“I’m a therapist, not a business person, so having both the financing I need and additional business-support services as an SBA Microloan recipient has been invaluable,” says Jamie Nichols, MA, LPC, CCHt, RYT, and founder and owner of F.L.O.W. Wellness Center (F.L.O.W. stands for ‘For the Love of Wellness’). F.L.O.W. currently has two locations in Abington and Newtown, PA, with a third location soon to open on the Abington campus.
Here’s how her business has grown, thanks to F.L.O.W.’s outstanding services and help from two SBA loans from Pursuit.
An SBA Microloan provides financing and so much more
“When I started my clinical practice, I wanted to offer a more integrated approach to wellness. Mental-health counseling is essential and for many clients, a more comprehensive approach can even better meet their needs,” Jamie says. In addition to the core service of mental-health counseling, F.L.O.W. offers a range of integrated services like yoga, reiki, massage therapy, clinical hypnotherapy, and functional nutrition.
Jamie received an SBA Microloan from Pursuit in 2022 and used the financing to complete renovations to the business’s existing space. That enabled her to bring on more therapists and other wellness practitioners to provide the holistic mental-health and wellness care that she envisioned for F.L.O.W.’s growing clientele.
Jamie credits Malini Krishna, a senior consultant on Pursuit’s Business Advisory Services team, and the free consulting services she receives as an SBA Microloan recipient with introducing her to people and resources that have made a tremendous difference in business operations.
“Through Malini and Pursuit, I worked with Alek Marfisi, owner of Upwind Strategies, on financial management and we continue to work with him on our bookkeeping,” Jamie explains. “We’re also participating in the Path to Profitability program with Pursuit. Through this, we’re getting next-level marketing and web design and consulting on human resources, which is a huge challenge for growing small businesses like F.L.O.W.” Path to Profitability is a nine-month business-accelerator program that connects SBA Microloan recipients with consultants to help them set deliverables and track their progress.
SBA financing supports success
Since receiving the SBA Microloan, F.L.O.W.’s clientele has grown by almost 50%, with a roster of about 700 clients coming in for more than 1,000 care services each month. Jamie’s team has grown substantially, too, from about 20 full- and part-time staff and contracted practitioners to 46, with additional team members to be added when the third location is fully open. For that project, Jamie recently secured a second business loan from Pursuit that’s helping her to finance a redesign and renovation of the space.
Providing wellness-centered training for healthcare professionals
F.L.O.W. offers a clinical-internship program that provides services for clients who might not otherwise have access to care. “This is one way we give back to our community, by providing affordable mental-health services to people who otherwise find care difficult to access,” Jamie explains. This is a service that has grown in response to need and Jamie plans to expand the program further in 2024.
“We’re also creating a mental-health-services scholarship to help people who otherwise don’t have the insurance coverage or means to get the help they need,” Jamie says.
Looking ahead, Jamie says that she’d like to offer more professional-training opportunities for students in psychology and mental health graduate programs as well as wellness practitioners looking to gain training in trauma informed care – a goal that doesn’t require that she obtain a doctoral degree but that she says she’ll likely pursue to complete her training. She already counts a master’s degree in clinical mental-health counseling and certifications and training in addiction recovery, trauma treatment, grief counseling, and clinical hypnotherapy among her specialties. In addition, her growing team of trained mental health providers and certified wellness practitioners helps F.L.O.W. expand their offerings as client needs and care opportunities arise.
Pursuit helps small businesses grow
“SBA financing from Pursuit has been incredibly important because it’s given us a solid financial foundation and made our expansion possible,” Jamie says, adding that the consulting services and entrepreneurial programs through Pursuit have also made it easier to manage her diversified and growing business.
Pursuit offers more than 15 small business loans and a line of credit for small businesses throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. Explore our financing options, then contact us to learn more about how we can help you.
