Hi, I'm Liz, founder of From Fur to Feathers, LLC (formerly Leave it to Liz Pet Care). I started Leave it today, Liz, as a side job and hobby project while working at a local vet clinic as a senior in high school. I've always enjoyed being with animals. I was born into a houseful of them with my animal-loving parents, and was determined to work with them someday.

I worked as a veterinary assistant for several years before starting my family. I did change careers for a few years to help support my new family, and got into apartment management. I was a driving force in getting the owners of the properties I worked for and managed to accommodate pet owners and broaden their acceptable pet weight limits to increase their resident pools by being pet-friendly. This helps the overwhelming number of pet owners find housing and still keep their pets at home rather than being rehomed or in shelters.

In 2020, COVID-19 through that life track for a loop. The company I worked for needed to downsize, and I wanted to get back into working directly with animals. I took my severance and paid for a program to become a certified dog trainer with the plan to keep my prices affordable for our area to help more pets stay in their home and not in shelters. COVID equated to more people working from home and thus more pets being adopted. I wanted to make sure they stayed that way! With that came adding doggie daycare to help burn energy for dogs that needed it to eliminate problem behaviors at home. Finally came adding boarding services for dogs who don't do well in the normal kennel environment and needed more of a home feel, or additional attention than kennels can provide.

Business has been great. I had explosive growth. Doubling my income in my second and third year, and I knew by year 3, I needed a new facility. Business was already reaching the limits of what my home can hold, and I was still growing. Unfortunately, that's where I hit a snag. Not only did property values double during COVID, but in my service area, it was announced that big name chip manufacturer was going to build a massive facility practically in my backyard. No exaggerating, their closest property corner is less than half a mile from our home.

This means real estate prices in my area have increased even further. Pricing me out of being able to expand my business as a small business owner. For example, 3 of the properties that I have bid on in the last 2-3 years, sold for $500-$600 thousand, and are now back on the market for $1.7-$2.2 million with no improvements, and a property currently on the market for $550K does not even have a heat source, and is in such rough shape it would be better off being taken down and building something new in its place.

Even though business has been amazing and busy, and I've been able to increase my prices a few times, I am at a point where I am turning people away rather than continuing to grow. All simply due to space and the current real estate climate. I have been outbid on all of the properties, even close to what is currently affordable to me, and there have only been in handful in the 3 years I have been searching. I have even extended my search area, which may cause me to lose some of my current loyal clients that I have had for years, as I would no longer be convenient to them. I have also considered leasing, but I can not provide my clients with what they come to me specifically for in a commercial plaza. Which brings me back to outright purchasing.

So, this is where I ask for help. Getting additional funds to help me purchase a property would be, in a word, magical. I would finally have a professional space and be able to eliminate the where and tear on my home, as well as continue to expand and grow my business where there is clearly demand for my services. I have applied for a few grants that are available for women-owned businesses, and I am always on the hunt for more, but I can not continue to play the waiting game and watch the market continue to drive further out of my price range.

There are a few properties close to me that would provide what I need to hit the ground running, keep me in my current service area, and allow me space for further growth as our town expands to include this major chip facility in the next few years and the market boom we hope to go with it. I know my current business model is successful and different than what others in my area provide, putting me in high demand already. Additionally, my already outlined further expansions are in demand in my area. I see it asked for multiple times a day on social media. It's not a new concept. It is already out there in other parts of the country, but nothing like it here, and I have even more ideas to improve upon it, but I need the funding to give me the chance to do it.

So, on behalf of all the pet parents out there, please, consider helping this small (animal-loving) business owner break into the commercial real estate market and bring my vision to life!