When John Gilmore’s dog passed away, he wanted to have it cremated. Unfortunately, the ceremony was not what he had hoped for.

“The guy came with a pickup truck, lowered the gate and said ‘Just go ahead and put him there,” Gilmore recalled. “I asked for a few minutes to say goodbye, and the guy just stood right next to me and continued to talk. I didn’t feel they treated the situation with the proper respect.”

Gilmore was determined to give pet owners a chance to say goodbye to their pets properly. So he created his own business, Hanai Pet Cremation.

How a First Alliance Credit Union Business Equipment Loan Helped Hanai Pet Cremation

About Hanai Pet Cremation

The entire purpose of Hanai Pet Cremation is to give pet owners the chance to say goodbye to their pets with the same respect and sensitivity that other family members get. In fact, the word “Hanai” is a Hawaiian word that means “the informal adoption of one by another.”

“Our pets are part of our family,” Gilmore explained, “and in this business people can have a place where they could come and have a quiet space where they can mourn and grieve.”

The company not only gives grieving pet owners the chance to mourn their pets in peace, it also gives them a way to memorialize their beloved companions.

“We have a nice wooden urn for our clients,” Gilmore said. “We also offer memorial paw prints.”

In addition, Hanai Pet Cremation has an open-door policy, and they can inspect the facilities beforehand.

The Problem

However, Gilmore and his partner, Sue Davis, had a big problem with their business—getting it started.

“We were trying to start a business in the middle of a pandemic,” Gilmore said. “Most lenders would either not answer their phone or laugh us right out of their office.”

That’s when they turned to First Alliance Credit Union.

The Solution

When Gilmore and his partner met with First Alliance Credit Union, they had a chance to explain what they wanted to do.

“We had several meetings,” Gilmore said. “We went over our business plan and our ideas, and it all worked very well.”

What really stood out to Gilmore, though, was the personal interest Rosalina Fombuena, First Alliance’s business lending advisor, gave his business.

“Working with Rosalina was exceptional,” Gilmore said. “She didn’t just sign some paperwork and then left us alone. She was interested in how we were doing as a business and how we were doing as individuals. She believed in us and our endeavor and wanted to help us out.”

In the end, First Alliance Credit Union not only gave Gilmore and Davis a loan that would let them buy the building, but they also approved the two for a business equipment loan that allowed them buy the equipment they needed to perform their services, including their processing station and their initial inventory of urns.

Results

Thanks to the loans, Hanai Pet Cremation was able to open its doors to the public in 2022.

“So far, the business is doing pretty well,” Gilmore said. “We are the new guy on the block, though. We have a lot of growing to do, and we’re still establishing connections with people in the pet industry. But we’re adamant about caring for anybody who comes through our doors.”

In addition to the hard work Gilmore and Davis have put in to the business, Gilmore also credits First Alliance with helping his company get off the ground.

“Without the loans, we wouldn’t be in business. We just wouldn’t,” Gilmore said. “We’re really grateful to First Alliance for being able to see through a pandemic and actually see our need and desire to open this business.”

Based on his experiences, Gilmore is happy to recommend First Alliance Credit Union to anyone looking to start their own business.

“First Alliance trusted us and believed in us,” Gilmore said. “We were greeted with open arms by them and they listened to us.”