荔枝视频

Jana Boyko, CEO, 荔枝视频 alum and co-founder of , says she鈥檚 always had 鈥渢he entrepreneurial bug.鈥�

鈥淚 always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur,鈥� she says. 

Jana, BComm'16, BA'16, and her brother and fellow U荔枝视频 alum, Brad Boyko, BComm'18, founded Bedside Business Plan in 2022, with Jana leading product creation and Brad overseeing operations. 

鈥淔rom the time we were young, we鈥檝e wanted to go into business together,鈥� Jana says. 鈥淥ur parents have been so supportive of us from an early age. We were those kids running cookie stands and garage sales.鈥�  

Bedside Business Plan is a guided journal company designed to help people move from where they are to where they want to be. Its flagship product, also titled Bedside Business Plan, helps entrepreneurs turn ideas into tangible plans. Since launching, the product line has expanded with a new journal released last year, Employee to Entrepreneur.  

Bedside Business Plan has found a home at U荔枝视频's Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking, where it鈥檚 given to Innovation Sandbox members upon joining the community. Innovation Sandbox is a co-working environment for students, staff, faculty and alumni working on their own entrepreneurial ventures.

The journal was also distributed during the , an international conference hosted by the Hunter Hub last October. 

The sustainability of the entrepreneur 

When Jana initially came up with the idea behind their business, she says, Brad was 鈥渁n immediate yes.鈥�

With a concept in mind, the two went to Fabricland to create a makeshift prototype, which would become the early version of the Bedside Business Plan journal. 鈥淲e bought rolls of navy fabric, wrapped it around a random journal and duct taped it together,鈥� Jana recalls with a laugh. 

Their goal? To humanize business planning and empower anyone to become an entrepreneur.

鈥淪ometimes, people feel that they鈥檙e not entrepreneurial enough to start a business, and I really want to dispel that,鈥� Jana says.

In fact, Jana says, entrepreneurship is the most natural form of human expression. 

鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing this since the beginning of time," she says. "We create things and exchange them for other things of value. It鈥檚 in our DNA. It鈥檚 human nature.鈥� 

With Bedside Business Plan, Jana and Brad strive to make entrepreneurship warm, accessible and sustainable. 

鈥淲hen Brad and I were looking at business-plan templates, we noticed a gap. Everyone talks about creating sustainable businesses. But what about the sustainability of the entrepreneur? What are your wants and needs as an entrepreneur?" says Jana. "In our journal, we ask, 鈥榃hat do you need your business to give you?鈥� These are questions you need to ask yourself if you鈥檙e going to create something you can sustain in a healthy way.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud that we鈥榬e able to bring a different perspective to that conversation.鈥� 

Once the journal was complete, the focus shifted to getting the journal into people鈥檚 hands. After refining their prototype and printing a few samples, the siblings started visiting Indigo locations to speak with store managers. After officially pitching to the retailer, they secured a Canada-wide retail partnership, with the Bedside Business Plan journal launching in Indigo stores in August 2022.  

The power of journalling 

鈥淔or me, conceptually, everything starts with pen and paper,鈥� Jana says.  

A lifelong journal keeper, Jana first wrote down the idea for Bedside Business Plan in one of her own personal notebooks. 鈥淚 remember writing that I wanted to create a journal to help people start businesses,鈥� she says.

In a hyperconnected world, Jana thinks journalling can help cut the noise.

鈥淲e鈥檙e constantly overstimulated. It鈥檚 easy to feel internal pressure when you鈥檙e at the keyboard. Journalling can alleviate that pressure and help you be more honest with yourself,鈥� she says. 

Jana and Brad believe journalling can help people tune into their thoughts, ideas and sense of self.

鈥淥ne aspect of journalling I find to be really powerful is that writing itself is an act of doing,鈥� Brad says. 鈥淭he moment you put pen to paper, you physically bring ideas and plans into the world and they begin to feel real.

鈥淲hile the pace of the digital world pulls our attention outward, journalling slows time down. Writing isn鈥檛 only for reflection; it鈥檚 a commitment. Every entry turns your intention into something concrete, and that simple act builds the habit entrepreneurs need most: the habit of taking action.鈥�

For Jana, journalling also sharpens an entrepreneur鈥檚 instincts.

鈥淎s an entrepreneur, you need to develop a sharp sense of intuition,鈥� she says. 

journalling can support focus, decision making and workplace productivity, and it has been proven to improve emotional well-being and resilience under pressure. 

Beyond personal benefits, journalling can also be used in group settings. 鈥淧eople create clubs and communities around our journals, making it a shared, collaborative experience,鈥� Jana notes. 鈥淭here can also be a social component to it.鈥� 

Asking the right questions

In addition to her role as CEO of Bedside Business Plan, Jana is also the founder and CEO of a helping women transition from employee to entrepreneur. 

Her experience in this role directly informed the creation of their journals. 鈥淲orking with women, the first thing we do is get clear on what they want," Jana says. "In our journal, Employee to Entrepreneur, the first section is all about desire. Because to be an entrepreneur, you really need to know yourself and what you want.鈥�  

Jana believes it's important to ask yourself the right questions. 

鈥淎s a coach, I often hear people say they don鈥檛 even know the right questions to ask themselves, let alone the answers,鈥� she says. 

As such, the journals are designed with thoughtful prompts to support this early process. In Bedside Business Plan, there are 13 sections with more than 100 prompts. The questions also include examples and descriptions for context. 

鈥淲e thought really deeply about the scope of each question,鈥� Brad says. 鈥淲e wanted to make sure nothing was duplicative. To us, we fail if somebody gets to a question they can鈥檛 answer.鈥�

Looking ahead

Next, Jana and Brad are focused on bringing Bedside Business Plan and Employee to Entrepreneur to the U.S. They also plan to create journals that move beyond business and entrepreneurship. Later this year, they plan to launch a new guided journal that helps people find purpose in retirement.

As the business grows, the siblings remain focused on building something meaningful. 

鈥淏uilding this business with Jana has been a real gift,鈥� Brad says. 鈥淲e want to win for each other, and creating something meaningful together has turned into a shared purpose we are genuinely proud of.鈥�

Jana echoes the sentiment: 鈥淚t鈥檚 really about offering products that help people change their lives.鈥�