakes you can make when planning a retreat is falling in love with the experience first.
You see a beautiful hotel and begin imagining yoga by the sea, good meals, workshops and sunsets — and you start building.
Only later do you get to the numbers.
A retreat can be beautiful, receive praise from every participant and still be a business that is not worthwhile for the person who produced it.
Start with the numbers
For me, a good retreat needs to begin with the business questions: how much will it cost to produce, how many participants do we need, what is the right price for the audience and what profit remains at the end?
It may be less exciting than choosing the hotel, but it is what allows the whole experience to happen again next time.
Once the numbers work, the fun part begins: building the experience.
A good experience is a precise experience
It is important to understand that a good retreat is not the one with the most things packed into it. Quite the opposite. It needs to be precise. Not every workshop, trip or activity that looks good on paper truly belongs in the program.
There also needs to be room to sit by the pool, drink coffee without rushing anywhere and simply be.
At the same time, you need to know where an investment is worthwhile. Sometimes a good meal, comfortable rooms, an organized transfer or someone on site who can solve every problem is worth far more than another activity on the schedule.
Three sides that need to work together
Ultimately, a successful retreat needs to work in three directions: the participant should feel that she received an experience and real value, the teacher should feel that she created the retreat she dreamed of, and the business needs to make a profit.
When all three work together, you have much more than a one-time event.
You have a business model that can be repeated, improved and used to build more and more retreats.
That, to me, is the beauty of it: the numbers work behind the scenes while the participants feel only the magic.
A good retreat should not have to choose between experience and profitability. It needs to know how to bring them together.
Maya