By Cristophe Cappon

Anusara Inspired™ Teacher

Teaching yoga retreats is a great way to expand your business while seeing the world. However, the thought of putting it all together can be overwhelming at first, especially if you haven’t organized a retreat before. From sourcing destinations, accommodation, crafting enticing itineraries, marketing, number crunching, and everything in between – it’s overwhelming, to say the least.  Planning must be strategic and well-constructed while facilitating your need to make a profit.

Below are some tried and tested tips that will have you leading your own yoga retreat like a pro. We’ve broken it down into 5 vital steps for you to ponder and use as a planning guide.

 STEP 1: Destination and Timing

Simplify your life and choose a destination that you’re familiar with. Otherwise be prepared to go on a reconnaissance trip in order to experience the destination firsthand.

When considering your retreat dates, run a Facebook survey to help you gauge when your students are available to travel. You won’t be able to please everyone, but there’s no point in scheduling a retreat over Christmas if the majority of your students will be home with the kids.

STEP 2: Accommodation

 Select an eye-catching venue to help market your trip (yes, we’re talking Instagram-worthy shots).  This enhances not only your marketing to entice students but your trip content for future marketing. You’ll also need an inspiring yoga space – which rules out a lot of standard hotels. Lastly, a lot of single travelers go on yoga retreats.  Make sure that your venue has sufficient twin-bed options.

STEP 3: Pricing

Begin by adding up all your costs based on 8 students in a shared room. Remember to factor in your teaching salary as well as all of your own expenses.  If you’re unsure about the price of something, slightly over-estimate to avoid profit loss.  Divide that total number by 8 (your minimum number of students), and you’ve got yourself a retail price!

Early-bird incentives are a great way of encouraging students to commit well in advance – which will take a lot of pressure off you. Try to reach 8 bookings by the early bird deadline – and never count on someone until they’ve paid a deposit.

STEP 4: Filling your retreat

 Once you have your event set-up on an online platform, get in touch with your students.  In addition to blasting out a newsletter announcement, a much more powerful way of getting a response is to write individual messages to those who you think would be particularly interested. Finally, create a Facebook event and encourage your family, friends, and colleagues to share, share, share!  Ensure you have quality content (videos, blogs, images) and a frequently asked questions webpage to avoid answering repetitive, common questions.

STEP 5: Don’t be afraid to make the leap

At the end of the day, teaching a yoga retreat is a great way to expand your business while seeing the world.  So go for it – but don’t do it blindly.  Do your research, plan ahead – and THEN go for it.  It could be one of the best decisions you ever make!

To find out more and get in touch with Christophe, check out www.thailandyogaholidays.com