Why You Need A Business Retreat (and How To Make It Happen)
As an entrepreneur, it can feel overwhelming handling the many roles involved in running your private practice. You are responsible for ensuring that your administrative back-end is functioning and up-to-date, developing and marketing new revenue streams, and making financial decisions … all while providing service to your clients during their sessions!
Being pulled in multiple directions while you run and grow your business can leave you feeling anxious or burned out. It is important to regularly make time to focus on the business aspects of your private practice and become familiar with wearing not only your therapist’s hat but also your marketing, strategy, and management hats!
One way to get in the habit of owning your role as an entrepreneur is to schedule annual or quarterly business retreats. This looks like blocking a few consecutive days off in your calendar once a year or once a quarter to give your undivided attention to your goals as a business owner, your marketing strategy or even your finances. Here’s how to plan a mini business retreat to avoid burnout and run your private practice as a successful entrepreneur:
Decide On The Logistics
The first step to running a business retreat is to decide where and when you will hold it. Depending on where and how you run your business, this step might involve a bit more planning. It may be as simple as blocking 3 or 4 days off in your calendar and spending time in your office uninterrupted. For others, this may involve renting an Airbnb or hotel room to allow yourself the space, time and privacy you need to have a successful retreat.
It’s important to ensure that whatever you plan works for you and your business (especially from a financial perspective). Above all else, you will need to view your scheduled retreat as a commitment to yourself and your business that can’t be postponed or cancelled.
Ensure that you have the necessary supplies to facilitate your retreat successfully. This may include procuring chart paper and markers to use for brainstorming, notebooks for reflection and journaling, business and entrepreneurship books for planning, etc.
Consider what would make the retreat enjoyable for you and do your best to make that happen - bring your favourite candle, a delicious snack, download your favourite playlist. While business planning is an important part of your retreat, it is also important to have some time to relax and enjoy yourself - running a business is hard work so you deserve to celebrate the work you do!
Develop A Plan
One thing you will definitely want to ensure that you map out is your plan for your retreat. Make the most of the time you have blocked off in your schedule to work through important aspects of your business.
While this can look different for each person, it is a good idea to start your retreat off by reviewing the foundations of your business. Take a look at your current policies and forms and make updates as required. Audit your website to ensure it accurately reflects your business and your ideal client. Review your administrative processes and determine if there are any opportunities to streamline your efforts.
Another aspect of your business that you will want to ensure you review and spend some time developing is your goals for the upcoming year. Determine what you want to accomplish over the next 12 months (and also consider what you want to achieve in the next 5 years) and map out the tasks you will need to complete to attain your goals.
This may also be a great time to work on a previously purchased course or workshop that you have yet to start. Plan some time to focus on completing course modules and accompanying exercises if applicable if the content is relevant to your business goals.
Spending some time creating content for your business is also another great way to use the time scheduled for your retreat. This may include drafting new blog posts, creating new resources or even mapping out your social media strategy and posts.
Ultimately, you will be the best judge of what topics you need to include in your retreat (and what the intention of your retreat is), so feel free to develop a detailed agenda to ensure that you cover the most important items and tasks before you wrap up.
Include Time for Rest and Rejuvenation
Finally, it is important to ensure that you allocate time during your business retreat to celebrate your accomplishments, reflect on the past year or quarter and rest. Take some time to do something you enjoy but don’t often make time for.
It is important to take care of yourself as a therapist and business owner so that you can show up consistently as the best version of yourself. This might look like getting 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep, reading a few chapters of a new book or booking a spot in a cooking class. You will want to take care of not only your business, but also yourself, during your retreat.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with running your private practice and need guidance on marketing, strategy or business planning, CLICK HERE to learn more about the Scale Your Practice Program.
