Everything You Need to Know to Plan A Productive Quarterly Retreat For Your Business

Hands up if you occasionally (or frequently) put your own business development on the back burner? It can be so easy to prioritize client work over the work needed to grow and run your own businesses and while I’d never tell you to drop the ball on work you’re being paid to do, I do think that it’s important to spend time focusing on reaching your goals, too.

Between clocking those client hours and attending one too many Zoom meetings, it can be a struggle to make time for your business. One way to keep that commitment to yourself is to plan and facilitate quarterly retreats for your small business. Here’s how:

Create a Plan and Schedule

Map out the agenda for your retreat. Consider all of the topics you need to cover and start slotting them into your calendar. Reviewing your finances, auditing your business processes, checking in on your annual goals and forecasting for the months ahead are all things to keep in mind.

What do you need to accomplish? What’s the priority for your retreat? This may look similar from one quarter to the next but mapping out a general schedule will help you create specific objectives that you can work towards to make the most of your time.

I’d recommend blocking 2-4 days off on your calendar and setting your out-of-office auto-responder. Remember, this retreat is about keeping a commitment to yourself and your business, so minimizing distractions — including email notifications — is a key component of being productive.

As you work to build your retreat schedule, don’t forget to include opportunities for rest and rejuvenation. As an entrepreneur, so much of your life is consumed with all things business, it’s important to find ways to have fun, be creative and fill your tank back up before diving into plans, strategies and analytics.

Finally, decide where your CEO retreat is taking place. While your home office might work just fine for your day-to-day operations, you may want to plan to go elsewhere for your retreat. The distractions of your household to-do list, and the noise of your pets, kids, roommates, etc. could derail your retreat before you have a chance to make real progress.

Consider working a stay at a hotel or AirBNB into your annual budget or head to your local library or coworking space. Just be sure whatever space you choose has enough room to spread out your supplies and is somewhere that feels inspiring so you can land on those big, game-changing ideas.

Gather Your Supplies

Once you’ve mapped out your goals and objectives for your retreat, it’s time to prep and gather your supplies. At a minimum, I’d recommend the following:

• Notebooks(s)

• Pen(s)

• Highlighters

• Post-it notes

• Chart paper

• Calendar/planner (to plan and for retrospective)

• Laptop

• Phone

• Charger(s)

• A favourite playlist (or several)

• Snacks/meals (as required)

• Water/tea/coffee

• Books, candles, other self-care supplies

Make Some Magic

Your business retreat is an opportunity to make major moves in catapulting your business forward so once you’ve identified your objectives, created and agenda and gathered your supplies, it’s time to get to (distraction-free) work.

If you’re looking for ideas on where to start, keep reading for a sample CEO quarterly business retreat schedule…

Sample 2-Day Business Retreat Schedule for The Entrepreneur/Solopreneur

Day 1 – Retrospective & Forecasting

• 9:00AM – Arrive on location and unpack supplies, get settled in with a hot drink, snacks and a killer productive playlist

• 9:30AM – Year/Quarter Retrospective – Spend this time reflecting on your personal and professional highlights for the previous year or quarter. Now is the time to reflect on what went well and what you can improve on to find success in your business. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What were some lessons I learned last year/quarter?

  • What risks did I take? Did they pay off?

  • What were some of the decisions I made last year? What was the outcome? How could things have been different?

  • What were 2-3 of my biggest accomplishments last year/quarter?

  • What were 2-3 of my biggest pain points last year/quarter?

  • What do I want to bring more of in the next quarter?

  • What do I want to let go of in the next quarter?

  • Did I meet my financial goals last year/quarter?

  • Which projects, products, services performed the best? What about the worst?

  • What goals did I have for last year/quarter that weren’t complete? Do I need to reprioritize them for the next quarter?

• 12:00PM – Break – take a break if you haven’t already done so and use this time to stretch your legs, take a quick walk and get some fresh air, grab a bite to eat

• 1:00PM – Year/Quarter Forecast – Use this time to reflect on your ‘WHY’ and your big bold goals, map out what you need to accomplish to bring those goals to life! Reflect on the following questions:

  • What is my ‘WHY’? Who do I help? How do I impact their lives?

  • What are my 2-3 long term goals? This can be a 1 year, 5 year or 10 year goal

  • What do I truly enjoy doing in my business and my life, how can create opportunities for more of that this year/quarter?

  • What areas of my business and life can I make easier through outsourcing of building systems and automations?

• 2:30PM – Goal Setting – map out your goals for the upcoming year/quarter. These can be financial goals, operational goals, visibility goals – choose something that not only challenges you but also fits into your ultimate ‘Why’

• 3:30PM – Wrap up for the day and spend some time taking care of yourself – get a massage or manicure, read a book just for fun, do some yoga or meditation, watch a few episodes of your favorite show, anything is fair game (including a few celebratory drinks if you’re into it)

• 6:00PM – Decompress – Spend the evening journaling, brainstorming, and enjoying a delicious meal

Day 2 – Planning & Execution

• 9:00AM – Set The Tone – Grab a nutritious breakfast and a coffee and complete your morning routine to prepare for the day ahead

• 10:00AM – Planning – Review your goals for the year/quarter and start mapping out key dates and milestones in your calendar and your task manager. Consider the following:

  • Product launches (courses, workshops, digital products, etc.)

  • Client commitments

  • Vacations and other out-of-office dates

  • Speaking engagements/PR opportunities

• 11:30AM – Audit – Take a look at your goals and calendar and then spend some time reviewing your existing processes and programs. Consider the following:

  • Do I have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) and/or workflow for all of the tasks required to complete upcoming projects?

  • Where is there an opportunity to better utilize a program or app that I already use to make running my business easier and more streamlined?

  • What can I delegate to my team or outsource to a subcontractor so that I can focus on what I truly excel at?

• 1:00PM – Break – take a break if you haven’t already done so and use this time to stretch your legs, take a quick walk and get some fresh air, grab a bite to eat

• 2:00PM – Execute – Review your retreat objectives – Consider the following:

  • Did you cover everything on your agenda? If not, spend some time actioning outstanding items.

  • Ready to move on? This is also a great time to draft content for your upcoming social media posts, email newsletters or blog posts (if you handle them in house). After 2 days of reflecting on your why and mapping out your upcoming year/quarter, ideas for content will be flowing!

  • Did you identify the need for content, assets or processes in order to reach your goals? Spend some time drafting the outline for your new signature course or fine tuning SOPs to help the next year/quarter run as smoothly as possible.

• 5:30PM – Wrap up – treat yourself to your favourite takeout or head home for dinner with your loved ones to close out your productive and impactful retreat

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Is a quarterly retreat something you can incorporate into your schedule? It can definitely set the tone to help you achieve your goals over the next 90 days. Leave a comment below to share your experience with business planning and development!

If you’re looking for guidance with goal setting in your business, check out my KPI Guide designed to help you identify your key performance indicators so that you can track your progress—what gets measured gets done!