To the owner, Carolina Ayala furry paw dog day care In Humboldt Park, small business ownership is a family affair.
“My parents immigrated here from Mexico,” said Ayala. Myself and my brother run multiple businesses, he has five in total. So, it’s in our blood, ‘Well, I have to be a boss, be an entrepreneur, and start my own business. ”
Ayala said her family encouraged her to join a dog daycare business when she had her first child. Since then she has seen some ups and downs.
“When I first started, the dog daycare industry was very new,” Ayala said. , then the pandemic hit and we hit rock bottom.People worked from home and stopped traveling.Daycare was like a luxury.Why put your dog in daycare when you’re at home? Should I send it to
Up until that point, Ayala had funded Furry Paws herself, but with the pandemic’s downturn, she began looking for support options for small businesses.
“I was referred to the Verizon Small Digital Grant. It was one of my first attempts. What are my odds of winning the award?” said Ayala. “In short, I won an award.”
Dogs from Furry Paws Dog Day Care in Humboldt Park. (WTTW News)
Ayala said the $10,000 grant could add or boost services like grooming social media presenceAnd her clients said touches like that make the Furry Paws stand out in a crowded field.
“Being able to see what’s going on at the daycare on social media and where Freddy is pictured has increased trust,” said Freddie, the dog who spends several days a week caring for Furry Pose. Maggie Donahue said. “Just having a place like this where you can send him wherever he wants, they love him. I can’t put a price on that because this is like his family.” I take this business very seriously.”
“Our small business is the reason our neighborhood survives,” said Nicole Smith. We can’t have a dog without Furry Paws, we have so much confidence in them and know he is so loved every day, every day.”
Ayala encourages small business owners to seek outside sources of funding to keep their finances out of the kennel.of Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Grant What she received is that applications are open until May 12th.
“Small businesses like mine don’t have a lot of resources or platforms, so I had to put my pride aside and start looking for grants,” says Ayala. “Being able to work here, run my own business and be a mom at the same time is the biggest thing for me. What I love and am passionate about is dog daycare. ”