Would an LLC be the best thing for a pet sitting/dog walking business?

**ohok** · 10-05-2010 01:55 AM

While I have read around quite a bit, I’m still really confused and uncertain about what I should file under. I know a lot of pet sitters and dog walkers will begin as Sole Proprietor’s, but from my understanding this is not the smart thing to do, because if they get slapped with a law suit, they could get their personal belongings attacked in the process. If that’s the case, would Sole Proprietor be any different if the dog sitter was bonded and insured, or does that not matter?

LLC splits up personal and business if there is a law suit, correct? I also read somewhere about how taxes are taken from the services? Does that mean the pet sitter would have to charge 15.95, for example, instead of 15.00? Yikes, a little more than confused with this, I know.

One more thing: Is it mandatory to add the LLC at the end of the DBA, or could it just be (another exaple) Maggie’s Mutts?

**lawinc** · 10-07-2010 08:43 PM

Insurance is a MUST. There are so many things you can run into and you should be protected. You may think you can get away with it, but, Murphy's Law, something will happen when you are not prepared. Insurance is pretty cheap, running less than $200/year. You can get insurance from your local carrier if offered or you can get from a specialist. Most pet sitters will go through organizations to get their insurance, like PSI or NAPPS. I used Pet Sitters Associates, LLC. It skipped over all the bureaucratic nonsense I didn't want. It is strictly insurance. They say it is a membership, but I never got hassled with anything, so I liked it. PSI and NAPPS require you to be a member of their organization, which runs around $200/year. Then you have to pay for the insurance policy which runs around $200. Pet Sitters Associates, LLC is just a flat rate of $164 which includes membership and insurance. PSI and others have an accreditation test to take and more. I never signed up for any of those, so can't really tell you much. You should definitely check it out ALL insurance carriers to see the benefits of each and decide on your own.

**iPAS** · 05-15-2011 12:06 AM

You have to make it something in order to seperate it from you and make it it's own entity. I know a minister who made the church an inc. in order to protect himself in case somebody got hurt at camp. So you have a few different options as far as making it it's own thing, seperated from you. That doesn't really help but I just wanted you to at least protect yourself. alas, that is your own decision.