Business Chat/Help?

[PeachyKeen]

I going to be breeding probably in the next 2-3 years and I have ideas for names, logo, community let outs. Would be awesome if I could message someone, who's familiar with the breeding business, about the ideas I have and how to go about them. Multiple people is fine I just don't know where to start or wait or what. I have been learning about breeding of course, I just need help with the business side of it.
I have kik, skype, and other forms of communication.

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by PeachyKeen

I going to be breeding probably in the next 2-3 years and I have ideas for names, logo, community let outs. Would be awesome if I could message someone, who's familiar with the breeding business, about the ideas I have and how to go about them. Multiple people is fine I just don't know where to start or wait or what. I have been learning about breeding of course, I just need help with the business side of it.
I have kik, skype, and other forms of communication.

I helped Mike Fedzen albinomilksnake.com username: kingpinreptiles on faunaclassifieds.com set up his site back when we were just teenagers talking on AIM 12-15 years ago. I remember when he was keeping ringnecks and some other REALLY off the wall stuff back then. He managed to turn it into a full fledged business. He actually contacted me about a year ago after we had been out of contact for a long while which was kind of neat.

I'll actually be entering the same foray next spring after my snakes breed for the first time. For me, it seems like a culmination of years in the hobby, but I'll only be doing this as a hobby. The money from the breeding might go to a new cage for Ricky or something but I'm hardly gonna be in the green on either of these animals and I'm OK with that.

If you're just gonna be a hobbyist level breeder you probably don't need a logo or anything like that. Just a few posts on facebook and faunaclassifieds every now and then aught to clear you out to start depending on what you are breeding.

If you want to make a living from it your going to have to prioritize things a little differently than you might think.

1. Proper accounting and costing: 9/10 restaurants fail in the first year, most of them fail because they have no idea what their costs are. Literally anything can be costed, for example you can estimate heating element cost per month, water changes if you have city water, new enclosures etc. Find out what your true costs are and how to mitigate them without it affecting the level of care you offer your snakes.

2. Proper shipping procedures/record keeping/customer service: One bad review can seriously injure a new business, this is especially true when you are considering the shipment of live reptiles because many people are nervous about it even now when we buy so much stuff offline, therefor shipping procedures are right up there. In regards to record keeping, I think it is REALLY awesome when a breeder can pull up lineage information months or years after I've purchased an animal from a breeder sometimes the original parents just come from x-breeder but if you have holdbacks and such this can become important in the future. That record keeping will also help you if you include who it was sold to, when, for how much, etc. That same record keeping will come to use if someone ever does post a negative report.

3. Care of your snakes, breeding selection: I say this under the assumption that you are going to be keeping snakes, snakes are easy to care for. If you have a manageable collection keeping them all taken care of shouldn't be that hard. Just look at them and change water bowls for the most part. If you can't handle that then your collection is too large for where your business is at.

A consideration: If your dream is to be a pro breeder I would consider the first few years of it to be a part time 2nd job in addition to your regular job. As an aside, I would go be an accountant, if I was 18 and doing it all again that's what I'd do. Salary to buy reptiles and the busy time of the year for them is during hibernation season so it kind of makes sense.

Logos, business names all that stuff is way down the list. Look back at Mike that I mentioned to start. He won best new breeder from ReptileReport.com a few years ago and he was using an old freewebs site and has a successful business he makes a living from. Most breeders don't end up like the BHB dude, for most it's just a passion based side-hustle plan on that being the reality.

[PeachyKeen]

This is probably the most helpful info I've gotten through hours of looking at forums and potential articles. I'm definitely not in it for the money and am going to start off small/a hobby while having income through another source.
I was just curious as to the legalities of it I guess and if it would be better to put a foot down on a name and such or wait till I was actually breeding in the 2-3 years.
Website creating I have no issue with. Plenty of resources for that for me as well as a tad bit of background. Plus, that would be down the line.
I know I'll need to talk with an accountant once my numbers grow (selling) and/or sign up for LLC (or S Corp).
I only have two breeding pairs of two different species of snakes but that number will more than likely grow in the couple years.
All just a bit confusing I guess (sigh) probably cause I'm overthinking.

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by PeachyKeen

This is probably the most helpful info I've gotten through hours of looking at forums and potential articles. I'm definitely not in it for the money and am going to start off small/a hobby while having income through another source.
I was just curious as to the legalities of it I guess and if it would be better to put a foot down on a name and such or wait till I was actually breeding in the 2-3 years.
Website creating I have no issue with. Plenty of resources for that for me as well as a tad bit of background. Plus, that would be down the line.
I know I'll need to talk with an accountant once my numbers grow (selling) and/or sign up for LLC (or S Corp).
I only have two breeding pairs of two different species of snakes but that number will more than likely grow in the couple years.
All just a bit confusing I guess (sigh) probably cause I'm overthinking.

Legalities would basically only occur if one of the top 3 aren't followed. Your animals aren't accounted for and recorded, or you aren't taking care of them meaning someone might sue you over it.

State laws for the most part are going to be the deciding factor for you because I'll assume you'll follow everything else. For example, I'm from Ohio we have regulations regarding Native Species like Georgia does, so spotted turtles, black rat snakes etc. are off limits to me. Copyrights aren't that big of a deal in the reptile world as far as I've gathered.

[Aaron_S]

Where to start:

A lot of good things were mentioned above. I agree that the name, logo and flashy stuff like that come second to the other suggestions.

You'll need to look at your state and federal tax stuff and business registration. I can't help there as I'm in Canada and don't know enough about those specific items. They are important if you plan to make it even a part-time real business.

Something to consider is building up a name for yourself. You'll want to be a great buyer with breeders and others. You want to show your "face" on social media, in groups and maybe even at shows. You want people to recognize you a bit so when you do produce they are already warmed upto you so they will buy from you. People don't like buying from strangers.

Find a local mentor for breeding. You'll need some guidance and this person will be helpful during the down times that come at the cost of breeding.

Lastly, you'll want to consider what species to work with. You'll want to work with things you like but that also sell in a reasonable time frame. You don't want to hold onto everything for a year.

Personal examples: I've bred ball pythons exclusively since 2008. I'm finding there's a resurgence towards colubrids and other "hobby" species so I'm glad I picked up some a little awhile ago that I've always loved. However, I have to be careful as I don't want to overproduce and have too many on my hands, even for adults.

I bought 1.1 pair of albino house snakes. These breed prolifically and produce double clutches easily enough that one pair should do me just fine for what I want to produce.
I generally will buy 2.2 of most smaller projects because I'm worried about a male not breeding or an untimely death.

Don't expand too quickly. Stick to a single or maybe two species to begin with and slowly introduce other projects over time. You want to ensure you have a good system in place for one or two species before expanding. If you invest in say ball pythons, boas, hognoses, corn snakes...you'll sell yourself short because you won't have enough room for proper sized projects and you won't produce what you want.

Another personal example: I wish I bought two of every female morph ball python instead of one when I started. I felt I didn't need to double up and needed other varieties. It left me in a bad place because if a girl didn't breed then that project was behind an entire year or I had to allocate my snake money to another animal to keep up. If I bought two bumblebees I'd double my chances of producing what I want.

I also have begun changing my collection. I moved out pretty much all orange ghost/hypo animals as it's just not that popular and I'd rather have albino for a recessive as everyone wants it at every level. Pet people and even breeders.