Weight Loss Seminars Business Plan

Executive Summary

Brushy Mountain Retreat began in one summer when founder Judith Cabot took over an empty dorm at Connecticut’s Johnson Mountain College.  There she began telling women that diets don’t work.  She began a series of intensive one-week workshops introducing women to the fundamentals of a building a long-term weight management program and healthy lifestyle.  The first workshops were limited to four participants each.  Brushy Mountain Retreat operated as a summer program through its first years, but as its popularity grew by word of mouth, the program evolved, and quickly became year round.

Over the next nine years, Brushy Mountain Retreat expanded its program into a series of four sequential one-week workshops that can either be taken separately or in blocks.  The program now has hundreds of alumnae.  The program session enrollment limit has risen to 20.  Most importantly, the retreat now has a six month waiting list.

In response to the program’s growth, Brushy Mountain Retreat will move into a new facility.  The new home is a former corporate retreat on a hill overlooking Johnson Ridge and the Johnson Valley Golf Course, premier winter and summer resort areas in Connecticut.  Set on 16 wooded acres, the lodge offers informal classrooms, well-equipped physical activity rooms, a spacious dining room, and a comfortable common room.

The program workshop enrollment will double in the new facility.  Up to 40 women can be accommodated in single and double rooms.

The lease on the new facility is $80,000 annually.

The move to a new facility will be funded by Judith Cabot’s personal financial investment and a short-term loan.

1.1 Mission

The mission of Brushy Mountain Retreat is to offer a practical, livable healthy lifestyle approach where women can discover the personal power to lose weight and keep it off.

1.2 Keys to Success

The keys to success for the Brushy Mountain Retreat are the following:

• Change how women relate to food.
• Change how women feel through regular exercise.
• Change the way women look at themselves.