Thank you!! This is really helpful. I’ve done a bit of research into it and how to start a dog business, taxes, how to get insurance for it, etc. and I’ve found a few possible places to purchase from, and if I went through Rover, they have their own insurance if you book through them but they take 20%. It’s cheaper, from my research, to pay for my own insurance I think it’s only a few hundred bucks a year. Rover would take way more than that.
Anyway, sorry, got sidetracked, my point is I’ve done some research and I would honestly love to be able to work with dogs for a living, whether that’s sitting, walking, or training, or all three, or making collars or whatever, BUT honestly when I started researching, I got a bit intimidated. All the tax stuff kinda confused me tbh
And I never even thought about Medicare or social security or came across that in my research so that’s really helpful and seems to be a real concern.
If I did do it, I would do it properly and not under the table, and would want to pay taxes. I do know that’s a necessity and I don’t mind. I just don’t have a clue about the first thing about how to set it up or pay it or whatever by myself.
Currently it is somewhat under the table but I put it in my calendar in my phone every day that I work and keep all my deposit slips so I could pay it if necessary. Some of it is cash but I’d gladly declare that too.
But I don’t have anything officially established yet.
Honestly I go back and forth quite a bit on whether or not I should just give this up, quit, find a real job*, and forget about it, but then it’s also been my dream to work with animals ever since I was a little kid, and I’ve been told I’m great with dogs, and I love doing it, so I would love to happen and I don’t want to be one of those people that just gives up on their dreams completely and then is miserable forever. But it’s honestly really intimidating starting my own business and getting it all properly set up. So I don’t really know what to do or what I even want right now.
I’ve also been telling myself lately that I’m too anxious to train dogs which might be true too. Idk. I get all nervous when there’s any little aggression towards each other for example which probably makes it worse. But then I’ve also been hyped up on caffeine lately which makes my anxiety worse so I think if I manage it I’d be fine.
Anyway, as for savings, I do actually have a ton right now. Or at least for most people my age. I save everything I make. I know that’s not enough to live off of or retire or whatever but it will keep growing as I keep depositing more money into it.
How much is the Medicare and social security taxes? Is it a lot?
I think the other benefit of a full time job is health insurance. I’m going to get kicked off my parents’ in March when I turn 26. So I need to get my own.
Anyway, if I can figure out how to make this work, I would love to do it, but it definitely seems like a lot of work and definitely seems like it would be more work than just getting a regular job, but honestly, I know it doesn’t seem like it usually, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen. When I actually care about something, I am much more motivated haha and I really do care about doing this dog thing. I just have absolutely no clue whatsoever where to start. I think if I maybe had some help or something it would be a lot easier.
What I’d really love to do is get certified as a professional dog trainer and start training dogs, I think that’s much more of a viable career option than sitting or walking but might still do all of them or boarding.
But I want to be sure to choose the right program. There’s three I have my eye on. One is like the top one in the world and quite hard to get into but if I could that would be amazing. It’s a pretty intense two year program, much more comprehensive than other programs, which are usually only around 6 months. But I may need to start with one of the other programs first and get a bit more experience first so I can qualify. All of them are online so I can do them anywhere and could still have a job, the dog clients, etc. and do it. Some do have a trainer mentor locally you meet with sometimes but mostly online.
Anyway, I think the best step right now is probably to just find a real job first and save up some more money and then I can either move out or pay for the training school. I technically have enough to both right now but the training school would use almost all of my savings and I also don’t think I’m prepared for it right now.
I’ve thought about this a lot, believe it or not, I just keep trying to talk myself out of it and psyching myself out.
already!?
