It’s no easy feat being a small business owner—a large majority don’t make it past year one. So, in 2019, when Kristen Hall Shirley celebrated the 10-year anniversary of her huge boarding facility and doggie daycare, Puptown Charlotte, she was ecstatic to hit a milestone rare for many entrepreneurs.

She celebrated by introducing a splash park and throwing a huge beach party, with a videographer, colorful leis, Jimmy Buffett music, delicious food, and of course, canine guests to enjoy the water fountain, waterfall, and play puddle.

It was an amazing feat for Kristen and things were looking sunny for Puptown Charlotte entering its 11th year.

But then COVID-19 hit this spring.

March would have been the beginning of Puptown Charlotte’s busy season, when clients travel for work, spring break, and Easter weekend. This year, things were different—much different.

“Puptown Charlotte experienced a landslide of boarding cancellations as news of COVID-19 began to spread,” says Kristen. “Then, as corporate employers started allowing employees to work from home, our daycare numbers started falling as well.”

By mid-March, business had dropped by more than 60% and suddenly there was only enough work to support three of Kristen’s 10 staff members. On March 26, Puptown Charlotte shut down for six weeks to comply with stay-at-home orders issued by the state of North Carolina. 

“Although I felt crushed telling my employees I could no longer support them, I knew this decision was necessary to keep them physically safe, and to relieve a significant source of financial stress on Puptown Charlotte,” says Kristen.

Getting Creative to Keep Puptown Afloat

“I approached this surreal situation with the same strategy I use in all emergencies: I acknowledged the reality, I used available information to make a realistic plan, and then I implemented the plan as quickly as possible,” she says.

Kristen got scrappy. She asked her clients for support, and many came through, helping her not only cover rent for April but also donating supplies and other goods. She printed Puptown Charlotte t-shirts to pay the utility bills and also launched a dog jewelry line.

But it wasn’t enough.

Turning to PPP in Hopes of Bringing Puptown Back to Life 

“Despite the incredible generosity of Puptown Charlotte’s clients, a sharp drop in sales followed by six weeks of zero revenue put us in a really difficult position,” says Kristen, who has large overhead expenses for the 10,000 square-foot facility. 

The first day the SBA began accepting applications, Kristen applied at her bank. 

“Despite my 19 years of loyalty, they said they were not ‘ready’ for me to submit a PPP application,” says Kristen, adding that other banks wouldn’t take her application either, as she didn’t have a relationship with them.

She pushed on, submitting her application multiple times, including the bank where she has a mortgage. She never received confirmation it was received.

“It was incredibly discouraging to be ignored and rejected while every day news headlines screamed that the $350 billion PPP funding was rapidly dwindling, says Kristen. “I jokingly say that stubbornness is my best quality, and in this situation it served me well because I was fighting for my business and my livelihood, and I simply refused to give up.”

Looking Elsewhere for Financial Assistance 

After hitting a dead end at eight different financial institutions, Kristen turned to Lendio.

“Lendio’s initial application took less than 10 minutes, the website worked without any glitches, and I received immediate confirmation that my application had been accepted,” she says, adding that Lendio matched her with a lender in four days. “After weeks of others ignoring me or telling me ‘no,’ it was a relief to find Lendio—a group of people that genuinely listened, understood, and actively helped with the challenges my business was facing.”

An Extra Boost from Lendio

In addition to receiving a PPP loan through the Lendio platform, Puptown also won a $10,000 Lendio Small Business Grant.

“Puptown Charlotte is just one of many small businesses fighting to survive the disruption and changes caused by COVID-19, and it was a tremendous honor to be recognized with one of Lendio’s $10,000 grants,” she says.

 The loan along with the grant has given Kristen and her team a bit of a financial cushion to weather the COVID-19 storm. And while people continue to work from home, with their dogs by their sides, they understand the importance of Puptown Charlotte for their four-legged friends.

“Clients have realized that our daycare and splash park offer a type of fun and enrichment that dogs can only get at Puptown Charlotte, and our numbers have risen steadily for the past month,” she says. “We love what we do and we are so glad that Puptown Charlotte is once again filled with smiling people and wagging tails.”

As she entered one of the makeshift classrooms, where during normal times up to 30 students would be found, Denise O’Donoghue found a Refugee Hope Partners staff member doing a happy dance, celebrating with seven refugee children. The cause for the dance—news that their non-profit was selected to receive a $50,000 Lendio Small Business Grant.

The Pain of Displacement

Refugee Hope Partners is one of the hundreds of worthy small businesses and organizations that submitted their stories to Lendio, in hopes of being selected for one of 23 small business grants. Ultimately, it was clear which of those deserved the top prize.

In one neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina, is an apartment complex that houses nearly 100 refugee families from over 30 countries around the world. Refugee Hope Partners, at any given time, is assisting those refugee families in acclimating and building a new life. Refugees come from all over the world fleeing persecution, war, violence, and a myriad of other challenges. 

“One of our newest families, a mother and her two children who moved to Raleigh this summer, came to us after losing their father in Afghanistan,” said O’Donoghue, Operations Director of Refugee Hope Partners. “We later found out that the mother had sold a kidney on the black market in order to feed her children. Unfortunately, now her existing kidney has problems. So we’ve found ourselves working with her to get on a transplant list.”

Arranging for organ transplants is not the norm, but assistance is not limited to any one thing. It comes in many forms, whether that be finding employment, filing for unemployment, arranging for medical services, learning English, or even dealing with car insurance issues. But their main focus remains on the some 130 elementary through middle-school aged children: helping them learn English, assisting with homework, and ensuring they don’t fall behind.

“Our first concern is always education,” continues O’Donoghue. “We worry because the kids can fall behind fast. Immediately children are put into the grade corresponding to their age. This already has them at a disadvantage. Now they are being asked to catch up remotely and with limited access to technology. It’s tearing at our hearts, knowing they will just get further behind.”

A Halt In Programming

The organization is made up of a small army of full-time, part-time, and volunteer staff who help in a variety of ways. But one thing they all have in common is a shared goal of seeing these men, women, and children thrive in their new home.

As with many businesses and organizations, Refugee Hope Partner’s operations came to a screeching halt when COVID-19 hit. Since most of their services involve face-to-face interaction, the staff was forced to find new ways to support their friends.

First, they knew they needed to educate the parents and adults about the pandemic and how to protect themselves and their families’ health. Since so many of the adults work in hospitality or service industries, many found themselves out of a job. The organization worked to ensure that everyone had enough food to feed their families. One staff member became an expert in filing for unemployment in order to help those who needed to apply.

Despite the pain and hardship, the group has celebrated births, high school graduations, first-time home purchases, and new families entering into the community. 

Moving Forward With Hope

The mission and work of Refugee Hope Partners continue to move forward, albeit a little differently and physically distanced. For families who often come from countries where in-home hospitality is a primary cultural practice, this has proven to be one of the more painful parts of the pandemic.

“Not being able to be with a lot of people and hug them, especially the children, has been hard for most of us,” said O’Donoghue. “They want to be loved. And the parents love hosting us in their homes, but for their and our safety, we’ve had to discontinue in-home visits.”

Refugee Hope Partners’ PPP loan, which was facilitated by Lendio, coupled with the Lendio grant, will enable it to move forward without the barrier of financial burden. The organization has already rented another space to accommodate more children for safe and distanced learning. Next, they plan to invest in finding interns who can help volunteer, since many of their older volunteers are in at-risk age groups and staying home for the time being.

No matter what comes its way, O’Donoghue says Refugee Hope Partners will continue its mission of making these residents feel welcome and at home.

Bobbee O, Bob Roberts, was born in North Carolina just before Christmas in 1947. He grew up on a farm where his mother, Missy Roberts, religiously prepared a midday meal for the family. On occasion, Bob’s father, Jay, would allow him to join in the kitchen to prepare the meal. 

As he grew up, Bob worked a wide range of jobs, including one at a chemical company and one as an iron welder. 

Later in life, Bob enlisted in the Army where he fought for just four days shy of a year in Vietnam. When he returned from service, Bob began his food journey, working in restaurants all across the country, ranging from fast-food chains to BBQ joints to Red Lobster.

After a stint at a Raleigh BBQ restaurant, Bob began tinkering with his own pulled pork and sauce. It took nearly five years, but eventually, he found the perfect balance for his barbecue sauce. It wasn’t until he retired, 22 years later, that he sacrificed his savings to open Bobbee O’s BBQ in Charlotte, named by his loving wife Linda.

Passing the Torch

These days, the restaurant is run by Bob’s great-niece, Chloria Chandler. Chloria took over the restaurant at 24 years old. An ambitious young entrepreneur, she worked over 80 hours a week, turning down opportunities to spend time with friends and often sacrificing her own pay in order to pay employees first. 

The sacrifice has paid off though, and Bobbee O’s has won multiple awards including Best BBQ in Charlotte, Best Ribs in Charlotte, Best Pulled Pork in Charlotte, and North Carolina’s only entry in Parade’s Top 10 New School BBQ Restaurants in the Nation (2013).

Chloria says she’s confident in the stability of the Bobbee O’s brand; but that doesn’t mean she’s complacent. She knew she couldn’t scale the business while working inside the business day in and day out. In order to expand, she’d need the right personnel and that meant taking on some additional funding. Her search for a reliable business capital partner drove her to Lendio. 

Remaining Calm During a Pandemic

Before COVID-19 hit, Chloria sought business financing through Lendio. Little did she, or anyone for that matter, know that a pandemic was looming, and having that additional capital on hand would be the difference between thriving and closing her doors for good. 

“Lendio literally saved my business,” Chloria said. “We cannot thank [our Lendio representative] Chase enough for the work he did for us at the beginning of the year. Corona would have taken us off the market for sure if it was not for the moves we made with Lendio right before the onset of the virus.”

Between uncertainty in supply chains, to dine-in options closing, to staffing changes, family-owned restaurants have been hit particularly hard. But now that restaurants are beginning the process of reopening, owners like Chloria have hope for the future.

While the last few months have been a struggle, all the hard work is paying off, says Chloria. “After every long day, a smile or thank you from one of my customers always reminds me that I am helping bring my uncle’s dream of having the best BBQ restaurant around come true.”