Low-cost loan, free advice help partners launch pet project.

Hannah Guishard and Edward Mitchell met in veterinary school at Tuskegee University in Alabama when third-year student Mitchell was paired with senior Guishard for rotations.

They went in separate directions after graduation--Dr. Mitchell to Michigan and Dr. Guishard to Georgia.

When Mitchell moved to Georgia in 1998, he was scanning the phone-book listings for veterinarians and spied Guishard's name. He called his former partner, and they learned they had a common dream--to open a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic.

"I was working at an animal hospital" Guishard says. "The lady I worked for was a non-veterinarian, and I thought, 'Why am I not doing this for myself?.'"

Mitchell and Guishard stayed committed to their idea, despite financial rejections and construction delays. Today their Atlanta-area practice is thriving.

Guishard, a native of the Virgin Islands, and Mitchell, a California native who had wanted to be a vet since eighth grade, tried without success to buy an existing practice. They considered leasing space for their own venture but eventually decided to build Union City Veterinary Medical Center and Emergency Clinic from the ground up.

Their startup took them back to the classroom when their real estate agent told them about the Small Business Development Center at Clayton College & State University. Part of the University of Georgia's Small Business Outreach Program, the center is a Small Business Administration resource partner. There are small business development centers in every state and a network of more than 1,100 service locations.

The Clayton center provides free one-on-one counseling and has about 100 continuing-education programs on subjects from financial statements to marketing, says Cecil McDaniel Sr., center director.

The two vets attended classes, and Guishard worked with a consultant on their business plan. Yet, even with their preparation, they were turned down in their initial financing attempts.

So Guishard turned to SCORE, an SBA resource partner which offers counseling, where she met Ray Silva, a retired business executive.

Silva is one of the many volunteer SCORE counselors who help small businesses for free. Guishard was one of his first "clients."

"She came to my office with her business plan" he says. "We walked through all her assumptions. It was a perfect plan?'

After Silva coached Guishard on how to make a successful presentation to a lender, she secured an SBA 504 loan on her first attempt. A 504 loan is a long-term, fixed-rate loan that can be used for real estate or equipment.

A typical 504 loan, says Ronald Tigner, president of the Georgia Certified Development Corp., has three elements--a private-sector first mortgage coveting up to half the project cost, a CDC loan of up to 40 percent backed by an SBA guarantee, and at least 10 percent equity from the business.

For the Union City clinic, U.S. Bank provided a first mortgage of $313,830 and the Georgia CDC made a $216,986 loan totaling just under 35 percent of the project. A combination of cash from the business partners and a third mortgage loan from the Economic Development Corp. of Fulton County made up the rest.

The funds were used to buy a third of an acre, pay for construction and outfit the 3,427-square-foot clinic as well as related soft costs such as tide insurance and appraisals, says Tigner.

The county EDC also made a $25,000 working-capital loan to the partners to help with start-up costs until the cash started flowing.

When the Union City clinic finally opened, Guishard and Mitchell had to take turns working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week.

Then there were the medical crises.

Two dogs were brought in that had been shot with arrows. A goat struggling to give birth was brought in when large-animal vets failed to return its owner's calls.

Despite the challenges, the partners have their 4-year-old practice running well ahead of plan, grossing more than $1 million last year.

And the days of 12-hour shifts are over. Guishard and Mitchell employ another full-time vet, and two others provide part-time relief.

Their location near a busy mall produces a varied customer base.

"We wanted to position our clinic in a diverse area--not rich, not poor, not black, not white" says Guishard. "Our research showed this area could sustain a lot of vets."

She quickly emphasized they don't consider other clinics their competitors. "Our goal is not to compete, but to succeed" she says. "In fact, we want (other vets') emergencies to come here?'

Two entrepreneurs with a dream and SBA assistance have made their business a true success story.

"I went there on the day of their grand opening," says SCORE's Silva. "It was a very exhilarating experience."

Union City Veterinary Medical Center and Emergency Clinic LLC * www.unioncityvets.com * 6702 Shannon Parkway, Union City, GA 30291 [phone] * Founded: 2000 * Employees: 14 full-time * Revenue: $1.12 million * Principals: Hannah Guishard, Edward Mitchell