Wild West Grooming
Billie Sue Zeman was a veterinarian technician who came back to her hometown of Ely, Nevada in 1995. She went to work for a veterinarian and took on a second job as a dog groomer for a local feed store. After having her first child, she decided to leave the tech industry and pursue grooming full time. She enjoyed it so much in November 2000 she decided to venture out on her own. After three years of running her business out of a building so small she barely had room for a bathing tub and kennels to dry the animals in, she located an older house that was converted to commercial property right on the main street of Ely.
It would need some work, and she would need to bring in more equipment and inventory, but she knew that is where she wanted to make her business permanent. She decided to contact her local NSBDC counselor for help in getting financing to purchase the building, get more inventory and a little working capital.
The counselor suggested she develop a business plan so she had guidelines by which to run her business. After four months of working on the plan and being turned down by a bank, Billie Sue was able to obtain the financing she needed through Rural Nevada Development Corporation. She used this money to purchase the building and do the necessary repairs to make it work efficiently for her business. During this process, she also learned the value of the business plan and the importance of budgeting.
That was nearly three years, a paint job, a sidewalk around the building and hundreds of well-groomed an
imals ago.
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