By Suzelle Snowden and Anna Colosimo, Special FBA Contributors
Have you ever dreamed about creating your own fitness, wellness, yoga or sports retreat? Then, maybe you thought one of these things...
"It will be a lot of work to create my own"
"I don’t think I will get enough participants"
"Who would want to come?"
"Is it safe to get a group of people together?"
"I’ll do it one day, sometime in the future."
...And right then and there, you squashed your dream and decided to push off your own event before you even started planning the very first detail.
What if it wasn’t so hard, and it is the right time to start dreaming and planning now? Even if you want to create this type of event sometime in a couple of years and it is not a priority right now, it is important to know the steps of building a successful retreat.
We are here to help provide you with these steps and processes to get you started fulfilling this goal of yours. Let’s dive in.
Know the why, who, and how
Yes, we know that seems like a lot. Start to think and fill in your priorities in these categories, and this will help you set a successful base to your retreat or event.
- Why are you planning this retreat- To earn revenue? To bring your community together? To fulfill a goal of being a retreat leader? Know your why(s) and this will be your guiding foundation.
- Who will come? Will you invite people personally or announce the event more publicly (or both)?
- Get your planning underway- Define where you want to be for your event, how people are going to register, how much do you want to charge, etc.
Where are the viable options to host your event?
Many people love the idea of traveling abroad to host a retreat, and dream of beautiful destinations. While others want to host something local and start off by creating success in your backyard. Both are viable options. Define where your ideal locale is for your event.
Revenue
This is a big topic that, honestly, most people don’t want to think about too much. It is important to define what you want when it comes to revenue. Do you want to cover your costs only? Do you want to make additional revenue? Do you want to turn this into an events platform that could be a crucial revenue part of your business? Answer some of these questions from your gut, and then plan your event in line with these expectations. It will create more comfort all around to have your priorities lined up with the costs of putting on the event, and take some stress off the topic when you do even just a little bit of thinking on this.
Consider using a Fitness Pro Teaching Vacation as the basis of your retreat.
This can help you answer many of the questions above, and also provide a luxury all-inclusive resort as the backdrop of your retreat. Bonus- the Fit Bodies Inc. team are seasoned at supporting and helping pros plan retreats and events and can hand hold you through a lot of the process.
Creating your own retreat or event is not a science, but more of an art. You definitely will want to define what it is important to you and your participants, and this will help you create success in your event(s).
Fit Bodies recently hosted a free webinar ‘How to Create your own retreat’- check it out here. Download the workbook that accompanies the webinar here.
Do you want to learn more about the concept of a teaching vacation for certified/licensed fitness pros, yoga and sports professionals? Reach out here to find out more.
Suzelle Snowden is founder of Fit Bodies, Inc., the largest teaching vacation organization in the world. Fit Bodies, Inc. blends the vacation aspirations of exercise professionals with the wellness needs of a luxury resort. Suzelle’s passion is to share fitness with others by coordinating partnerships and creating vacation opportunities for skilled fitness, wellness and sports professionals. With over 35 years in the fitness industry Suzelle is ACE CPT and GFI with numerous other certifications including Spinning®, Yoga Alliance E-RYT-200, and Strong by Zumba®
Anna Colosimo is the Director of Partnerships and Business Development at Fit Bodies, Inc. She received her degree from the University of Dayton in Exercise Science and Fitness Management, and has always had a passion for fitness, wellness, and health promotion since she was a young girl. She has 15 years working in the business side of the fitness industry. She has extensive experience in fitness education, programming, working with gyms, and in partnership with other companies/organizations. Within the fitness industry, she has held various positions and worked for noted companies such as Zumba, Trigger Point Performance, and PTontheNet/FitPro UK. She loves working together with her colleagues and partners to see a project or idea come to life!
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