I want to start a small, very small home based SIDE business selilng homemade horse treats and bird treats. What do I do to do this? Since I make these yummy treats individually, the number I can produce each week would be very small. My expectations would be to sell no more than 10 or so a week for horses, and 20 or so for birds. So, not mass production or anything.
But, I’ve never done any kind of selling (other than eBay 
), do I need a license? Like a business license? How do I get started doing this, or can I just sell these treats right off and bear no repurcussion? I am sure I would have to claim taxes at the end of the year, right?? Prove the income?
How and what should I do to get started doing this?
You need a local business license and a license from the health department as you are producing a food product (pets are protected as well as people).
Due to the type of business you want to set up, there are several agencies that you will need to register with. First and foremost, register your business name– to do that, you must register with your local authorities. For instance, with your city and county of residence. Your business must be set up as a “residential business”, which will require getting approval for such. Not only must you register your business with the local authorities, and with local tax agencies, you must register it with your state. You must get state taxing information also. Then you must do the same with the Federal tax agencies. And yes, since you are going to be selling “treats” (even if for animals) you will need to check with your local health agencies, as well as with the local SPCA or other animal related agencies to find out exactly what health requirements there are (for instance, you can not have raw rice products in the bird treats, as rice will expand in their stomachs and could kill birds– animal agencies would know what can and can not be used).
I myself had set up a business, and in total, I spent approximately 300 dollars to get everything registered, and all of the tax information set up. Remember, there are registration fees and processing fees for everything. I had to get approval by the zoning agency to set up my business out of my residence, and had a list of rules I must follow (no warehousing, etc. in my primary residence, etc.).
So start local (city), then go to the county level, then state level and then Federal level. Each agency will be able to tell you what the next step is that you need to take.
A piece of advice that I can offer is this: TAKE NOTES! Make sure to keep track of who told you what at which agency, that way if there is anything that goes wrong with the registration process, you know who said what and who to re-contact (or who not to contact, depending on the situation).
Starting your own business is a wonderful idea, a great adventure and can prove to be very profitable, but it will only go well if you have the proper paperwork, and registrations done, because then you do not get shut down halfway through.
One more thing: Google, Google, Google. Google terms like “starting own business”, and Google your local, state, and Federal agencies that handle business registrations, to ensure you do not miss a single item.
Good luck to you– you have a great idea, and I am certain that with your small scale success, you will be wanting to expand, possibly selling online, reaching a broader audience– an audience that I am certain would love your products- Start small but hope for big
With any small business you’ll need to check with the county and state you live in because each have different requirements. Being that you are selling on such a small scale you may not be required to get a business license, however if you claim the income from your pet treats, you will have to file a schedule C on your taxes, which will benefit you greatly. In addition you’ll want to apply for a Business ID # and you do that by filling out an SS4 form for IRS.gov. It is really very simple.
Forget what the other answers said, check this out.
http://www.myspace.com/jeremy_with_mabs
When thinking of starting a home based business you must follow these simple guidelines:
First off you must utilize the “Law of Attraction”. In other words, you must first want to start your own home based business, then you must truly believe that you will start that business and then simply be grateful for the business as though you all ready have it.
Now when researching home based business companies the first thing right off that you want to make sure of is that they ARE registered with the Better Business Bureau. Then check and make sure that they have NO unresolved complaints against them.
Second, compare what you spend to what you would make. If they are asking for a few thousand dollar start-up fee and you are only making a couple hundred dollars a deal, most likely a bad idea! Weigh the odds.
Find out how long they have been in business. If the company has not even been in business a year, probably not a good choice. Find a company with a proven track record.
Also, it is important to think of what would happen if in a year your business has not even paid you back what you invested into it yet. Find a company that has a money back guarantee.
Another important fact is to find a comapny that is not going to get the business started for you and then throw you to the wolves. Find a company that will work with you each step of the way for the duration of your business. You want to know that once you start with a company you will be able to get in contact with them for any questions or concerns that may arise.
Also, try and get in a company that has promotional offers. This way you can save money on starting your own business. All companies have discounts availible to them, at least the legitamate do.
Best of luck to you in your searches. I truly lucked out and found a company that hit everyone of my points, Mortgage and Buying Solutions. They had the best to offer and the best record found during my research. Check out my myspace page for more details.
Best of luck to you in your journey that we call life,
Jeremy S. Hammer
the first think you do is build your business slowlly . check the website in the state that you live in and see if you need a license. build your business the way you want it . and have fun doing it. i hope you have great success!! CHECK THIS OUT .. ROYSUMMERS.YOURNEWFORTUNE.COM
Depending on the city, it may require a business license. Some cities don’t even call it a business license for example… in Florida they call it a business tax receipt.
Here’s a site that helped me. They have a step by step guide on creating a business license.
http://www.cityapplications.com/guides/business/how-to-start-business.html