 I just returned from my most favorite trip of the year, my annual business plan retreat. Why am I so passionate about these couple days away? Well, today I'm pulling back the curtain to show you what I do at my retreat and some of the benefits and reasons that I get away to plan out my entire year. So stick around. Hey friends, it's Leanne and for years now, I've been escaping my home office for a night to plan my business plan for the upcoming year. This is not a spa day or an excuse to not cook for the night, although that does help and it helps me focus on the tasks at hand. But this is uninterrupted creative space where I can map out all the things that I want to accomplish in the upcoming year and all the minutiae that goes along with those projects to ensure that I'm scheduling time to get everything done. It's by far the most effective productivity tool in my toolbox and today I'm pulling back the curtain to show you exactly why. But before we dive in, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click on that little bell to be notified of new content. I'm creating a ton of brand new content, specifically around personal branding and if you're in a sales position. So I don't want you to miss a thing. And also stick around to the end of the video. I have one bonus tip for you about business plan retreats, especially if you are a member of a small sales team. So this is my business plan retreat setup. I'm at the Four Points Kelowna Airport. I've booked a suite here so I have lots of room to spread out. And of course the suite comes with a little kitchenette with a tea kettle so I can set up my tea for the next couple of days. The real reason I love the suite is it has lots of counter space to put my boards and my sticky notes and all my working materials. So this counter is being used quite a bit over the last couple of days. And of course I've got some more flip charts sitting over there. On this chair is my completed vision board for 2021. And then of course more counter space to spread out my binders and books and paperwork. Of course I've got my main working station here with my laptop, my T-Mug, some more binders and some scrap paper. Now I won't take you into the guest room. There isn't much to see in there but there is another counter space in there. So if I ran out of counter space for my materials I could have spread out to the guest room portion of this suite. So again, this is why I love coming to a hotel for doing my business plan retreat. I've also used club lounges at hotels that have lots of table space and of course all day coffee and tea which has been very helpful. But again, getting out of your space is, your regular space is probably one of the best uses for you to just spark some creativity and create something outside of your comfort zone. They say if you're in familiar surroundings you will think familiar things and you won't stretch yourself. So that's why I come to hotels to do my business plan retreat. Now before we dive into the tips on how to prepare for a business plan retreat a few of you may be thinking it's way too much to plan an entire year especially in the environment we're in right now trying to deal with this global pandemic and figure out what our industry looks like heading into 2021. Friends, I get it. I still would love for you however to take a bit of retreat even just to plan goals for Q1. That is a realistic timeline that you can work with and create some tangible results. You may also decide to do maybe a life plan versus a business plan and life plans my friends are such incredible tools for you to use. I include a life plan in my business plan retreat where I start to map out all of my vacation days with my family. I even map out all of my girls weekends retreats and some special times a year that I wanna spend with those special people. I also include things like books that I want to read or hobbies that I want to enjoy or how many kilometers I wanna run throughout the entire year. Yes, it gets down to that minutia for me but it also keeps me on track of my life plan as well. And finally, if you cannot get away for an entire evening or an entire 30 hours a business plan retreat is just as effective if you schedule half of a day to complete. You may even want to schedule half a day at the end of each quarter of the year to plan your projects and goals for the upcoming quarter. There are a ton of great business plan templates out there and I've also created one. It's the smoke and sales business plan and you're welcome to download it here. If you are an entrepreneur or a solopreneur business plan retreat is just about you. It's easy to plan and easy to get away. But if you work in a small team I also recommend you try and get away with your team members to plan out your projects for next year as well. Here are some tips on how to prepare for your business plan retreat. Number one, set aside time in your calendar and protect it fiercely. Ensure that you do not schedule anything else during your days away. This is about you and your business plan alone. Number two, pick a location. As I mentioned before, familiar surroundings breeds familiar thinking. So getting away from your typical office setting is key in order for this to work. You want a space that's going to allow for new ideas to flow in. I like to go to a hotel but you can also do a couple other things especially during this pandemic. Libraries have a lot of great space for you to work in and they're nice and quiet or you may even choose to go to a friend's house especially if that friend works out of the home and it'll be a quiet day for you to spend over there. The third thing you're going to do is of course create an agenda for your day. Your agenda should start with a look back at the past year. You may have had some successes this past year and you want to ensure that you revisit those and of course, looking at all the challenges that you faced as well. On your retreat agenda, you also want to identify your top three objectives. These are the non-negotiables that no matter what happens during the retreat and no matter what waves of creativity hit you, you ensure that you walk out of the retreat at the end of the day meeting those three top objectives. And then finally, ensure that you have built in time to attack those parking lot items. Parking lot is where you put all of those creative waves that don't quite fit in with the objectives that you're trying to achieve but you still want to revisit those ideas. So ensure that you doodle them in the parking lot and then have time set aside to attack those parking lot ideas. If you're looking for some sample agendas for a business plan retreat, I've created a few that you can find right here. Simply download, edit and away you go. A few things that you want to pack when you head out on your retreat is of course notepads, pens, paper, but also post-it notes, whiteboards, flip charts and wall calendars if you use them. I tend to use whiteboards and post-it notes versus flip charts, but flip charts and markers work just as well. Ensure you pack a laptop, your phone and all of the essential charging cords. Also pack a zip drive. This is something that you can use if you need to print out any documents at the hotel's business center. And of course pack things that are going to lean into your creativity. I get my best work done when I'm listening to classical music. So I've got my classical playlists. I also pack an obscene amount of tea and my own tea mug that gives me a comfort level and sparks my creativity throughout the day. The night before you leave on your retreat ensure you've packed all of your supplies and your out of office is on. Also thank your family and your colleagues in advance for respecting your space as you get away. And finally get lots of rest the night before. You have a lot to tackle in the day ahead. So what should you do on your retreat day? Again, first and foremost, do that look back. That will create a lot of ideas as you're looking ahead and maybe even create some space for you to tackle those projects that you didn't get around to completing the previous year. You also just want to be open to what happens during your retreat. Whether you're by yourself or with a small team not everything is going to go according to plan. You're going to get ideas and waves of creative thought flooding you as you're working through this process. And I don't want you to be restricted by staying linear down one path and to achieve one goal. Allow yourself to think broad. Allow yourself to dream of all the possibilities. Just ensure that at the end of the retreat you have addressed those top three objectives and you've also created space to tackle those parking lot items. Tip number four, stay focused. And it can be tough to stay focused when you're in the same space for a number of hours. So switch up your environments again. If you're able, go down to the hotel restaurant, have lunch, take your laptop with you. If there's a business center on site or a great lobby, do an hour of work in there as well. And of course the most critical thing that you need to do on this business plan retreat is start to time block in your calendar chunks of time that you can tackle all of these great projects that you're thinking about. At least ensure that your first quarter has lots of time allocated for these projects and then again tackle the next quarter as it arrives. A few tips for you for when your retreat is over, ensure your plan is visible so that you can review it often, weekly if you can find some time. And of course, stay true to those time blocks that you've set aside to work on all of your projects. And here's the bonus tip. If you work in a small team and you are all on the same business plan retreat together, consider hiring a moderator for your retreat. A moderator can do so much to help you guys stay on track and hit those three objectives that you've outlined. It can help you go through that review process of the year prior and of course, help manage the parking lot items that you've created. A moderator is a great investment and it allows for all of your team members to be creative and not get stuck in the minutia of the business plan retreat itself. Do you currently embark on a business plan retreat or at least see the value in getting away? I would love to hear some of the things that you do on your retreat or maybe some ideas that you'd like to try. Can you please comment below this video and share it with the community? Friends, as you head out, I would love to hear from you and your experiences because this truly is one of the best tools in our sales and personal branding toolboxes that we have. Best of luck on your business plan retreat. I hope to hear from you soon. Bye for now.