Starting a 'business"

If you haven't already done so, I'd sit down and write up a business plan. Doesn't have to be fancy and certainly isn't set in stone, but I'd jot down your ideas and vision for the type of business you want to run. Are you going to specialize in certain morphs and be known for that? How many snakes do you plan on keeping as part of your breeding program? Where do you see the business in a couple years? What are you short term / long term goals? Of course the answers to these questions change over time, but if you start out with a general idea of where you are and where you would like to get to from a business standpoint you are more likely to get there.

Remember - there are bonuses to running a legit business such as write offs. If you work out of your home you could write off some of your mortgage, taxes, utilities etc.. At tax time this can make a pretty big difference.

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Originally Posted by Kodieh

Yes," business" was perhaps a bad way to word it. However, we don't necessarily have to incorporate and get tax numbers if it's under a certain profit amount and list it as hobby income on our personal taxes
(I believe).

Of course we'd be going to shows and talking with people, I'd be making sure we had a good online presence. I'm fairly familiar with fauna posting, I forgot to mention that.

Besides drumming out a nice website, I'm not seeing a lot of start up costs.

Thanks for the advice guys! Keep it rolling!


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If your intent is to make money, and you can prove this to the IRS, there is no reason to run this as a hobby. If you make money at it, the tax consequences are the same. If you lose money, you can deduct your losses in a business, in a hobby your deductions are limited to the amount of money you take in. You can file your business on a schedule C. I'd recommend filing LLC paperwork though, or incorporating as an S-corp, oh, and get some "actual" tax advice from a tax professional.

Good luck in your endeavor.:gj:

I'm completely with you guys on it, and I think the last quote I got online was like around 150 to get an LLC.

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Some other things that havent been touched on.

I'd say it is an absolute must to have:

1. A good exotic vet
2. The funds to pay for the vet.
3. At home remedies and the know how to use them for minor things
4. A seperate quarantine room for sick animals.

Your business in the market relies heavily on your reputation. If you intentionally or accidently sell sick animals to people your reputation will suffer and so will your business.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OctagonGecko729

Some other things that havent been touched on.

I'd say it is an absolute must to have:

1. A good exotic vet
2. The funds to pay for the vet.
3. At home remedies and the know how to use them for minor things
4. A seperate quarantine room for sick animals.

Your business in the market relies heavily on your reputation. If you intentionally or accidently sell sick animals to people your reputation will suffer and so will your business.

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Very true. I thought that was a given, as you should have that for even just owning animals. But yes very good to mention :)

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Yes, vet and vet funds are very important. I hadn't originally considered that but that's a major factor to cover all potential animals and not just animals currently in the collection.

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