A passion for cats this might lead you to volunteer with a rescue/shelter or it might lead you to start a cat product business like Brooke Belsky has. Brooke has always loved cats and believes that every cat should receive the enrichment they need. After seeing how much her cat Sebastian loves playing with toys, she decided to put to practical use her love of making things. Lemon-Berry Cat Company is dedicated to improving the lives of cats everywhere through fun products.
ALLISON: What inspired you to start your business?
BROOKE: The inspiration to create Lemon-Berry Cat Company came from my cat Sebastian. I want the absolute best for Sebastian. I want him to be healthy and happy. And I will do what it takes to make that happen. Wanting that for Sebastian grew to me wanting that for every cat. I see and hear stories of cats being mistreated or even just belonging to a family that has fallen on hard times and cannot afford to give their feline family member the care they know it needs. One way for me to impact the idea of improving the lives of cats everywhere is to start a cat product company.
ALLISON: Tell me about your background with animals?
BROOKE: At first it started out with my mom and I finding stray cats near our home and, instead of ignoring or shooing them away, we would put food and water out for them. After a while I wanted to bring them in but we didn’t because we lacked their medical history. I finally asked my mom could we get an indoor family cat and she said yes. That is when we welcomed Sebastian into our family. I found my self always creating toys for him to play with, because he would get bored with the toys that we bought.
ALLISON: What other experience qualifies you to run your business?
BROOKE: I would like to say that I have a ton of experience owning or managing a business, but the truth is that as a 17-year-old, I do not. What I do have is 10 years of volunteer community service and a summer job last year. Those experiences taught me a lot about caring for others through service and work ethic. This summer, I had a unique and amazing opportunity to participate in an entrepreneur program which was sponsored by a local nonprofit organization. The program taught me how to marry my passion and my skill and create a business. I like creating things especially cat toys to play with Sebastian. I learned about revenue, cost, operating profit, branding, crowdfunding, inventory, business planning, and forecasting, etc. My mother and grandmother who both have degrees in business are helping and supporting me by teaching me along the way. I really rely on their experience and expertise.
ALLISON: How is your business going?
BROOKE: I am excited about the start up process. I surpassed my goal during the crowd funding phase allowing me to purchase supplies for my starter inventory and file for my EIN and accomplish other behind-the-scenes administrative business tasks. I did a trial soft launch for Lemon-Berry Cat Company in a virtual marketplace platform a week ago and sold half of our inventory in just one hour! That was a real confidence builder. I am excited to continue solidifying the Lemon-Berry brand and produce quality products for cats and their owners.
ALLISON: What is your proudest accomplishment?
BROOKE: My proudest accomplishment would have to be when several customers sent me a photo of their cats playing with Lemon-Berry Cat Company handcrafted cat toys. That is what it is all about for me. Improving the lives of cats everywhere! To know that I made a cat and an owner of a cat happy brings me so much joy!
ALLISON: What lesson have you learned from your business?
BROOKE: I have learned that just because you can envision a product, does not mean that you can just create it. I have a very creative mind and thought of some great items to make. As I began the process of actually making them, I realized that I did not necessarily have or know the technique necessary to make the product even though I had the materials. I had to practice different techniques to create a product that resulted in something I was proud of. I also learned about creating a budget and not wasting materials. For example, the original carrot shaped refillable catnip toy we offer was supposed to have green leaves sewn on the top. Well, the material that I purchased that for was not a good material for leaves. Instead of wasting that yard of green material, I decided to create a green fish refillable catnip toy too! That allowed me to stay in budget and not waste material.
In life,, mistakes will happen, but it is what you do about it and how you handle it that counts. Mistakes teach us. If we never make mistakes we cannot grow and mature. I have learned to begin with the end in mind. And never give up. If I put the fear of failure aside and work hard, I can accomplish any goal.
ALLISON: If I visited your business, what would I expect to see?
BROOKE: Because I am only 17, If you visited my business, you would be visiting my bedroom at home! My workstation is in my bedroom. My sewing machine and supply station are all located there. What you would also see is my mother and me working together, brain storming, problem solving, creating, and bringing my visions to reality even into the late night/early morning hours. We work passionately and tirelessly behind the scenes to bring us closer to accomplishing the Lemon-Berry Cat Company initiative of improving the lives of cats everywhere.
ALLISON: Sell my readers on why they should use your business.
BROOKE: I do not know if anyone else notices this, but I notice when I go into pet stores that there is always a ridiculously small section for cats, even though cats are the number two owned pet in the U.S. at 94.2 million. I want to help change the cat selection. I create handcrafted cat toys that are eco-friendly, organic catnip filled, organic Kapok filled, with a jingle bell, and refillable via zipper. And that is not all. Cat toys are the foundation of our company, but our product line is expanding. Our “coming soon” products are in production to offer fun Lemon-Berry Cat Company branded products for their owners as well! Supporting Lemon-Berry Cat Company mean supporting a next generation local entrepreneur.
ALLISON: In what ways do you give back to the community?
BROOKE: The main reason to buy Lemon-Berry Cat products is because our mission is to improve the lives of cats everywhere. In addition to developing quality handmade cat products, the vision of our organization is to contribute to the healthcare and overall well-being of underserved domestic feline by donating a percentage of our proceeds to local animal shelters and the humane society. We also provide a way for customers to buy one for self and buy one to donate if they would like to donate a cat toy to one of our local humane societies. After speaking with a volunteer at a local shelter, we were compelled to offer this as a choice because we were told that cat toys are one thing that is not donated often. This shelter had 30 kittens that would love to have a toy. During our online trial soft Launch for Lemon-Berry Cat company, we were able to have 17 toys purchased to be donated.
Lincoln Pet Culture 