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Savi Sojourns · Notes · 06

Mastermind, retreat, coach or coliving: which one actually moves the business

At some point every owner with a business that works goes looking for the next thing: a mastermind, a coach, a retreat, a month somewhere. They solve different problems. Here is which one solves which, written by people who sell one of them.

Steve Haynes · 5 min

An open notebook with a hand-drawn grid of boxes, a fountain pen, glasses and a candle on a dark table

A mastermind

A group of peers, a monthly call, perhaps a yearly meet-up. Good for accountability and for hearing that your problem is normal. The weakness is that peers are peers: nobody in the room has necessarily done what you are trying to do, the quality of the group is luck, and nothing about your week changes. Masterminds drift.

An executive coach

One to one, deep, and yours. Good when the problem is you. The weakness is one perspective, often from someone who has never run a business, and again nothing in your environment changes. You have the same Monday, with a better vocabulary for it.

A founder retreat, the weekend kind

Energy, contacts, a speaker or two. Good for a reset. The weaknesses are the length, the drink and the fade: by Wednesday the notebook is closed. We have written about why a weekend doesn't do it.

Coliving

Live and work for months in a house full of people building things. Savi runs one near Valencia and it is the best way we know to change your environment for a season. The weakness, for an owner at a certain stage, is that there is no programme: the mentors are not built in and the house holds people at every stage, not twelve at yours. Read about sober coliving if months, not a month, is what you need.

A month-long mentored retreat

Sojourns takes the useful part of each. Time away, a month of it. Mentors rather than peers: three who have scaled, sold and invested, one a week. Peers too: eleven owners chosen by application. A holistic and mental wellbeing coach for the person. An environment that does the work, an alcohol-free house with a chef and a sea to swim in. And the business running from a desk in the house, so nothing is on pause.

The honest weaknesses. It costs what a distinctive month costs. There are twelve places. A month is a real commitment, and you have to be able to run the business remotely for it.

Pick by the problem

  • You need accountability and company: a mastermind.
  • You need to work on yourself with one person: a coach.
  • You need a jolt of energy and some new names: a weekend retreat.
  • You need to live differently for a season: coliving, and Savi is a good place to start.
  • Your business is doing better than you are, and you want the next stage to go better for both: Savi Sojourns.

In brief

Sojourn No. 001

Length
twenty-eight nights, spring 2027.
People
twelve, by application.
Where
one house by the sea, told to accepted applicants.
On board
three business mentors, a wellness facilitator, a holistic and mental wellbeing coach and a chef.
Your business
keeps running, from a desk in the house.
Fare
on application.

Questions

Is Savi Sojourns a mastermind?
No, though it has what a mastermind promises: eleven peers and twice-weekly problem sessions. It adds three mentors who have done it, a wellbeing coach, a month away and a plan you leave with.
How is it different from a founder retreat weekend?
It is a month, not a weekend. The mentors are in the house, not on a stage. It is alcohol-free. You leave with a 90-day plan rather than a notebook.
Why pay for a month when a mastermind is monthly?
Different problem. A mastermind keeps you company while you run the same week. Sojourns changes the week, the body and the plan at once, for owners whose business is doing better than they are. The fare is on application.

Sojourn No. 001

Applications open on 24 November 2026, with the full moon. Register and you'll hear first.

Register interest

More notes

  • 01A founder retreat that lasts a month, with mentors who have done it5 min
  • 02A retreat for business owners who can see burnout coming5 min
  • 03A sober business retreat, and why that is the point rather than a rule4 min
  • 04Run your business from the retreat. That is the design, not an exception.4 min
  • 05A wellness retreat for entrepreneurs that takes the business as seriously as the body4 min

Steve Haynes, Savi · hola@savicoliving.com · Savi Sojourns · Notes · savicoliving.com