So I'm working on getting everything set up to do ADC work on the side. I have read through the forums for awhile now and have put together a bunch of the information yall have given and think I have a good working contract. I will eventually have a lawyer and KDWP look over it to make sure everything is covered and legal. I would like for some of yall to look over it and give me some pointers or advice on what I have so far. I can email it to you. It is all in a word document. Any and all advice is welcome. Don't worry about hurting my feelings.... cuz u won't.

Deleted pics... will email it though

I'm trying to figure out some theoretical finances... what would yall say is an average #of jobs per year for a side hustle? 100.. 200... and what would be the average head per job... 2 head per job sound right??? I'm thinking a per mile fee.. per head fee... set up fee.. I'm just trying to come up with some theoretical expense numbers here. I know this can vary wildly..

Those are questions that only other area operators can really answer.
Is the area rural or urban. How many operators will you be competing with for work? How much hustle are you looking to put in to find jobs. What are you going to be trapping ... Ghogs, raccoon, skunk, rats, fox, coyote, pigs, opossum, moles, bats???

You can have: initial sight fees, refundable trap deposits ( to cover trap damage and /or loss ... collect those up front), how often is your trap checks ... everyday, 2 days ... mileage to and from (not just what the government allows) + your time + time on the property and supplies (bait, lures, traps), site restoration and cleanup fees, + business licences, record keeping, billing, collections, time with the accountant/taxes, insurance (cheapest starts at $400/yr here), cellphone, medical insurance, etc., etc., and PROFIT.

Per animal ... Relocation if allowed ( time and distance), dispatch (costs for whatever equipment and supplies needed) ... avoid letting the customer see or hear you dispatch an animal, removal and disposal fees, reporting and/or animal sample fees.

Or set job fees ( inclusive of all the above) for a specified duration,
Any warrantee of total animal removal, for how long?


Run your side hustle from day one as a business or you'll invariably loss money. Need help with the business side of things, see if there is someone from the organization, SCORE in your area that can assist/ mentor you in setting up your business.

I don't want to discourage you from your thoughts, hopefully these are things you have already considered in starting your venture. Good luck to you!

Keep it simple for you, and the customer to calculate. A single price or initial plus a per animal. Charging a per mile fee will only confuse you, or the customer. That’s not worth the hassle. If the job is far enough away that you’d need to put a mileage charge on it, you aren’t going to make any money and shouldn’t take it.

I am working it as a proper business from the start. It cost me $0.79 per mile to run my truck for any number of reasons.. that's fuel, wear and tear, insurance, truck payment, etc.... I'm currently working on making contract, logs, and permits from the state. I have on my permit application furbearers, small game, non game mammals, coyote..... for now I won't do rodent, bats, snakes, birds... I know my limits and won't dive head first.. leave that for the terminix or orkin man for now..they are mostly what's near me...there is a couple other pest control guys around too, but mostly bug guys..there is some urban areas and a lot of rural area.. I'm only putting about a 4 county area on my permits for now to keep it close and get established.. we are a 24hr check here. I have a full time job right now and tricare for health insurance... for the business insurance, I gota get more info together... one looked into also wanted projected income for a quote...I gota get the finance part figured out b4 I can look at insurance.

Since you don’t have any real idea how your first year will go, I’d tell them 25k. Given this is part time, around 3k a month is reasonable. If you make more, great, up it next year.

Still trying to simplify billing vs profit after expenses .... so would it be unreasonable to assume a typical job for one racoon gets billed for 4hr worth of work?? That's drive time, trap checks, admin.. etc.

Make it simple. Do a set up fee / per animal or flat rate. I gave an example for someone in "what do you charge" thread. You can find it by looking at my posts.

Example: charge $175 to set up and then $85/head regardless of what you catch (raccoon, cat, bird, & etc). If it is a non-target you can release on site, like the neighbor's cat, charge $65 to give them a break.

Or

Charge a flat. $375 for 5 or 7 days and that can be for 10 groundhogs or 0.



Some people get scared with a flat rate. However, it gives your client a max. I did a groundhog job and the gal tells me she sees 2 everyday go under her shed. I caught 8 in 3 days. If set up/ animal that would have been almost $900 and a financial hardship for her. Instead, I had her on a flat rate of $425. Sometimes I catch nothing and that stings, but I still have my time in it. I use cameras so if the target is eluding my traps, I will stay on site longer without charging more. I figure if it's there and I not catching it, that's my fault. If I haven't caught it in a week and it's not on camera, it's not there.

Nuisance work is not fur trapping for most people in the industry, so there will be learning curve.

If you are looking to learn more about nuisance work, consider joining NWCOA (national wildlife control operators association) and taking their basic operator course. You can take it as nonmember, but I don't know what the price difference is.

It depends on the raccoon job and how much damage they do. We’ve had a bunch that need all the insulation torn out etc.

Typically, raccoon jobs are more expensive than ground hog jobs since they involve working at heights. Taking a caged raccoon that isn’t happy it’s in a trap off a steep roof deserves a premium. If you’re good with sheet metal and a brake and can make the fix look good, that’s worth more than a hardware cloth fix. Take pics of your work and don’t be afraid to tell potential customers how happy they will be with the quality of your fix.

It’s going to vary so much on a variety of factors including distance, ease of access (is it ground trapping or are you climbing on a 2nd story roof), how many traps you setting, do you already have them or you got to buy them?

I wouldn’t try to figure how much each individual thing is goin to cost you. Just figure on each job you’ll catch 3-7 animals. If you charge $100 per animal that’s pretty good $ even if you only have 3-4 jobs per month, don’t forget setup fee that’s usually 2x whatever you charge per animal.

In my business I’ve “played customer” and called some of the competitors in my area. They all charge setup plus per animal fees. Find out what those are and cut the price 10-15%. Just my opinion. Raise the prices when you get busier.

Don’t skimp on the actual formation of a business not only for tax purposes but also as a liability protection for yourself. Get insurance like everyone else has said. Keep written records of EVERYTHING including the bag of marshmallows you buy to bait coons with.

Send me a PM if you want God bless

That what I did.. I'm using a few different options I gathered from "quotes" to see where I should charge and figure out financial stuff. I am starting this a a legitimate business... got my EIN today.. waiting on the DBA so I can go open a separate business account. Had my contract reviewed on the legal end with a couple changes that need made. Once I do some more math and get a few proper insurance quotes, the financial officer on base will help review things in that aspect.. should hopefully be up and running legally here in a month or 2.

Got 8 havahart traps, a bunch of golfer traps and got set up with a pest control guy that will send work my way. Got decals and business cards done. Finances and contracts done.. only thing I'm waiting on now is papers for my permits..

havahart traps are the biggest pieces of sh!t out there.
havahart traps will cost you money in the long run vs make you money

I operated an animal control business in southeast Alabama for more than 25 years. My trap of choice was the https://www.havahart.com/large-1-door-animal-trap-1079. I caught hunderds of critters in them, e.g. Both red and gray fox, armadillos, bobcats, opossums, raccoons, skunks; even caught a couple of crows and one redtailed hawk. I also did a a lot of bat work and snake removal. We have Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, timber rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouth watermoccasins and a few coral snakes. I never had a Havart 1079 damaged by an animal; had some damaged by cars though, usually the homeowner.

Most of my posts and pictures are still available in the archives of TRAPPERMAN.

Disagree, like LAtrapper I've made my share of catches with havajunks.

I will opine that for certain critters they are the bare minimum in strength to hold, armadillos, so that needs to be kept in mind when acquiring and stocking traps.

But they are also the most commonly available locally at a price point that allows for depreciation, theft or loss.

everyone has different opinions, makes the world go around.

It's a foot in the door until I can generate some spair change to get better stuff. Gota start somewhere.

As these traps were purchased from another WCO, they are well used.. did some clean up and put hog rings on all the joints to further aid in the trap from getting ate up. I was also informed that keeping these "lighter duty traps" covered helps with the animal fighting them so hard. Either way, they didn't cost me much and will get me out on jobs for now.

Raccoons are the toughest on traps that we have to deal with. I’ve never had one go through the side of the trap, but I’ve had them tear the doors off less robust ones. Unfortunately, they are then educated and harder to catch.

Choose the trap to match your target. A light trap will work for most animals.