“In seven years of running a business, this has to have been one of the most focused and transformational experiences I have had” – Carl Benfield, Managing Director of Prescient Power Ltd
You may have noticed or heard that we held our very first finance retreat last weekend. (Did I mention it once or twice!) – click here for details on our next retreat
Now, retreats aren’t that common in the UK, so naturally there has been a lot of curiosity and even wariness of what exactly it was, and what would happen. Top marks then to my first delegates for making the leap of faith to be there. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they’re really intrigued and interested but a bit worried about what a retreat would entail.
1) It’s not just for women in robes!
The first thing we learned is that a finance retreat isn’t just for women, and no, we wouldn’t be wafting round in robes all day. And we actually had more blokes there than women! This is a serious business event, with 2 full days spent focussing on what is important in your business, your finances and your life. (and you’ll never catch me in a robe and flip flops – not going to happen)
2) The power of being in a mastermind group
A few people were a bit worried how it would work being in a group of “strangers”, but this turned out to be the most powerful part of the retreat. Spending time with like-minded business owners and learning from their experiences was hugely useful to everyone, in fact one delegate learned so much over dinner the night before the retreat he said if he was going home now he’d be happy! And by the time we’d had our first coffee everyone was best of friends!
“Listening to everyone’s experiences around the table has been life-changing.
I didn’t realise as a small business how much I’ve got in common with larger businesses”
“Definitely worth giving up 2 days for. Met some lovely people as well”
3) It’s not all about the money
Of course we’re all in business to make money, and the whole retreat was about how we build towards financial freedom and success through our businesses. BUT what we all agreed on, having had the time to really think and reflect, was that money itself wasn’t the goal, but was the enabler to allow us to live the life we wanted. Everyone in the room reconnected with why they’d started their business in the first place – to build security for themselves and their families, and to have freedom and choices.
“I’ve realised that money is the tool of all good; it’s the enabler, the route to financial freedom – that’s hugely transformative”
“I’m now focussed on WHY I’m doing this – its not about the mega bucks projections it’s easy to put on paper, but the stability for my family – the underlying reason I wanted to do this from day one”
4) Taking time out to think deeply is important but rare
The pace of life is faster than it’s ever been, and time to think is a rare luxury. Taking yourself away for 2 days of uninterrupted thinking can propel your business forward at a rate you couldn’t imagine. We just don’t get the time to think at a deep enough level to get the breakthroughs we need. Everyone found that this was the perfect opportunity to stop, catch their breath, really focus on what they wanted and what they needed to do (not what everyone else was telliing them they should be doing.
“I’ve been racing at 100 miles an hour for the last 12 months and now I’ve put the brakes on to focus what actually is the most important thing to me. If I hadn’t come to this retreat I would have carried on doing that for another 5 or 10 years and missed out on the important things in my life”
“I really enjoyed it, I needed help to make me think and it really did”
“We’ve all benefitted from taking time out of our businesses, working ON it”
“The best thing has been the guided thinking – allowed me to slot everything in order that’s been milling around in my head’
“It’s been hard work – thinking is hard work, we’re used to being busy doing, but not used to thinking”
5) Having the clarity and certainty of what to do next
When we’re so busy with the day to day, it can be really hard to keep focussed on what actions will take us where we want to be. Because the whole retreat was based around my new structured framework, everyone found by the end of day 2, not only did they have clarity on exactly what they wanted for their life and business, but they knew exactly what to do this next quarter, and even what to do next week.
“I’m much clearer now about what I want from my life, and therefore from my business”
“It provides enormous clarity on where we need to be heading and what my role should actually be”
“I can now see my next quarter clearly and I’ve blocked out strategic time for working on my business so I’ll be a lot more careful about where my time goes”
“I’ve known for ages what I needed to do, but not known how the hell to do it, it’s the “how”. I feel a lot more empowered about the how to work my way through it”
“I feel really enthused now that we can go back to the office and start making change quickly”
“Things are definitely going to change. For this quarter, small positive consistent steps to embed new behaviour and belief in myself and the team is definitely the way to progress”
“We feel genuinely enthused by it, and have a clearer feeling of direction. It is funny how the smog seems to clear…..”
So the first retreat is over, and I have to say I loved every minute of it. My first group of delegates were absolute stars and they made it a fabulous experience for everyone.
If this sounds like something you’d like to do for your business, then we do have just 2 places left in November (with several interested people “hovering” waiting to find out how this first one went!) and our 2017 dates will be released soon. And if there’s anything you’d like to ask me then just give me a shout.
And once again, you can find out about the retreats on our website …..