I never thought in a million years that I would be running my own business nor living on an island in Asia but here I am 9 years after starting Escape Haven and I wouldn’t have dreamed it possible or wanted it any other way.
I love the photo above, it’s taken of the very first group that ever came and experienced a retreat with us 9 years ago and symbolises where it all started and the hopes and dreams I had launching Escape Haven. It was a very exciting and busy time mixed with a bit of fear and a deep sense of knowing there was a place in this world, for this concept. I was so hopeful for its future and had no idea some of the big set backs and challenges I would face along the way. I call it being blissfully naive and in a way it was a blessing I was a little green.
Often I get asked what I have learnt along the way. It’s a tricky question and one that always make me pause and have to really think. I tend to look forward not backwards and just assimilate the lessons and apply them as I go. I’ve had to give it some thought to distill the biggest lessons and aha moments I’ve had along the way and hope you find some of these resonate with where you are at perhaps.
It’s funny doing this as what I realised is these lessons have mostly come from things not going right. I guess that’s a lesson in itself, be open to the learnings when you hit a road block because they will shape your path more than anything else will!
Anyway, here are my 11 biggest lessons that helped forge my path to this beautiful island life.
1. Get clear on what you stand for. Right from the start, be very clear on what it is you want your business to excel at and be known for. For us, from the beginning, it was about service excellence. Quite simply being the very best in class with our service and doing everything for our customer to ensure her needs are exceeded. Our business was built from the outset as being customer centric and built around her (our customer) needs. This is what I believed would set us apart and some 20 awards later, has been recognised as doing so (which is so humbling and awesome) and has put some clear blue water between our brand and our competitors, which we are so grateful for.
2. Know thy customer. Firstly, figure out who your customer is. Who is it you want to attract? – put your philosophy out there and you’ll attract the right tribe that speak the same language. We have been known to turn people away that weren’t the right fit for us and keeping true to the essense of our community is mega important. We bring like minded women together on our Bali Retreats and ensuring this dynamic is protected is key. Once you have figured that part out, then go the extra mile for them and create strong and lasting ‘moments of truth’. This strategy has helped us in a very competitive arena when we have had our brand foundation guides, product concepts, operations manuals, and websites copied word for word. At the end of the day people can replicate your product and undercut your pricing however they can never copy how you do what you do and your philosophy of why you are in business. Being passionate about our service delivery to our customer and really knowing them has been what has kept us in business and at the top of our game for over 9 years.
3. You are not an island. Nurture and develop a strong team of talented people around you. I remember too well the days when I was a one man band working 20 hours a day around the clock being photographer, driver, butler, retreat leader, bookings manager, marketer, operations supervisor – you name it, I wore the hat. Man those days were exhausting. Over time I’ve fine tuned what is needed around me to run the business and now have an amazing and talented team that have been in place for years and can run things easily without me. Having their support is invaluable and they are the true essence of the brand.
4. Communicate your vision so others understand what the big picture is. It’s much easier to ask people to work for something they are passionate about. Instead of keeping it all in your head, get it out there, insprire, motivate and let that galvinise your teams efforts to achieve this. Always take the time to explain the why behind things and how it ties back to the philosophy and objectives of the business too.
5. Hire on values. Being a customer focussed business it’s been key to hire people who are there with the same values as our brand of care, compassion, warmth, engaging and a passion for excellence. I’ve definitely made some recruitment mistakes along the way but as time has gone on its been easier to see clearly, early on, who is the right fit. You can go so far with the right team in place. We are lucky that our turn over is very low and we have so many repeat guests as they love our team and enjoy returning to see their Escape Haven Bali family.
6. Know when to trust your intuition and when to follow your logic. As women, intuition comes naturally to us and it can be easy to lead with this when sometimes it’s our head and not our heart that we should follow. It’s been a big lesson for me to really slow it down sometimes, get some perspective and then make an informed whole brain decision rather than leading from my gut. I think in the pace of business we sometimes rush decisions which doesn’t allow us this full brain thinking when we ultimately will come up with a better answer and approach. That isn’t to say that there aren’t times to use our gifts of intuition – there are many. Rather, the key is understanding when. You can read more about when to use your head or your heart in my recent blog here.
7. Everything has a solution. This mantra was something I came to use frequently when things came up. I first heard it from a dear friend who has been my business coach my entire journey, called Carolyn. It’s true, there are many different choices we can make when faced with a challenge, and there is a solution to each. By being able to step apart and take space from the challenge, your logical brain kicks in and you will find the right path. It has been so reassuring saying those words at times of crisis and they have provided the safe harbour I have needed to see me through to make the right choices and push forward past fear.
8. The way you deal with set backs will define your success. The choice you are left with when something goes pear shaped is how you will deal with it. It’s easy to give up right? No one likes to fail and too often we can let that voice in our head and that fear we feel deep inside our chest, over power us. The gains that will be made once you overcome a set back can catapult you onto a whole new trajectory for success so hang in there. Simply, by getting through those big challenges you prove to yourself what you are made of and can trust that you can get through these tough times. It makes you more hardy and resilient as a result and when speed bumps come up again, you are prepared for them and navigate them with more confidence and ease.
9. Work smarter not harder. Its so easy to be ‘busy being busy’ when you are running your own business. Your time in finite. The key to really making big shifts in success is truly understanding what levers drive your business and if you (and your team) are spending time on the right things. Instead of spending so much time on things that weren’t my forte I outsourced those and instead focussed on things I was good at and that also drove the business forward. The same applied for my team – understanding that their roles were playing to their strengths and the focus was in the right places.
10. Look after your health. This is especially true in the third world. It will be either the enabler or disabler of your dreams. I didn’t understand what this really meant until I hit my 30’s and 40’s when health becomes something that will come up, out of blue sometimes and disable everything, turning your life around in the blink of an eye. Make sure you are prepared for the business to operate without you. This was a big one for me over the past few years – you can read my recent blog on this here.
11. Don’t forget to live. At the end of the day, what’s it all for? Make sure you also prioritise the things that really matter as in the medium to long term you need sustainable practices and long lasting happiness and whilst you can go hammer and tong at the start (and need to), you also need a balanced life to to be truly happy. Otherwise, what’s the point? I learnt this lesson when I realised in my 40’s that I had traded off a loving relationship in this quest to prove myself and make Escape Haven a success during my 30’s. Turning 40, I chose to create space for a loving relationship and then the love of my life appeared and two beautiful babies followed. I sometimes wonder where I would be right now if I hadn’t consciously made a shift in creating that space – again, thanks to my wonderful business coach Carolyn prompting me on this. Make sure on your journey of success that you create space also for the things that will make you happy – its a long journey and whatever you build or go after, don’t let it come at the price of your relationships. They are what matter most.