Free Worksheet: Retreat Planning Template for Budgeting

Retreats are an excellent way for wellness professionals to connect with their clients and offer them profound and more immersive experiences. But it also takes a lot of planning and organization to make them successful. A retreat planning template can help you achieve your goals of offering a fantastic option without breaking the bank.

One of the most important metrics is your retreat's profitability – you want to ensure you are getting compensated fairly for all the time and energy you're putting into planning a retreat!

Budgeting and pricing go hand in hand. You need to have a clear budget in mind to make an informed decision on the right price for your retreat.

Here are three simple steps to budget a retreat for success:

1. Outline ALL Your Retreat Expenses

Outlining your expenses is essential for creating your retreat budget. You want to do this before setting a price for the experience you wish to offer. The clarity in your finances is by far one of the most critical aspects of planning a retreat.

Lay out all your expenses in a spreadsheet, including things like cost per participant for lodging, food, transfers, airfare, extra activities, gifts, etc. Don't forget to factor in those "sneaky" retreat expenses like gratuities, baggage fees, etc.

2. Do The Math When Setting Your Pricing

Here's where having a retreat planning template to create your budget comes in handy! You don't want just to pull a number from the sky to price your retreat. Be sure you cover your expenses AND pay yourself with the pricing you set. Here's where being clear while creating your retreat budget right from the get-go is crucial.

Many retreat leaders make the mistake of pricing their offerings too low and can only make a profit if it sells out. This, of course, is a recipe for worry and possibly failure; you'll run the risk of losing money or having to cancel your retreat.

Instead, implement a pricing strategy while planning your retreat based on a) a clear budget + b) the amount you need to make so that you can avoid getting overwhelmed and stressed when promoting your retreat.

Don't be afraid to pay yourself. Planning a retreat entails a lot of work! Plus, you're a professional, and you'll put all your expertise to the test when creating a wonderful experience for your clients. Believe in your retreat's added value and traits that will make it unique.

Are you losing too much plan managing your retreat's booking and payments?

Learn how WeTravel can help boost your productivity and reduce your accounting time to plan more retreats!

3. Focus On Your Minimum Group Size For Profitability

This tip is very important! If you have, for example, a total of 12 spots open, don't price your retreat so low that you'll need 12 people to make a profit.

Instead, choose a lower number (like 6-8) for the minimum number of participants you'll need in order to cover your expenses and pay yourself.

Suppose you consider this during the planning stage of your retreat. In that case, you'll feel so much less pressure to fill your participant quota; you'll be able to relax earlier in the process (knowing that your costs are covered), and you'll make a more significant profit for each additional person who signs up.

Free Spreadsheet: Retreat Planning Template for Budgeting

We've helped hundreds of retreat professionals like you achieve their goals, and we want to keep helping! That's why we've created this Retreat Planning Template for you to go over your budget in the most efficient way possible!

What Does It Cover?

• Variable costs (those that depend on the size of your group), including expenditures related to transportation, accommodation, catering & food service, and supplies
• Fixed costs (those that do not vary with group size) such as insurance policies, sales & marketing spend, and host/facilitator expenses
• Percentage-driven costs like participant payment fees, discounts/promotions, referral/sales commissions, vendor transaction fees, and tips

Simply plug in your numbers on our retreat planning template for each cost line item on Tab 1 and revenue line item on Tab 2. Formulas are already set up for you, so it's easy to explore the profitability of different price points and group sizes.

With this information, you can be confident in pricing your retreat and setting your sales targets, so you can focus more of your energy on creating the best experience possible.

Who Is It For?

We designed this free worksheet for companies and professionals who focus on domestic and international retreat offerings. These may be centered on wellness modalities related to:

• Movement & fitness (yoga, pilates, qi gong, tai chi, dance, barre, running, and cycling, just to name a few!)
• Meditation & mindfulness
• Dietary & detox
• Spiritual transformation & trauma recovery
• Holistic healing & therapeutics (including Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, acupressure, massage, and Reiki, among others)
• Entrepreneurship & coaching
• Other educational programs

Check out our webinars for travel industry professionals to find more resources on planning a retreat, and when you're ready to get started, build your retreat on WeTravel!