Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How did you turn your hobbies into a business? I want to know the business side of it. How do you track your sales and then figure out your profits and then file taxes on it. ROI's and GM. Do you have a way to break all that down.
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Louie

This is obviously a complex question and I can only answer for how I went about my business. As I’m sure that most of us started as a hobby out of love for the animals. (notice I didn’t say “passion” ) First I believe in the saying: you do what you love and the money will follow. That being said you have to decide if taking the step to be a business will rob the love from your hobby. I many cases this does happen. Do you want to make your hobby your job??? Or can you continue to get the same joy out of your love for the animals if it’s a business? These are questions that everyone has to answer on their own. For me it wasn’t a problem at all, I started with a small collection and the natural progression to becoming a business seemed like an easy one. But remember there are many pitfalls in this transformation, be willing to sacrifice a lot. Snakes don’t take vacations, snakes don’t have holidays. It’s a 24/7 365 deal, but for some it’s worth every minute.
As for the business side of things, we track our sales and cost with Quickbook Pro version. And we use a CPA that specializes in small to medium businesses. We work with him all year long, not just at tax season. But in most cases just keep track of all your sales and all your expenses and a good CPA will be able to help you out when tax time comes. It can get very complicated the larger you get, but that's why you pay someone to worry about that side of things
I hope I covered as much as I could in the limited space that I have here, but feel free to call or e-mail me if you have any further questions. Thanks, Brian (BHB)

Just a quick question. Im assuming you keep your collection in a facility setup. Do you keep any reptiles at you house that you consider a pet?

Greg

HI Gregg,

That's a great question. For many years I still kept a lot of reptiles at home, but over time I've moved almost everything to my building. But I do still keep a couple Bearded Dragons at home as pets. I'm sure from time to time I'll bring something else home because it's too cool not to look at. But for now all my "pets" are here at my facilty. And trust me when I say I have a lot of "pets" here. They'll never make me a dime, but I love them too much to get rid of them. Probably way too many Brian (BHB)

Hello Brian I have kept balls for awhile and I have decided to get into the buisness also not just for the money I also just plain love to keep these beautiful snakes. I just purchased my first vision ball python rack and it will be here tomorrow and I am very excited , I plan on buying four more racks over a 8 month period which will give me 55 heated tubs. I plan on starting my buisness slow by buying 8 100% female hets and breeding them to a few visual males and hopefully produce my first visuals, is this a good plan? I work a full time job as a postal worker and I will continue to do so until I retire so I will not be putting myself under any fincial stress , I want to slowly enjoy and build my hobby buisness , by the end of this year I will have a total of five vision ball racks. This is something that I have always dreamed of doing and now its finally happening and I just bursting with excitment keep giving out your advice, I look forward to it everyday that you give it .

I think it's great that you're following your dream. And I also think that your plan of slow and easy is normally the best plan. That way you know when it gets to be too much and you're love for the hobby starts to get eroded from the pressure of your expansion. I bigger collection doesn't always mean more enjoyment. As a metter of a fact for most people it's the exact opposite. But with starting with a plan and being willing to adapt your plan to your needs, you'll be profitable in both financial as well as from a experience stand point.
I've heard great things about the Vission racks and I have a couple still in the box that I haven't to put together (sorry Scott). I'm sure that you'll like them a lot. Good luck with your business plan and let me know if I can ever help. Thanks, Brian (BHB)

I am pretty sure that I will be ordering from you to build my collection real soon brian, thanks for the advice and good breeding.

I agree having someone else do all the accounting work is a good route to go.

In addition to what Brian said - I would recommend that you do your research first in regards to business licenses as well any permits or licenses that you will need to keep the amount of animals (snakes, rats, etc) necessary to run a business if you are going to do it out of your home (our city will only allows 4 snakes per residential household so I've had to apply for additional permitting to keep our collection) and I am fortunate that I am currently in an area that is designated for residential and commercial use so I didn't have any problems acquiring a business permit. I know a lot of people kind of skirt this issue but if there is always that chance that something happens (a neighbor complains) and then your business is in jeopardy.

And put together a business plan that will help you to forecast your expenditures from initial start up through the first several years so you don't get caught off guard with all the miscellaneous stuff that adds up.

Good luck!
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Tosha

Well said Tosha. Thanks, Brian (BHB)

First off, thank you for responding to this question; I have constantly thought to myself that I do not desire to make this a job. I would like to continue it as a hobby; however, my wife sees this hobby getting expensive so she wants to start keeping records now to be able to take the loss. I am not for this because then I feel the need to make a profit in order to run a successful business. This will in turn kill the “passion.” All I want to do is break even and get to a point where the animals I sell will in turn support my hobby. There is nothing more gratifying to me than to see the little heads start to pip!!! You covered a big portion of what I wanted to know. As for the expenses you accrue what are some of the things you record.

Thanks,
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Louie

Forgot to mention, the western hognonse het pink pastel I acquried form you at the NARBC at TX is doing awesome. Thanks Brian and Lori!!
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Louie

First off, don't sell yourself short. Everyone deserves to be successful and if you want, I'm sure you can have a great business. But I agree that you need to not put the pressure on your hobby and rob your "passion". Your wife isn't too far off with the tax deduction. Why not use it to your advantage if you can. Trust me when I tell you I've had plenty off losses in the last twenty years. I think that you'll be able to pay for your hobby and then some if you want.
As for what to keep records of, well, everything! From gas on the trip to the airport to pick up a snake all the way to part of your electric bill. If it has anything to do with your hobby, it's a tax deduction.
Keep the faith and keep the love for what you're doing and you'll be fine. If you want you can call or e-mail for any deeper info.
And I'm glad to hear that your Hognose is doing great. Thanks for the business, Brian (BHB)

>First off, don't sell yourself short.

Oh boy, Satan is going to have fun with that.....