10 Secrets to Launch Your Own Yoga Retreat Center Successfully

Suppose you have a cat and you go after her all day, trying to feed her. The more you run after her, the more she runs off. What is the solution? Buy her delicious cat food, be calm and watch the cat falling on your lap, without even trying”. This might seem vague but consider this - you do not upgrade your skills or learn business skills, so, as a result, the outcomes disappoint you. So, what should you do? Sit down at one place, learn new skills, plan your business and watch the cat (success) come running to you.

Yoga is a competitive business and there are thousands of retreat organizers, collaborators, and specialist travel companies in the arena, operating like sharks and feeding on planktons aka small businesses. Do not fret. There are guidelines for a successful launch of a Yoga retreat center with no hassles so that the business becomes more of fun and less of liability.

Here is a 10 step guide to stand out with your Yoga Retreat Center

1.      Type of Business

Considering the popularity of Yoga retreats, it is clear that starting a Yoga Retreat center can be extremely rewarding. However, there is one key aspect that many budding businessmen fail to lock in successfully and that is the type of business. Taking into account your native country, there are certain rules that you need to follow for your business to take off and deciding the type of business is one of them. You can choose from a number of business types, such as Proprietorship, Partnerships, Corporations or Limited Companies. This big choice among the business types shall help you launch your business in the arena in an appropriate way and let you reap the benefits out of the efforts incurred in.

2.      Capital Estimation

Starting a business is totally different from calculating your next appraisal at work. The former is highly dynamic and its stature depends upon the factors like current customer choices, globalization, future requirement, and outreach. However, laying the foundation of your dream venture costs you money and not having adequate financial flow is a major reason why small businesses fail at a premature stage. Your business is no different. Here are some of the initial level costs that add up:

·         Facility or real estate

·         General facilities like electricity & water

·         Insurance

·         Important professional support like legal, financial, and human resources

·         Permits

However, it is not about the initial costs, but also about keeping a tab on the sales and finally waiting for it to catapult into cash flow.

3.      Understanding Customers & Locale

Launching a business may come off as an easy thing for you but if you do not know your customers or open the retreat center at a place that is low on the number of travelers visiting annually or probably a place where statistics are not favorable, rest assured your dream castle shall come down crashing. Having enough customers at your porch is also important because you need to accumulate some wealth through the services that you are offering. Remember, wrong choice of location will result into low customer registration number and this all leads to extra cost for relocation.

4.      Power of Social Media

There is no doubt about the fact that social media platforms like Instagram has built careers of many and helped businesses to turn from rags to riches. One of the best examples of social media fame is Kylie Jenner Cosmetics which is now a billion dollar empire. Opening a Yoga Retreat Center involves many things but attracting potential customers and collaborators can be tricky at the start. You have to put your venture at the center stage so that people see the facilities and benefits that your business offers them. Spread the word across various social platforms and make sure you stand out. Moreover, there are many platforms that encourage brand promotions like Quora.

5.      Proactive Approach

Now that you have sown the seeds, it is time to reap the first seasonal success. The efforts you have out in by now shall fetch, if not many, then some clients who would be interested in joining the Yoga retreat at the given destination. Here is the time to make your first positive mark, which is a pre-joining communication with the attendees or the potential clients joining the escapade. You have many options in-hand - cold calling, emails, and even marketing communication brochures. The approach works wonder as the client gets an idea of what he is getting himself into and what kind of people he/she can expect to join or collaborate with.

6.      Re-Visit Your Own Inner Demons

Leading a Yoga Retreat center means that you have an idea of the Yogic world or in all best possibilities, you are a Yogi yourself with years of experience and prominent Yoga Teachers Training credential under your sleeves. However, every human mind goes through stress and the pressure that comes with launching a new business is understandable. So, it is important that you ground yourself, work on yourself a little more, and learn to tame your inner demons like possible instances of anger, anxiety or fear. You are a workaholic but make you do not let that seep in your personality.

7.      No Pretentious  Zone

It is natural to be excited for the very first Yoga retreat venture of your life and when it is a business then it blooms with double the joy and beauty. However, it is important that you maintain the sanity inside-out and do not let that pompous feeling show-up in the décor or in the ambience of the retreat center. For instance, the wall paintings, the décor, or the furniture, all of these entities that lays the foundation of the ambience has to be subtle yet a strong source of subliminal messages that awakens one’s soul. Your attendees need a sense of tranquility and time-out from the hullaballoo so you have to make sure that every part of the retreat center oozes serenity.

8.      Be Empathetic

You might have come across memes and wallpapers signifying the difference between a boss and a leader. Believe it or not, all those messages scream out facts and realities. During the Yoga retreats at your center, you will come across people with different physical capacities, medical concerns, and certain negative patterns in life. There are also cases wherein people suffer from issues like Depression, sleep problems and even suicidal tendencies. Therefore, you have to use love to solve their problems and an empathetic approach to relate with their issues. Emotional bonding with clients will make them come for more, attend retreats and look up to you as a teacher and a guide.

9.      Being on One’s Toes

When you work for an organization, you have the luxury to take some days off or go for a vacation simply to disconnect from the discord. However, the tables turn the other side when it is about your own business. You will be a part of the discord for most parts, on your toes for more than 18 hours a day, and dealing with people with varied mindsets. Unfortunately, you will seldom have real time-offs or episodes of going out on a holidays with family and friends. You will have everything- empowered workforce, facilities and a thin cash flow but the most important thing that will bind everything together is going to be your own strong ground. At the end of the day, it is going to be your hardwork and relentless approach to solving a problem that will make a difference.  

10  Not Losing Yourself

You need to hammer the last nail in the coffin with this one- the ‘Be You’ approach. Pretending to be a tough task master, overly professional or pompous for no reason are somewhere going to put your business at risk. People admire realism and being yourself at all times will help you come off as an approachable guide at the Yoga retreats. According to Yogic scriptures and spirituality, your energy determines the connections you will build, so, make sure you deliver a bright aura and abundance in the likes of positive energy, honesty and clear communication. Human brain connects with free flow of communicative energies and somewhere rejects something that is burdensome. Make sure you have the best magical aura around you.

All the best!