The last couple of weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on the past year and mapping out the year to come. Planning, dreaming, reflecting, and setting goals – I’m here for it all.
I’ve shared a bit about my vision for this blog in the coming year – there will continue to be home and lifestyle content but I’m planning a lot more wellness, mental health, and career focused content as well because those are areas I’m equally passionate about. This is a really exciting transition for me and one that I hope you’re excited about too!
Early in 2021, I launched my counselling private practice – Fleurish Counselling and in December, 2021 I officially incorporated my blog/Instagram business to function as an umbrella company to my counselling practice. My hope for this blog is that it will be a resource for you that supports all different areas of your life.
My vision is that Fleurish Collective will become a go-to Canadian lifestyle and wellness brand for women. An informative and inspiring resource that will help you to be healthy (physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally) and create a home, life, and career you love.
So on the topic of business, I was thinking about what would have been helpful for me to read in the early days of starting my own. And while I’m definitely not an expert in the business realm, I’m happy to share some of my own experience thus far! There is a lot of information out there and it can be quite overwhelming, but here is a breakdown of the the small business investments I made in starting up as well as the reoccurring monthly investments I’m continuing on with.
I’ve included a price range for each investment and this is the breakdown of what those mean:
$ = under $100
$$ = under $500
$$$ = $500+
Business Coaching
If I had to choose the start-up investment that had the biggest impact on me, it would be this one. This was the first big investment I made into my dream of starting a business and it was right around this time last year that I began working with Jana Boyko from All of Her Business. Working with Jana really set the stage for the type of business I wanted to start and the kind of life I wanted to create for myself as a business owner. Jana approaches owning a business from a sustainable and balanced perspective which is quite counter-cultural to all of the “hustle” messaging that you often come across when thinking of starting a business.
Starting a new business is a scary and vulnerable experience and Jana quite literally held and nurtured that dream, cheered with all her might and helped me gain real tools/skills that I otherwise would not have had. I’m not sure that I would have been confident enough to take the leap without her incredible support.
Price Range: $$$
Business Registration & Incorporation
I initially began as a sole proprietor with Fleurish Counselling and expected this to be a larger investment than it was – it was honestly so cheap and the least intimidating process (that I procrastinated for a long time because, hello anxiety and unknown territory). As I shared above, in December I decided to incorporate (at the advice of my accountant) so I went through that process and am now officially the founder and owner of Fleurish Collective.
Sole Proprieter Business Registration Price Range: $
Corporation Registration: $$$
Website Domain & Website Hosting x2
I have two registered domains – Fleurish Counselling and Fleurish Collective and pay hosting for both. Two little corners of the internet that are all mine. A bit of a boring expense but a necessary one.
Price Range: $$
Hiring an Accountant
This was one investment that made me ultra nervous. I have some anxiety around the financial piece of owning a business – not around earning money or even the expenses aspect but moreso surrounding the financial language and processes. This is something that I am learning (I’m currently taking the Financial Fundamentals free course through The Forum – it’s simple and easy to understand and geared towards new Canadian entrepreneurs) and I feel like I’m in a good place going into 2022.
Connecting with an accountant felt like a scary step. I didn’t want to look unintelligent with my lack of knowledge and I didn’t even know the questions to ask because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. But at the end of the year, I connected with an accountant and it has been the most positive experience. She is helpful, kind, not at all intimidating and working with her has made me feel more prepared and more equipped in growing a successful business. And to be honest, she’s already shared information with me that’s helped me make more money back.
Price Range: Varies depending on the scope of work needed.
Laptop Riser and Stand
After a few weeks of being hunched over while working at my computer, I realized I needed to purchase a couple of computer accessories if I was going to be working from home on a tiny MacBook. I purchased this laptop riser and this laptop stand and both have saved my back and neck. It’s the small things (and they’re cute too!).
Price Range: $
Jilly Academy
I hemmed and hawed over this investment for quite some time but as I began to consider the idea of forming a corporation and my dreams of Fleurish Collective began forming and evolving, I felt like this might be a really nice way to gain some clarity and direction and also to begin considering more of the systems to put into place. I only did this in the Fall but I flew through all three courses in the Jilly Academy – the Brand Strategy, the Content Creator, and the Growth Accelerator.
In the past, I had worked as a program manager and had managed a team of about 15 but had never worked for myself. As someone who had been creating content and doing “influencer” work for a couple of years already, I was worried that the Jilly Academy would be redundant and cover lots of the information I had picked up over the years. This was not the case at all. I loved every single part of the three courses and even areas I thought I had pretty much figured out were challenged in the best way. Jillian Harris is a brilliant business owner, a creator and also a leader I deeply respect and her courses do not disappoint. I would say this was an incredibly worthwhile investment as both a content creator and as a business owner.
Price Range: $$
Canadian Counselling Certification & Liability Insurance
Not the most exciting purchases but two things that are necessary and keep me protected as a practitioner. Being a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) also opens up a lot of doors with insurance providers and most of my clients have been able to be reimbursed by their insurance providers as a result of my having this particular designation. The initial certification fee was a one-time expense but continued membership and liability insurance will be a yearly expense.
Price Range: $$$ (a bit pricier for this first year)
ACT Course
This is a counsellor specific online training that I purchased and have been working through. ACT stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy which is a modality of therapy I wanted to learn more about last year. I have been picking away at the course and while it’s nothing mind blowing, it has been a helpful introduction. Continuous professional development is something I always strive to be doing. This was a nice way to do some at my own pace.
Price Range: $$
Reoccurring Monthly Small Business Investments
There are a bunch of business tools and software that I’ve discovered as I began to set things up for my biz. These are the ones that I invested in throughout 2021 and I’m continuing on with all of them into 2022.
Flodesk
This is what I use for all email marketing/newsletters/lead generator delivery. I am a big Flodesk fan. They have beautiful pre-made templates that you can use and they have great segmenting-software. I used a different email marketing provider briefly before switching to Flodesk and it’s been a really positive change. Highly recommend! And you can use this link for 50% off if you have “grow an email list” on your 2022 goals list.
Price: $
Quickbooks
I use Quickbooks for all bookkeeping and in 2022 will also be using it for invoices related to Instagram/the blog. Overall, I’m happy with it and my accountant said it’s a good choice and easy to use for year-end. 2023 me is already happy about that. Not a ton to say about this platform as I’m still learning it but it made a good first impression.
Price Range: $
Jane Software
This software is specific to healthcare professionals and certain service providers. Jane is the platform I use for all of my counselling services. My booking calendar, video sessions, invoices/receipts, payments, session notes, consent forms, and everything else needed for my counselling practice are all stored in Jane. It’s a secure and confidential platform and I’ve found it really easy to use. Considering this is essentially my “office” and my “admin”, it’s a pretty reasonable price.
Price Range: $
Canva Pro
If you do anything social media related (Instagram, Pinterest, blogging), Canva is a must. I pay for Canva Pro because it has a lot of helpful additional tool: background eraser, more editing capabilities, better access to graphics, the ability to create a brand kit. It’s definitely worth it in my mind. I use Canva literally every day and it saves me hours of work per week (not even exaggerating).
Price Range: $
Audible
I love listening to business books (biz book goal – finish 25 business/counselling books in 2022! Oh, and I shared all about my goal-setting process here if you want to read about it!). Whenever I walk Soph, row/bike, and sometimes while cooking dinner, I have an audiobook going in the background. I would say of all my “expenses”, Audible is probably the most unnecessary splurge. I know I could get the books from the library but it’s so convenient and I use it often.
Free Services I Use and Love
Planoly
I use Planoly for my counselling practice Instagram and really like it. Currently, I’m using the free version of Planoly and it does mostly everything I need (minus the ability to schedule in caracul posts). I pre-create all my content for my counselling Instagram, upload it to Planoly and schedule it out (captions and hashtags included). I’m aiming to post regularly on that feed this year and Planoly is hands-down making that feel manageable (that, and time blocking!).
This is one that I’m just beginning to use more strategically. A major goal I have for 2022 is to grow my presence on Pinterest and to begin posting daily content on there. I believe Pinterest to be the most powerful tool for exposure and particularly for bloggers/service providers. I will be leaning into that more this year for sure!
As of right now, Instagram is the only place that I’ve used to market my counselling practice. So far, it’s served me well! Instagram is an amazing tool to connect with clients, other creators and to build community. I know we all complain about it lots but it’s pretty incredible the access we have as a result of this free app. I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had because of that platform and will continue to use it as my primary marketing tool into the next year.
Asana
I just began using Asana a couple of months ago to map out all of my content/goals/projects and it’s been a game-changer. Right now, I use the free version and I’m happy with all of the features it has. I haven’t dabbled in any of the paid features because honestly, I haven’t felt the need to. After I did the Jilly Academy courses, I was inspired to implement better systems and workflows for myself. Asana really helped with that.
Podcast App
I generally listen to 1 or 2 podcasts a day so this is an app I use often. At some point, I’ll do a roundup of my favourite podcasts but I generally gravitate towards the topics of: mental health, wellness, business, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
