“Holy shit this thing is fast.” Cam said. Never mind breaking, a Tesla will throw your head back faster than a rollercoaster. Its 9:06 AM Friday the 12th of June 2020 and we have just left Electro Aero in Jandakot on our way to pick up the other Tesla. It handles like a luxury car and you cannot hear it coming aside from the Underworld music blaring.
This weekend was an opportunity for us to reset and reboot. 2020 has thrown more than enough at us already so the annual retreat came with a bit of additional catharsis this year. Back to the Teslas. Elon is onto something, these cars flow and make driving easy. For a car company that hasn’t been around long they are kicking goals. Our first stop was Eaton Shopping Centre to top up the charge but also refuel the team with some delicious snacks and brews from Smalls Bar. The food was incredible would definitely go back again and we did but more on that later.
By about 3:00 PM we arrived in Gracetown our location for this year. We usually pick somewhere in the Southwest because there is plenty to look at, good food and wine and you can have a place with a view.
Our objective this weekend, to gain clarity for the year ahead. What does this mean?
1. Clarity on the business model
2. Setting goals for the year ahead and us as individuals
3. Review client feedback and come up with ways we can improve
DAY 1 –EVENING SESSION - WHO WE SERVE
What we covered:
· Our ideal customers and what they look like?
· Why do people hire Ammo? What value do we provide?
After that it was time to refuel and the meal of choice was a Friday night classic, Pizza.Silly me forgot the pasta sauce but I managed to make some out of pumpkin and it turned out okay. Talk about #adaptdon’tstop.
Morning walks through Gracetown were a great way to get energized for the day. Often we’d go down and watch the surfers take on the rolling swells into the bay.
DAY 2 –MORNING SESSION - OUR VISION, VALUES & STRATEGY
What we covered:
· Our Why – Why does Ammo exist?
· How we do it
· What we do and don’t do – Our Great, Good & Bad work
· Lightning Talk* /Role play – Pricing
*Lighting talks are short 10-15 min presentations on a topic designed to upskill/bring the team together on a topic or process. Learn more about them here.
Lunch Break
We ventured to Wild Hop Brewery which was a good distance for the Teslas but not too far to eat into the precious battery life. Autopilot came in handy on the way home with the food coma. Definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area. With restrictions easing the place was packed and they had switched to allocated times for an early, mid or late lunch.
DAY 2 – AFTERNOON SESSION –BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
What we covered:
· Lighting Talk –Optimizing PPC Marketing
· Our Roles & Responsibilities
· Goals for 2021
· Where we want tobe in 3 years from now
DAY 3 – COFFEE STOP – PRODUCT/ PROCESS IMPROVEMENT DISCUSSION
What we covered:
· Existing products we’ve developed over the last 12 months
· Ways we can improve the current onboarding process
· Having clarity now on our vision and next steps what do we need to do when we get back
Back at Smalls Bar for another refresh and charging stop we were taking things easier by Day 3. The pack down at the house in the morning and a few drinks from the night before had us a little sleepy but it was good to reflect and discuss next steps. Not a demanding session but an open one where we could riff, listen, and learn from each other.
BACK TO REALITY
Retreat is over but the work does not stop there. We are always looking for ways to improve at Ammo it is the only way we can grow and deliver better results for our clients.
If you ever want to give a Tesla a drive we hired them through evee.
Hope you enjoyed the read.
Jack
