Buisness Question?

[SoCaliSon]

I live in Cali, and knowing that laws change from state to state... I would love any input from fellow Californians that are familiar with this stuff...

I am finally starting to dabble in breeding... And am also raising any kind of feeder I can think of just to ensure that I have a self sustaining food supply for babies once they come. I am definately going to look into this on my own but I was curious at what point when raising Chams and Feeders for sale do you have to obtain some type of buisness license. I would love to eventually work my way into the buisness on a larger scale but am starting with baby steps. Right now I still have not mated my pair so I am taking my time to prepare. What are the steps that must be taken in order to be able to sell and ship my Chams and feeders as they are ready for new homes. I know that an account with FedEx or UPS for shipping live animals is a must...Can anyone affer any tips that someone considering this might take.

 

[chamlover]

I live in NH so i am not familiar with Cal laws, but here all you have to do is register your business name with the State. This is to ensure that you pay taxes too of course. If you plan on selling in any other state you have to get a sales tax certificate as well. We do shows in NY, MA, PA, and ME so we have to pay sales tax to them. If you are just shipping animals then you should just have to pay sales tax in CAL. That is the only license you need here. Also you will have to become really good friends with a vet. Once you get into breeding the females need alot of care and they don't always make it. I'm sure you have read that on this site. Take it slow and do your research first.

Good Luck
Debby

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

Before you begin to plan a business, give it a try and see how well you do at hatching them out first. It's not as easy as some of the breeders here make it look.

 

[Sporkthedork]

I live in Cali, and knowing that laws change from state to state... I would love any input from fellow Californians that are familiar with this stuff...

I am finally starting to dabble in breeding... And am also raising any kind of feeder I can think of just to ensure that I have a self sustaining food supply for babies once they come. I am definately going to look into this on my own but I was curious at what point when raising Chams and Feeders for sale do you have to obtain some type of buisness license. I would love to eventually work my way into the buisness on a larger scale but am starting with baby steps. Right now I still have not mated my pair so I am taking my time to prepare. What are the steps that must be taken in order to be able to sell and ship my Chams and feeders as they are ready for new homes. I know that an account with FedEx or UPS for shipping live animals is a must...Can anyone affer any tips that someone considering this might take.

Oh I've been doing my research on this as well. If you plan on becoming a small time breeder you don't necessarily need to be a registered business. However becoming a registered business has its benefits. You could either choose to become a company, some sort of corporation (which is highly unlikely), partnership of some sort, or a limited liability company (LLC - which I find to be the best choice & so do other breeders). If you already have a name or proposed name, then you should file the name or file a name reservation. If you choose the LLC path I'll update you on anything else I learn as I progress. I'm currently filing LLC articles of organization and it's a lot more work than I thought. Also like you said, getting an account with UPS, Fed-Ex and Delta Dash as soon as possible is a must.

Here are some basic stuff about California small businesses.
http://www.sba.gov/localresources/district/ca/la/index.html

Here's the most important link. It's the official Secretary of State website where all the forms and info can be found.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/resources.htm

Also on a side note, if you become an LLC you have to pay a mandatory $800 fee every year for tax purposes, even if you don't sell anything. It's either that or 8% of what you made if you make over $10K. The only way around it is to prove you didn't do any business what so ever (that means no change in bank accounts and/or opening accounts with UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.) or prove to them that this is your last year of operation. So if you plan on not selling anything this year, you might want to wait till January of next year to official file your articles of organization.

This is going from what I've learned in the past 3 months, so take it with a grain of salt. I hope other small time breeders in California will chime in.

 

[tru510]

My buddy just got started with bearded dragons. He didn't have to do anything or register with no one. I remember him saying he contacted the state of CA animal services or something like that. I will ask him next time I see him for more info

 

[Dankmeleon]

if you do become a real business, rather than just an hobby which would be my suggestion of what you should aim for, i hope you take full tax benefits depending on your revenue and write yourself off a nice flatscreen television and a mercedes, you desserve it

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Go with sole proprietor and register your business so you can write off your expenses.

-chris

 

[Dankmeleon]

and then if you do that, you are just talking about a yearly fee, and quarterly revenue reports, but you can buy a huge lcd and turn in the receipt with your taxes and get your 3 grand back if you havn't gone over your limit.

i think it works by how much revenue you make, so the more business you do the more rolling stones concerts you can go to and say they are for clients, did i mention buy a kompressor?

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

I am not 100% but I think that you can write off business expenses (maybe not concerts, LOL). Many businesses operate in the red for the first few years and don't bring in much revenue but they still write off their expenses. But yea you do have to do quarterly reports but since you are going to be a one man show you don't have to worry about a lot of things that go with LLC and S-corps.

-chris

 

[Dankmeleon]

i heard becoming incorporated has kickin tax advantages.

you can get away with A LOT during your start up 5 year period if your books are detailed.

don't start getting red flagged until you try doing multiple tv's, then you have to provide proof of purchase and proof of business use if you get audited but seriously my neighbors make writing off "business expenses" look really easy

amg amg kompressor kompressor

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

What I found with becoming incorporated or becoming an LLC is it costs a good bit...lawyers and fees and whatnot.

-chris

 

[SoCaliSon]

Hey thanks Guys for the input... Didn't see all the great responses till just now, for some reason this thread wasn't subsrcibed on my account even though I started it.... Yeah I was curious and started to think about it... Cause I'm just starting to breed my first clutches and I know that I am going to be selling some, and just want to make sure I do stuff right and don't get myself in trouble. People always tell me , do what your passion is and you will be successfull... Well besides women There is nothing that I have a bigger passion for than caring for and studying herps. I figured I am so freekin OCD when it comes to how I care for my animals that I think if I just slowly build my Cham hobby and just roll with the flow...Maybe I will be lucky enough to try and do this for a living. I couldn't think of any better day at work than to wake up and work Chams.

Dank

i hope you take full tax benefits depending on your revenue and write yourself off a nice flatscreen television and a mercedes, you desserve it

Haha... Thanks for lookin out buddy... My 32" has nothin' on that flat screen Reggie watches when he's bored.


Spork: Thanks for the info... If you find anything else let me know...That link should really help.


Here is a funny story that shows that you should always do the research to make sure you aren't breaking any laws. A couple of years back we had a Bengal Tiger escape from a private owners residence here in Moorpark California... The F&G had choppers out there circling around while they looked for the tiger... Well A gentleman who has owned a petting Zoo in Moorpark for probably 20 years had somehow ended up raising a couple Axis deer in his petting zoo... Well those sharp F&G guys spotted the Axis deer and after the Tiger had been contained here comes fish and Game knocking on the guys door. Playing stupid "What kind of Deer are those?" The guy didn't even realize that what he had was totally illegal to keep in our area. They gave him options... Pay $4000 each to have them transported to another area... or they could put them down right there. Wow... Bad day to own a petting Zoo... You have a tiger on the loose around your property and you just got majorly dinged bigtime for something you had no idea was illegal.

 

[LaserGecko]

With a sole proprietorship, you get taxed on the profits. With a multiple owner LLC, you don't get taxed on any profit until the profits are disbursed to the owners. An LLC is not a corporation, but it has some of the tax advantages of one and is much easier to setup. The IRS treats a single owner LLC as a sole proprietorship and a multiple owner LLC as a partnership, so there isn't as much benefit to a single owner LLC.

What I found with becoming incorporated or becoming an LLC is it costs a good bit...lawyers and fees and whatnot.

-chris

Yeah, if you pay a lawyer to do it for you. If you're going to make $100K a year, then go for it. However, once you find a Registered Agent, it costs $75 to file your LLC articles in Nevada and $125 for the annual List of Officers.

Guess who makes it sound expensive and complicated: the lawyers and the "Nevada State Corporate Network" type scam shops. But, just think of all the benefits you get from having your name plugged into their forms!

A friend of mine got a "special rate" from a lawyer to do it: $1,200. He asked him point blank "So, is your LLC any better than the one my friend setup directly with them for $200?" *****lots of softshoe dancing around the question***** "No, seriously. Is there anything you do that I can't do myself?" The lawyer wasn't used to people asking questions like that.

Do your research (find an operating agreement online), find a Registered Agent service (unless you live here) just like all of the giant corporations do, then do it yourself at http://secretaryofstate.biz and save a couple of grand.

http://secretaryofstate.biz/business/comm_rec/whyinc.asp lists reasons why a Nevada LLC rocks.

Then, use part of that savings and get yourself a good misting system.

 

[SoCaliSon]

That was a very informative post LaserGecko... Sounds like you know this stuff.