“You have to do what you dream of doing even while you’re afraid” – Arianna Huffington (Co-Founder, The Huffington Post)
The evolution of our business part 2 (read part 1 here)
The inaugural DWYL retreat was a sellout success, which we were told affected many of the participants deeply. In the two years since, many of those who attended have told us very personal stories of how the retreat experience actually changed their life’s course, and how the people they met there have been a big part of those changes.
However, behind the scenes, based purely on return on investment of time and financial resources, the reality was that for as long as we had to rent a venue there was little to no future in a solely retreat driven business. When you consider the hours that went into the preparation and running of the event, the team had essentially been working for less than minimum wage, and it was not a sustainable business model. Diversification was required.
Having said that there was an undeniable vibrancy at the retreat that was almost tangible and could not be ignored, plus it was the source of a huge amount of valuable connections, both for us and for participants and teachers.
During one of the evenings Beth had arranged for an Oprah style interview with our special guest Matt Stinchcomb, Vice-President (and one of the Founders) of Etsy.com, who had travelled from Germany to come and speak. His interview was a great reminder that even businesses as large as Etsy can evolve from the most unlikely and humble beginnings – theirs is an amazing story for another day! It was the only interview that week I was able to listen to and I believe I was meant to hear what he said. It highlighted how businesses evolve due to a need that is not catered for, and how they have to be nimble and flexible to adjust to changing demands.
Seeing so many people sat in that room who had decided to travel from various countries to North Yorkshire also really struck a chord with me. I was starting to see what Beth saw. There were so many like-minded souls around the globe who just needed a purpose to meet and common ground to discuss. Do What You Love could be that vehicle – and an in-person retreat was only one way of bringing those people together.
It was from this realisation that our collaborative e-courses emerged. Beth had already developed and run her own flagship Do What You Love e-course for the first time with an astounding response, and we soon realised this was an incredible way to connect people facing similar issues in a safe, supportive environment. The next step was to start working with others at the top of their game to provide practical, valuable advice to people wanting to follow particular career paths, often challenging the norm and supporting them to make bold moves.
Over the past 2-3 years this has developed into a business model which is cashflow positive (without debt), responsive to changing needs and technology, relevant, sustainable and exciting. We turn down more offers for collaborations than we take on, and we build deep trusting relationships with those we do choose to work with. By collaborating with others we are constantly learning, improving and finding new ways to do things. Every day is different, and every day we support more and more people to do what they love. It’s not always easy – sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is overwhelming, sometimes it is exhausting. But always it is rewarding, profitable and totally worthwhile. And it allows US to do what WE love, creating the lives we want to live. And surely that is a massive part of what it is all about?
As for retreats and in-person workshops, for sure we will run these again in the future, but as one arm, rather than the lifeblood, of our business.
Challenging our assumptions about how we should deliver, what we should deliver, and what we knew about the people we were trying to serve was fundamental to an early major shift in our business model which has evolved into the Do What You Love we are today.
How about you? If you run a business, have you shifted your business model over time? If not, it it time you thought about doing that? What if you turned your business model on its head and tried the opposite of what you have been doing for years? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Until next time (when I will share a behind-the-scenes glimpse at each of our collaborations),…
Mr K
Image from 