How to Start a Pet Portraits Business

Start a pet portraits business by following these 10 steps:

1. Plan your Pet Portraits Business
2. Form your Pet Portraits Business into a Legal Entity
3. Register your Pet Portraits Business for Taxes
4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
5. Set up Accounting for your Pet Portraits Business
6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Pet Portraits Business
7. Get Pet Portraits Business Insurance
8. Define your Pet Portraits Business Brand
9. Create your Pet Portraits Business Website
10. Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your pet portraits business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out othersmall business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

• What will you name your business?
• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?
• How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit ourHow to Name a Businessguide or get help brainstorming a name with ourPet Portraits Business Name Generator

If you operate asole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit ourDBAguide to learn more.

Whenregistering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability.

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

What are the costs involved in opening a pet portraits business?

The startup costs for a pet portraits business are quite low and manageable. Business owners need a website. Having a high-quality website designed and built typically costs between$2,000 and $10,000, but business owners can minimize this expense by using a platform that lets them create their own site.

Business owners also need to purchase art supplies :

• Pencils: $10
• Paints: $40
• Paintbrushes: $15
• Canvas: $12-100 per piece
• Paper: $20 per book

These expenses can be paid for after payment has been received from customers, though. It’s common to charge a deposit, which can be used to purchase art supplies. It’s also standard to have customers pay in full before shipping a finished piece, and any shipping costs can be built into a customer’s final bill.

Most people who get into this line of work already have a space to work on pieces, so finding studio space usually isn’t a concern.

What are the ongoing expenses for a pet portraits business?

The main ongoing expenses for a pet portrait business include website maintenance and hosting costs, which are typically just a few dollars a month, and art supply and shipping costs. As mentioned, art supply and shipping fees can be built into customers’ payments, making the ongoing expenses extremely low.

Who is the target market?

A pet portraits business’ ideal customer is a pet owner who loves their non-human friend and has a decent amount of discretionary income. Such a person may be interested in having a portrait of their pet made, and they have enough money to afford a portrait.

How does a pet portraits business make money?

A pet portraits business makes money by selling custom portraits of people’s pets. How much portraits cost usually depends on a portrait’s medium, style and size, as well as the number of animals included in the work. For example,Melanie & Nicholashave a detailed fee schedule that takes into account the following: whether a work is done with pencil or oil, how large it is, how many animals are in the work, and whether the work includes an animal’s head or full body.

How much can you charge customers?

How much customers pay for pet portraits varies a lot. Splendid Beast offers paintingsstarting at $99, while Melanie & Nicholas chargeover $9,500for a large oil portrait.

How much profit can a pet portraits business make?

直到一个艺术家,一个宠物画像布鲁里溃疡siness’ income may be inconsistent. Once a business is established, though, it can bring in a handsome annual revenue. If Melanie & Nicholas each worked on large oil paintings, they could complete about 12 each year. (It takes about 8 weeks for them to complete a portrait.) At over $9,500 each, that’s an annual revenue of around $114,000.

How can you make your business more profitable?

A pet portraits business can increase its revenue by doing commission work for non-profit societies and veterinarian offices. Human societies, ASPCA organizations, and vets may want murals painted in their facilities.

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most commonbusiness structuretypes are thesole proprietorship,partnership,118bet金博宝 , andcorporation.

Establishing a legal business entity such as anLLCorcorporationprotects you from being held personally liable if your pet portraits business is sued.

You can金宝搏188是什么公司yourself and pay only the minimal stateLLC costsor hire one of the118金宝app for a small, additional fee.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more aboutstate sales taxand franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

使用专用业务的银行和信贷accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to aspiercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Get a business credit card

Getting abusiness credit cardhelps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with ourLLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a pet portraits business. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visitingSBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.

Services Contract

Pet portrait artists may also want to create services contracts, which outline the expectations, payment, etc. of each project.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully.Business Insuranceprotects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face,begin withGeneral Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need isWorkers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

Is this Business Right For You?

Anyone who is artistically inclined and enjoys animals may like running a pet portraits business. For those who like to draw, paint, or work with another medium, doing commissioned portraits is a great way to earn an income creating art. Loving animals helps business owners stay interested in their work even when they’re working on animal portraits several days in a row.

This is a business that can be started as a part-time business. It’s easy to schedule taking orders, working on portraits and shipping completed pieces around another work schedule or a class schedule.Ramsey Beyer, for instance, go into this line of work as a “side hustle.”

What happens during a typical day at a pet portraits business?

According toArt Dog Blog, new pet portraits business owners should spend at least half their time marketing their business. This includes pursuing both national marketing campaigns and connecting with local animal-loving associations.

When not marketing their business, business owners spend most of their time working on portraits. Creating a quality piece of artwork that accurately reflects a pet takes a lot of time. For Tom and Ben of Splendid Beast, making a pet portrait takesabout 8 weeks.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful pet portraits business?

In order to open a pet portraits business, business owners must be able to create artistic portraits. Aspiring business owners who don’t have an artistic background ought to take at least one art class, if not several. Local community colleges and vocational training programs frequently offer drawing and painting classes. There are also many online art courses, such as those offered byArtists Network University,MoMAand theAcademy of Art University.

What is the growth potential for a pet portraits business?

A pet portraits business can be as small or large as a business owner wants it to be. Businesses that grow usually do so through marketing channels, rather than by opening galleries or retail locationsMyPoochFace是一个大公司,数百的例子吗of customers.