Press Release: MBF provides a $50,000 loan to Barks and Tales Dog Spa Inc., a company providing services to Miami’s furry friends since 2009
Date: March 18, 2016
Media Contact:
Linda Theander-Adam
Linda@192.186.227.164
(305) 379-7070 Ext. 204
On Tuesday March 15, 2016 MBF provided a $50,000 loan to Barks and Tales Dog Spa Inc., a company providing pet grooming, boarding, and daycare services to Miami’s furry friends. Established in 2009, Barks and Tales Dog Spa is located on 2037 NW 1st Pl, Miami, FL 33127 in Wynwood.
The loan will assist the owner and founder, Daniela Carrasco, to hire part-time employees, produce new signage, and purchase large boarding kennels to expand its boarding services. The new kennels will provide each dog with an individual “bedroom suite” to snooze in after spending a long day playing with the other guests.
Prior to her first job at a dog-grooming salon in 2005, Daniela knew very little about dogs. She quickly realized how much she loved dogs and the art of grooming. After four years of working closely with the owner of Junior’s Pet Grooming, Daniela found herself with an opportunity to buy the salon. She decided to seize the opportunity and in 2009 she founded Barks and Tales Dog Spa Inc.
Offering high-quality dog grooming and daycare services, Barks and Tales Dog Spa quickly became a well-known name among Miami’s dog parents.
Originally located on 2500 Biscayne Blvd., Daniela relocated her business in 2014 when the land that Barks and Tales Dog Spa was located on was sold. Moving to a new location was challenging at first but the loyal customer following, extending well beyond the City of Miami, and rave reviews on both Yelp and Google helped the company to recover quickly.
If there was a way to give Barks and Tales 6 stars, I would! They are amazing! I travel for work so I board my baby there and they are so wonderful to her. They truly love your pets and they give top notch customer service. My dog loves it there and any time she gets grooming she looks perfect, we get many many compliments. Don’t think twice about trusting them with your furbaby!
Being a business owner is not easy, Daniela says. When she first started Barks and Tales Dog Spa she single-handedly managed the business working long hours, seven days a week. Today the company has two fulltime employees, including Daniela, and two part-time employees. While Daniela has a lot more help today than when she first started her company, she still spends most of her time in the grooming spa.
Accessing financing to grow her business has been one of the main challenges for Daniela since starting her company in 2009. In 2015, Daniela applied for a traditional loan for working capital and to purchase inventory and new equipment. After four long months of waiting Daniela’s loan application was rejected.
During the fall of 2015, Daniela participated and graduated from MBF’s very first Entrepreneurial Training Program. The 10-week course helped Daniela to develop an expansion plan, including cash flow projections, for her business and ultimately to qualify for a MBF loan.
I am incredible thankful to MBF and especially to Kathleen Murphy [MBF’s Executive Director] and Marjorie Weber [facilitator of MBF’s Entrepreneurial Training Program] for helping me to secure a loan without having any collateral so that I can grow my business and my dream.
Daniela is excited about the future and growing her “baby,” as she calls her business, and being able to provide her loyal client base with improved boarding options for their dogs.
Barks and Tales Dog Spa is one of the 45+ minority-owned companies that MBF has provided a loan to since 2011 in an effort to advance economic development in the City of Miami. Other companies that have received loans from MBF include Sugar Yummy Mama, Magic City Chefs, FAMA Publishing, Two Coats Painting, Miami Smokers, Bunnie Cakes, BeeFree Media, Moonlighter,H.I.M-istry Naturals, and Medical Equipment Solutions.
To learn more about Barks and Tales Dog Spa, visit their website: http://www.barksandtales.com/ and like them on Facebook