Taking the Reins: Transitions Encompassing Wellness's Journey to a Stable Online Presence

Alisha Wilson, owner of Transitions – Encompassing Wellness (formerly Transitions Equine Assisted Learning), has always had a personal connection to horses and understood their genuine empathetic nature better than anyone. Horses remained a personal passion for Alisha until 2020, when she turned her passion into her profession with the opening of her equine-assisted learning facility.  

Located just outside of Tavistock, Ontario, this facility specializes in using horses as a supportive guide through mindfulness, leadership, and personal growth journeys. Alisha offers a variety of services and events geared toward promoting emotional resilience and well-being. Whether it's a girl's night out, a date night, or an individual session, Transitions-Encompassing Wellness has a program that will help you unwind and leave you feeling refreshed and with a deeper connection to your mind and body.  

After a couple of years of running her business website successfully, Alisha knew it was time for an upgrade. Being able to showcase her business information online was helpful, but tracking signups for each of her programs and events was becoming too time-consuming. She needed to expand her website with a streamlined booking system to get her services online in a cost-effective way. The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) turned out to be just the solution for Alisha.  

The CDAP program is designed to help small businesses navigate the digital world and guide them in the process of getting their business online.  Through working one-on-one with a dedicated e-commerce advisor, small business owners will gain the knowledge and confidence they need to take control of their online presence.  In addition to the e-commerce advisory support, the CDAP program also includes a $2,400 grant that businesses can use to assist with costs relating to adopting new e-commerce strategies and digital technologies. 

Alisha used the $2,400 grant to implement a booking system on her existing website. By doing this, Alisha was able to bring her services online and simplify the signup process for her programs.  She can now keep track of all her customers in one place, which keeps things organized and allows her to focus on running other aspects of her business. Along with the monetary support, Alisha also took advantage of all the educational support that the CDAP program had to offer.  

“[My e-commerce advisor] helped me learn about cybersecurity, e-commerce and good practices in regards to social media and Google.” 

Alisha also used part of the grant for social media marketing. This strategy, combined with the knowledge from her e-commerce advisor, has helped her to bring awareness to her new online services and promote her events.  

When we asked Alisha how likely she was to recommend this program to a friend, on a scale of 1-5, she answered a 10 and shared that: 

 “[The CDAP program was an] Absolutely amazing program that provided excellent education and support throughout the process.” 

With her time with the CDAP program having concluded, Alisha now knows that the value the program provided is just the beginning. She plans on using her new knowledge and skills to continue working on her digital adoption strategies for the future.  She states: 

 “I hope to have our business expand by double and eventually provide online classes.” 

Alisha’s advice for other small business owners who are considering the CDAP program is:  

“Do it! There's nothing to lose and everything to gain.” 

Check out Alisha’s website to see all the services she has to offer and stay up to date on the newest events through her Facebook et Instagram.  

To learn more about the CDAP program, please visit sur ce site.