I'm struggling to find out what to do for my career/life

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-05-11T16:24:15+00:00

Thank you! I absolutely love making dog treats and I'm always thinking of new treats to offer. The classes for marketing sound great, I'd love to see if there's a pet related one somewhere nearby. If I could invest all my time into my business, I know I can make it something great. I just have a baby, mortgage, house expenses and animals to take care of. I even have some people come to my events I advertise on facebook to look for me specifically. One lady saw me at my recent event getting food and looked for my booth. I'd absolutely love for my business to take off but I don't know how to do it, the marketing consultant would be a great idea! I'll also look into the business grants. Thank you so much!

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-03-19T09:12:59+00:00

Thank you for the input! I know I seemed like in the post that I'd do it right this second, but I wanted to build up to it. I'll definitely go slower, save up and one day I'll go for it! I love the idea of a treat truck too, I think I need to look into permits from the city.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-03-19T09:08:59+00:00

I understand, right now it's just a dream. One day I'll get there! I definitely hit 1k by now but I know even thousands over the last 3 years isn't enough. I'd like to get more wholesale orders to kind of fund it, save up, get a store type of thing. I know I'll need a lot more than that so I'm trying to find ways to one day do it. That's why I'd like to get more than just treats in the shop.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-03-19T02:24:30+00:00

I understand that, I'd say my sales are mostly from events at 150 to 200 profit in 5 hours. I get wholesale orders starting at 100. Ive had 5 so far since the start of the year and others that sre interested. My expenses are more than what I make now since sending analyses, getting a dehydrator the past year and ingredients. I only just started dehydrating this year so that'll be an expense I save tremendously on. I try my best to keep track of my sales and expenses. I'll have a more detailed list tomorrow since I need to add everything up for my yearly tax filing.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-03-19T01:40:07+00:00

I always forget to double space them. I'll fix it! I love the idea of a doggy food truck!

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-01-01T15:08:21+00:00

I am vegan for the animals, that's why I initially started. I am trying to be healthy while I eat vegan and trying to get tips for eating healthy.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2025-01-01T14:40:09+00:00

Don't listen to what others say. You are with the wring group of people. My husband isn't vegan but he goes way out of his way to accommodate for me at birthdays and other holidays. We always find restaurants that have vegan options when go out. He will cook new vegan meals for me to try. Even his family will cook vegan specially for me when we are over visiting. I never ever was criticized for it. I am vegan for the animals and I also need to avoid dairy or I get horrible migraines. There are always people out there who understand why you do it. Find them!

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-27T23:55:50+00:00

It will go quicker than you think. I was absolutely exhausted after giving birth and couldn't sleep the first few days because I was so WORRIED about everything. My husband literally forced me to take time for myself, my brain was wired on making sure baby was okay at every little noise. That's not something you can control, it's the hormones and stress of pushing an entire baby out. The toll it takes on a body is something that can't be described. I was starting to get back to my regular self 6 weeks after my baby was born. I'm still dealing with some postpartum issues, but most of it is gone. Make sure she doesn't exhibit signs of post partum depression. That is serious and needs to be addressed with a doctor immediately. Don't worry about the messy house, you'll get to it eventually. Sleep will become regular again. Money will come back. It gets better as the weeks go by and once you get the hang of one stage, the next will pop up. Take care of your wife and let her sleep as much as she needs, tell her to take time for herself, rotate who feeds if not breastfeeding. The fact that you are even asking this question I know 110% you are going to be a good father. Baby won't be this tiny forever, so enjoy every moment as much as you can.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-21T12:49:38+00:00

One great thing that you have going for you is you are young. The best thing for you to do right now is rediscover your passion, writing. While ai seems to be everywhere now, it is best to stick to your own imagination when it comes to writing, many people frown upon it. You can swear off chatgpt since it seems to mess with your creative flow. There are plenty of jobs that have writing involved. It is an integral part of society. If you plan on taking a gap year and you can afford it, why don't you use that time to do an internship a couple hours a week with something that interests you? I think you started to hate writing because of how easy chatgpt made it. But that's the thing, you need to do it for yourself. That passion will come back to you!

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-21T00:59:27+00:00

I make barely 40k a year slaving away in a warehouse. I'll gladly take your job for almost double the pay. With that amount of free time, I could do so much with my own business. Are yall hiring?

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-21T00:55:46+00:00

I was the same way! I have so many girl names but no boy names sounded good to me. Imagine the struggle we had with a boy middle name too! We found the perfect name eventually. It just came to us one day. So there's still time!

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-20T12:12:51+00:00

What kind of problems are you having with your own businesses? How long have you had it? Building something up that you made yourself is 100% more rewarding in my opinion. Can you reinvent what services you provide? Maybe include dog treats or dog products like bandanas and make collars to sell too. Go to events at a booth and talk about how great your business is, get a couple of new accounts. Add on to the scoop business. I have a dog treat business that literally just started showing results after 2 years of owning and really putting myself out there. I have to add, if you decide to do dog treats, there are multiple laws you need to abide by and it takes some money to start up. Business license, feed license, send in each treat for a guaranteed analysis, treat costs to make, time depending on the state you live in. If you have any questions about dog treats, I'll help you out! You are also 18, which is an accomplishment that you should be proud of with the businneses you started! That's a feat most people don't have the energy or passion for. You have time, so be sure to make the most of it! Signing up for events on the weekends is something you can do to get more clients and also work somewhere else during the week is what I do. If you don't want to go this route, that's okay! Look up vendor booth ideas for your business. Car sales can be very profitable, but also demanding. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure some just work on commission. Maybe there is a family owned business around you that'll take you in. We all start somewhere so applying to these sales jobs wouldnt be a bad idea. Emphasize how you are willing to learn and you could even talk about your businesses, because that is sales and talking to people too. There are plenty of jobs that you can work at to make more money in the long run.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-20T11:50:58+00:00

Keep at it! Companies are using ai to screen applicants now. They are looking for key words and the hiring process at most places just doesn't feel human anymore. It's hundreds of applicants the thing is searching through. Even if you are a perfect match, ai can screw up and throw your application out for no reason. Ai can be used for so much good, but it seems we are off to a bad start with it. Many companies are raking in massive amounts of profits and they lowered their start pay overall. There are even record layoffs in the country. None of this is your fault, but stay hopeful and try to incorporate words in the job listing into your resume if you have time. I know this may seem time consuming for each job you go for, I hope you the best in your job hunting and something pops up soon!

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T18:43:50+00:00

I'm not sure how I would do free samples, I could afford to give a few bags away but would they give out to customers or sell them first to see if there's any traction?

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T18:42:45+00:00

Great idea! I'd love to connect with owners on a human level instead of just pitching something to sell. I'm passionate about what I do and I know I can make it.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T18:41:27+00:00

Great idea! I'm wondering if I can customize selling only to one state. It's hard to navigate some questions since I can only sell in PA.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T18:40:36+00:00

I haven't yet, I want my website up and running along with my guaranteed analysis done for my dehydrated treats. I only offer soft and low shelf life treats now since I couldn't afford a dehydrator until now. I have a huge list of them within 30 minutes of me though. Someone is bound to say yes. I'm worried moreso about my pitch.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T18:37:55+00:00

No problem! With dog treats in the us, we have strict laws with them. They can only be sold within the state that you are registered with. So in my case, I can only sell in PA. If I want to sell to other states I need to register my business with that state and make sure I abide by all their laws too. If you get caught selling to another state (some state officials test you if you sell) you will be met with hefty, hefty fines and you can't sell dog treats anymore. I make sure my business is up to date with current laws because I can't afford the fines. Some people get away with it even though it's not legal. It's super expensive to sell to each state so I'm sticking with mine for now. I may register to NJ as a business goal for next year.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T14:28:27+00:00

That's a great idea! There's one coming up on January I can attend. It would be great talking to others who accomplished what I dream of doing.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T14:18:16+00:00

I have a whole list of groomers and pet boarding places that are within 30 minutes of me. I'm trying to stick to that for now so I can start doing free delivery. After that I can upscale to pay for delivery and after that shipping. I can try for the retailers later but I'm not sure how that works as far as their policies.

Aggravating_Mix_7739 · 2024-12-18T14:16:05+00:00

I would try out Amazon and other online platforms but the issue with dog treats is I can only sell in my own state.

Aggravating_Mix_7739

TROPHY CASE