Business Name

How to Pick a Business Name

Your business name will be very important to your business image. Think about names that will be easy for your clients to remember, stand out and sound professional but also spells out what you do.  You want to make it easy for your clients to be able to refer you to their friends.

Take a look through the internet for plumbers and check out the business names. You will find the very small business owner and the large franchised companies. What do you notice when you read through the names? This is what your potential clients will be thinking about when they look for you. Your potential clients may have a list in front of them of 2 pet sitters or if you live in a very large area such as LA, they may have a list of 100 or more!  What is going to make you stand out of the crowd so they will look over all the rest and call you?

There are four important things to think about when picking out a business name:

1. Originality: You want your name to be original. There are tons of Pampered Pets and Pet Sitters R Us. Once you pick out your name, do a Google search to see if anyone else thought of it first.  If someone nearby is using it, definitely do not use it.  You don't want the companies to get confused especially if someone has had a negative experience with that other company.
2. Spell out your services: If you are pet sitting, you must let the consumer know. If you just call your business Pet Perfection, your client's may forget who they are calling. Add on your services to the end. For example, you can call it Pet Perfection Pet Care Services. Be sure when you add on your services, you are not limiting yourself. You may want to grow in the future. So, if you think you may add on errand services or home care, you may want to add pet & home care services to the business name.
3. Location: Personally, I believe this is very important when thinking of your business name. People love where they live. They love their state, town, street, etc. Tying that in to your business name will make people remember you. For example, if you live in Florida, you can be the Sunshine State's Best Pet Caretakers. Doing this also increases your chances of having an original name.

Once you have picked out your business name, it is very important to make sure no one else is using it. Some businesses will federally trademark their name. This is to ensure no one else can legally use their name nationwide. To check the trademark database click here.

Now that you have checked the federal database, you need to check your state database. There is a separate database available for each state. To find your state database, go to the Secretary of State site and click on your state. Find the area where you can do a business search. Then just type in the name you are thinking of using. If nothing comes up, that means no one is registered in your state with that name.

You may also want to check the Internet, just in case someone is using it but is not registered with the state.  You can not use a name which is in use in your state or nationally even if they have not registered it.  You can't even use a variation of it.  Why would you want to get confused with another business anyways. Pick a different name if you are unsure. 

In conclusion, be sure to check all your resources before putting your business name on paper.  It will be much harder to change it later, so be sure before you go any further.

Now that you have your business name ready, you can get your business license. We will discuss how to do that in the next installment.

Pet Sitting Business Forms

Business License

Do I Need a Business License?

Most people are very confused about this. Pet Sitting does not require a "trade" business license, but most states will only require you to register your business with the state (which is called a DBA - Doing Business As). 

To find out what your state licensing agency requires, click here, then click on your state and choose general licensing. This will take you right to the link to register your business. It is usually fairly easy to find this information online, but if you are having trouble finding it, just find a phone number (to your local state government agency) and give them a call. They will be able to tell you all you need to do to become a legal business entity.

Canada may require you to file Declaration of Trade Name Form. You may also be required to acquire a Master Business License or municipality license in each area you may service. For more information, visit your local city hall or government office.

When you register for your business license, they will ask you what sort of business entity you will want to register under. There are a few options: Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Limited Liability Company and C or S Corporation.

In the next installment, we will talk about what each of these mean and which is the best for you.

Business Forms for your Pet Sitting Business

Business Structure

What Type of Business Structure Should You Set Up?

There are 5 different business structures in which you can set up your business as.

These are:

1. Sole Proprietor -Most common
2. Partnership
3. Corporation (Inc. or Ltd.)
4. S Corporation
5. Limited Liability Company (LLC) - Second most common

Let's talk about the Sole Proprietor first: The sole proprietorship is the most common structure to form amongst pet sitters. It is inexpensive to form. It is usually owned by a single person or a married couple. The owner is personally liable for all business debts and may file on their personal income tax.

Next is the Partnership: Partnerships are also inexpensive to form. They usually require an agreement between two or more individuals to jointly own and operate the business. The partners share all aspects of the business (good and bad) in accordance to the agreement. It could be a 50/50 partnership or anything else agreed to in writing. Partnerships do not pay taxes, but must file an informational return. Individual partners would then report their share of profits and losses on their personal return.

Next is a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC: This is very common amongst pet sitters. It is advantageous for small businesses because it reduces the risk of losing all your personal assets should you be faced with a law suit. It separates your business and personal assets. You can also elect to be taxed like a corporation which saves you at tax time.

Next is a C Corporation: This is a complex business structure with more start up costs than many others. This is not a very common structure amongst pet sitters since there are shares of stocks involved. Profits are taxed both at the corporate level and again when distributed to shareholders. Lawyers are usually involved at this level.

And Finally is a S Corporation: This is more common than the C Corporation since it avoids double taxation. It is taxed like a Partnership. A business must be approved to be classified as such, so it is not a very common entity amongst pet sitters.

There are also other structures which are specific to certain states. Some of these include Limited Partnership and Limited Liability Partnership. As always, we recommend getting professional advice from your accountant and lawyer as to which would be more advantageous to your business from a legal and taxable point of view.

In the next installment we will talk about where to purchase insurance and bonding.

Business Forms for your Pet Sitting Business

Hiring IC's

Independent Contractors

So, by now, you have your business set up, you are advertising and the calls are rolling in!  Yay!  Good job.  So what happens when you are too busy and can't keep up with it all?

You can do two things.:

1. Stop taking on new clients or...
2. Hire Help

We will use this section to talk about hiring IC's (Independent Contractors).

There are many tax advantages to using IC's:

1.  You don't have to pay the employers part of federal withholdings, social security and medicare. 
2. You don't have to purchase workman's comp. 
3. You also save on insurance since your IC's must carry their own insurance.

For these reasons and others, many people choose to go the route of hiring IC's.

Before you go there, make sure you do your research! Many states have very specific rules about the classification of an IC. All states differ with this, so you want to make sure you are following the rules of your state.

IC Restrictions:

IC's run their own business. You can not tell an IC what to do, where, when or how. This is only for employees. You can tell the IC you have a job for them, what it is, where and what times the client wants them there, but that is all. You have no control over an IC and this is one of the major disadvantages.

Many states do not allow you to use an IC for services you offer your clients normally. This will vary from state to state. For example, if you offer pet sitting as your primary service, you can not subcontract out pet sitting jobs. However, if you have a client ask for grooming services, you can subcontract for that.

IC Rules:

An IC carries their own insurance and business license. You can also carry supplemental insurance that will cover IC's just in case their coverage is not enough.

An IC is responsible for reporting their own income. You will provide the IC with a 1099 at the end of the year reporting their income.

An IC is not entitled to any benefits (medical, unemployment, workman's comp.)

An IC should keep your client's information and your business information private. For this, you should have your IC sign a non-solicit agreement.

All IC's should sign an IC agreement. This is to show the IRS you are using an IC and the IC has agreed to the rules of being classified as an IC.

If the IRS feels you have an employee that you are classifying as an IC, they will impose fines on you and you will also be responsible for backtaxes. So, you want to be sure you are doing this properly.