YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post

Ladylavender · 05-24-2006, 07:28 AM

I don't think you need a "kit" to get started. Here are a couple of things you need to do:

1. Call your local city/county business license office and see what you need to do to get a business license. You will need to find out if you can legally run a business out of your home in your neigborhood and what the parameters are for that. Every city/state is different. You will also need to decide if you want to operate as a sole properietor or under and LLC. There are pros and cons for both, and they will affect how you file your IRS taxes.
2. Call the State office and see about getting a Federal I.D. # or see if you can operate your business under your own SS# and what the finacial obilgations are to do one or the other.
3. You will also need to find out what the code regulations are for making dog food/treats. They are probably not as stringent as they are for human food preparation, but their may be some and you will need to be in compliance.
4. Call an insurance broker and see about insurance for small businesses. (Most homeowner insurance will not cover you under liability for any business risks so you will need to make sure that you get that taken care of. Some will not even cover you for inventory either, so you do need to make sure about that)
5. You will need to start out with 1 or 2 recipes (start small) and you will need to experiment and make sure that you have the right recipe and that more dogs will like the treat, than not.
6. Decide on packaging (name of company, logo, etc.)
7. Find wholesale companies in the area or on-line to purchase your inventory from. You want to make sure you get the lowest prices possible to increase your potential for profit. You don't want to over price the product, because your expenses mandate it.
8. Keep track of all your expenses - for tax purposes. I really like the program - Quick Books - it is accounting made easy.
9. Decide on the market you are going to sale too. Farmer's markets, dog botiques.... That may affect the outcome of your packaging, advertising, etc.
10. Decide if you want to sell on line which is an added expense of web design and web site maintenance.

These are a few things to consider. Once you are set up and on your way, there is very little else to do but make your product, package it and sell, sell, sell!

But remember this: Selling is the key to getting your business off the ground. Selling is going to get you out of the house, so even with an "at home" business, to be sucessful, you CANNOT remain at home. You will have to make time to get your product out to the general public. So you may be at home 30% of the time, making your product , and then out of the home 70% of the time finding people interested in carrying your product.

You will need to establish pricing lists. You will have a set of 2. One for the general public (retail) and a wholesale list for those vendors that want to purchase in bulk and sell in their stores. This entails a whole set of new decisions.

HTH.

05-24-2006, 07:28 AM	#2
Ladylavender YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Soddy Daisy, TN Posts: 733	I don't think you need a "kit" to get started. Here are a couple of things you need to do: 1. Call your local city/county business license office and see what you need to do to get a business license. You will need to find out if you can legally run a business out of your home in your neigborhood and what the parameters are for that. Every city/state is different. You will also need to decide if you want to operate as a sole properietor or under and LLC. There are pros and cons for both, and they will affect how you file your IRS taxes. 2. Call the State office and see about getting a Federal I.D. # or see if you can operate your business under your own SS# and what the finacial obilgations are to do one or the other. 3. You will also need to find out what the code regulations are for making dog food/treats. They are probably not as stringent as they are for human food preparation, but their may be some and you will need to be in compliance. 4. Call an insurance broker and see about insurance for small businesses. (Most homeowner insurance will not cover you under liability for any business risks so you will need to make sure that you get that taken care of. Some will not even cover you for inventory either, so you do need to make sure about that) 5. You will need to start out with 1 or 2 recipes (start small) and you will need to experiment and make sure that you have the right recipe and that more dogs will like the treat, than not. 6. Decide on packaging (name of company, logo, etc.) 7. Find wholesale companies in the area or on-line to purchase your inventory from. You want to make sure you get the lowest prices possible to increase your potential for profit. You don't want to over price the product, because your expenses mandate it. 8. Keep track of all your expenses - for tax purposes. I really like the program - Quick Books - it is accounting made easy. 9. Decide on the market you are going to sale too. Farmer's markets, dog botiques.... That may affect the outcome of your packaging, advertising, etc. 10. Decide if you want to sell on line which is an added expense of web design and web site maintenance. These are a few things to consider. Once you are set up and on your way, there is very little else to do but make your product, package it and sell, sell, sell! But remember this: Selling is the key to getting your business off the ground. Selling is going to get you out of the house, so even with an "at home" business, to be sucessful, you CANNOT remain at home. You will have to make time to get your product out to the general public. So you may be at home 30% of the time, making your product , and then out of the home 70% of the time finding people interested in carrying your product. You will need to establish pricing lists. You will have a set of 2. One for the general public (retail) and a wholesale list for those vendors that want to purchase in bulk and sell in their stores. This entails a whole set of new decisions. HTH.