This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
>> Hello there and welcome. I'm Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. I want to begin today with a couple of shoutouts. There are a lot of awesome people listening to this show, including you from wherever you are.
You're the reason I make the show, and I've been getting a lot of fun notes from people sharing how they listen to the show, what their ritual is, and I think it's really fun. I wanted to say hi today to Stephen Batchelor who's listening in the UK. Stephen wrote me and said, "A couple of shows back you talked about the release times of the show and your ritual of getting up in the middle of the night." Which is totally true. I live on the West Coast of the US, and the show goes online a bit after 3 AM my time. So I don't do it every day, but I'm often paranoid.
So I wake up to check just to make sure everything's okay. Well, Stephen says, "Here in the UK, it's between 10 AM and 11 AM." He says, "That time is perfect for me. I get a notification pop-up on my screen, and the ritual for me is to get up from my desk, make a cup of tea, and then listen to the show. It's a great break in my day." Stephen, thanks for that story. That's really cool.
Maybe I should relocate to the UK so that I don't have to get up at 3 AM. I'll put that on my long-term goals list. I also want to say hello to Audrey in France, who is a teacher doing a workshop on micro-entrepreneurship, and uses the case studies from the podcast with her students. She says if we get a sudden spike of traffic from France, particularly in the Lyon area, it's from her and her students. So thank you so much, Audrey.
She also said that several of her students have mentioned that they have new ideas for working on their side hustle, which I think is awesome, of course. So keep listening and thank you for sharing. Wherever you are in the world, hit me up and let me know where you're listening from. I will do more listener shout-outs as we go along. I want this to be an incredibly helpful and useful resource for you every day throughout the year.
I have a good story for you today about a guy who creates a private retreat, and I'll tell you about it in just a moment. Today's story comes from Austin Church in Tennessee. Austin is a writer and marketing consultant, as well as co-founder of a startup that builds messaging apps. While he enjoys both of those day jobs, he also has another income-generating project that taps into something different for him. Back in the fall of 2015, Austin was hanging out with his wife and a friend, who was telling them both about an entrepreneur retreat for women.
Austin immediately wanted to do something like that for men, and as he put it, he took a leap of faith and booked a lodge on his credit card. Now he just needed people to sign up. He made a list of all the guys he knew he'd want to have dinner with and who he thought might be interested in a shared experience focused on making space to examine their life and work. Then he started inviting them. Fifteen people paid $300 to go on that first retreat and space retreat was born.
He chose the name to match the vision, which was all about helping attendees create more space in their lives. It wasn't all about profit for him, it was about the experience. He invested in training at an independent coffee shop and bought high-end coffee-making equipment. He picked out expensive wines, craft beers, and unique whiskeys to pair with the meals created by the personal chef he hired for the weekend. In other words, he curated and created a high-end experience.
Instead of making money on that first retreat, he actually lost more than $400. But from that first weekend, he got photographs of the event and amazing feedback from all the guests. Everyone who attended talked about how having the space and time to reflect led to clarity on what they value and what they want in their life. Even just a short time away was enough to create meaningful change. So Austin knew he was on to something.
Then he ran a second retreat and a third. By the third one, he increased the price to $1,000 per person. Interestingly enough, even though that price was so much higher, it was easier to sell than the first one. With the photos and testimonials from past attendees, it practically sold itself. Austin continued to be fanatical about quality.
At that point, he could have made $4,000 in profit from the retreat. But once again, he decided to invest in creating an amazing experience. This time he bought nice glassware. He built out the craft cocktail list even further. He paid for a videographer to come document the experience to promote future retreats.
As he put it, he was building up to profitability without sacrificing the quality. He felt like he was building a brand. This is definitely not a full-time project for him. Based on his workload from his two busy day jobs, he's decided that he can realistically run four retreats a year. Since he invested so much of the profits from the first year into cultivating the experience, he now estimates that he can clear about $5,000 per event going forward for about $20,000 a year.
At this point, the retreats are so popular that people need to either fill out an application or be referred to him to be accepted. A side benefit of these retreats has been that several attendees have hired Austin for marketing consulting gigs. One of those day jobs he has. He also truly enjoys putting on the retreats and attending them himself. Not only do the attendees get something from the weekends, but Austin also comes away with a greater clarity and deeper sense of purpose that he then takes back with him until three months goes by and it's time for another retreat.
What can we learn from Austin's experience? This is a really fun story of a true side hustle in the sense that he deliberately wants to keep it at this manageable level of four retreats a year. By doing so, he doesn't get burned out himself. He keeps it fresh for the attendees, and he also ensures that there is a demand for them. Because even though they're very popular, if he did one a month or he just doubled the number all of a sudden, he might not be able to fill them, or at least not as quickly as he does now.
I think one of the great advantages of this project is that he doesn't have to do a lot of marketing for it. He doesn't have to stress over getting that retreat filled. Four a year is obviously a winning fit. I think the concept in general reflects the very real need that people have for connection and belonging. By creating a space that facilitates that within the context of a weekend where everything is provided for, you don't have to worry about making a lot of decisions, he's created a lot of value that's really attractive to the people who are signing up.
So congratulations to him. If you ever find yourself in Tennessee or are interested in traveling to this sort of retreat, now you know where to go. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. If you want to see the show notes for today's episode, including a link to space retreat, go to sidehustleschool.com/60. I'm Chris Guillebeau, you're listening to Saddisle School, and I'll see you tomorrow.
