This weekend was filled with countless hours of finalizing this website, designing our Daisy’s Den merch, and brainstorming our next steps. Right now, we have paid for hosting this site, our email, and ordering a few product samples. My time is simply a labor of love.

Next up, we file for our EIN number, form our LLC, get a business bank account, file with our state for sales tax, and a few other housekeeping items. This is all before we even know if our products will sell. So why do all of this first?

Well, without something professional and tangible to show our potential partners and of course, contributors, how could we expect anyone to take us seriously, right? It makes me wonder if this is why many people don’t go the more “formal” route, because there is a TON of work and some upfront costs with zero guarantee of success. That’s life. Some questions you might be thinking of:

Why is Daisy’s Den not a 501(c)(3)?

We would love to be, as our goal is to become one, as we will be donating profits to other charitable organizations. However, filing for this tax status is lengthy, costly, and requires ongoing paperwork and filings, none of which make any sense until we have proof of concept.

However, we were not going to ask people to donate using Zelle to avoid credit card or PayPal fees (sketchy) nor will we skirt around paying the proper sales and income taxes associated with this type of company. So, to truly keep this as a segregated business and allow us time to grow and become profitable, we went with an LLC business structure.

Will you ever be a tax-exempt charity?

We hope so, but we really don’t know. If Daisy’s Den can become all it is meant to be, we will. We need to see what we have accomplished by specified timelines: 6 months, 1 year, and the 2-year mark, to determine if undertaking the conversion to 501(c)(3) makes sense. You will be among the first to know.

How many shelters and rescues will you partner with?

Daisy’s Den will choose quality over quantity. We want to research and vet any partner organizations to ensure that we are highlighting and supporting only those with great reputations. Ideally, we will have a few in rotation over time and try to do 3-month partnerships so we can reach more than one and ultimately serve more dogs.

How come I don’t see any cats or cat merch?

Daisy’s Den had to start somewhere, and since Daisy was an older and less healthy dog when she was adopted, our heart was pulled to do the same for other older dogs. That’s not to say we won’t feature cats eventually, as we love all animals. But for now, dogs it is!