5 Things They Don’t Tell You About Being a Full Time Fursuit Maker

So this is it. You’ve generated a sizable following, honed your skills and bought all your marketing materials. Business cards at the ready, and cash flow coming in, you ready your two weeks notice at your boring day job and get ready to make the leap into creating fursuits full time. But are you really ready to do this? The answer is never yes (and if it is, I’m scared for you), but there are things you would be better off knowing before you decide to take that scary step into self employment. Read on to find out 5 things you don’t really hear talked about much in the fursuit making world.

1.) Have money saved up
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This one is kind of obvious, but before you quit your day job, you really should have a good chunk of change set aside to hold you over in case of a slow start, slow middle, or slow anywhere.

Bills will still need to be paid, whether you get orders or not, and having that money set aside is a weight off your shoulders in case things get crunchy.

Also try to pay bills in advance, and pay off any outstanding debt you have, like credit cards or a car loan if you can. The less debt and bills you will have to worry about going forward, the easier the transition is going to be.

​And of course, don’t forget about taxes!! As a self employed individual you will have to pay TWO tax bills. SE or self-employment tax AND income tax. Preparing for that is enough to warrant a blog post of it’s own, so I won’t go into it, but if you want to make sure to stay friendly with the IRS, remember that as the money comes in.


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Bonus Tip:

Have about 3 months of bills put away in a high yield savings account before you even consider quitting a consistent job. 6 is better. And even after you’re making suits consistently, always pay your bills ahead of time whenever you can

. Being 1-2 months ahead at all times is ideal. “But that’s crazy, I can’t afford that!” Ah, yes you can. It’s what I’ve been doing, and it’s what most people even with consistent jobs try and do, to end the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

​When your monetary needs are met for the month it allows your mind to be free to focus on other things. Like doing your best work, and trying new things.



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2.) Make a schedule (and stick to it!)
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This is also kind of obvious but you’d be SURPRISED by how many makers just starting out don’t do it!

When you’re self employed you obviously won’t have a boss or manager breathing down your neck to get things done. Everything (and I mean everything) is on you.

That can seem like a very freeing and desirable aspect of the work, but it’s so easy to either overwork, or underwork within a week. 7 days is remarkably not a lot of time to get things done, and the more you treat this like an actual 9-5 job, the more productive you’ll be.

Everyone functions best at different times of the day, or has a schedule that works better with a significant other or people who live in your household. Some folks are night owls, some are morning people. Some don’t mind working weekends, some do.

​So before you dive right in and either overwork yourself or slash your productivity, establish a set schedule and work hours every week, and STICK TO IT. Trust me, you and your customers will be thanking you for it later!

3.) Be Prepared...for PAPERWORK
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If you’re going to become self employed, you have to remember that EVERYTHING is now on you. That means all the scheduling, bill paying, supply buying and paper pushing your employer used to do, is now all your responsibility. And you can’t let up on it for a second!

If you’re going to file your taxes correctly and avoid a visit from the audit brigade, you need to make sure you’re keeping track of EVERY minute detail related to your business. The more supplies you buy and places you go to in order to self promote or sell, adds up very quickly, and will benefit you when it comes time to pay the piper by keeping your deductions high and your tax liability low.

Invest in a good sturdy file cabinet, set it up for incoming and outcoming invoices for each month out of the year, and make sure you keep all related receipts and proof of expenditures. Make a tally of what you made and spent sometime during the last week or first week or every month. This will not only help you with taxes, but give you a crystal clear picture of when you’re busiest, and a rough estimate of average monthly income for budgeting purposes. This is VITAL information when planning out which conventions to attend, and if you can afford that new fancy iPad, or if you should pay next month’s mortgage instead.

​Printing online receipts and having a physical paper trail is ideal, but if you can be organized enough online, you can also try spreadsheets and saving .pdf’s.

​4.) This is still retail!...Sort of.
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A big thing I’ve seen a lot of people who decide to jump into this full time often seem to forget is, even though this is a HIGHLY customized market, you are still a business providing a product to a customer base. You are still expected to meet a certain level of quality even though your items are “handmade” and “bespoke” as the case may be. And we are living in a fast paced online retail reality where people are more accustomed to the copy and paste pasta bowls at walmart then the lovingly hand sewn polka dots on their fursuit.

Sometimes you are going to have customers who don’t understand how different our market is, and sometimes it’s going to be easy to forget this is still a type of ‘retail’ service work
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Customer service is one of your most important assets, and communication is a key component. If you don’t communicate effectively, or have trouble curbing a temper, it might be best to step back from the cell phone before you send off a curt reply to that Etsy customer. Breathe, and come back to it after a few hours.

Being professional is part of what is going to get people to come back to you. Never lose that fine line, even if you and a customer become friends, know how to shut it on and off, and when to be serious concerning actual paid work. Knowing the difference and treating everyone like a respectable client will be your best defense when it comes to customer service or quality snafus.

​And the biggest thing to remember, is NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY. If you’ve ever worked retail, you know sometimes someone has a bad day and complains to your manager that you gave them an attitude. That’s ok. You cannot please everyone, you are not pizza. As long as you know you gave 100% of your effort to please a particular customer, and they’re still unhappy, know that it now has nothing to do with you, and be confident in that this will be reflected in any interactions they choose to share. Think carefully about every word you say, and pretend like it will be seen by your entire client base.



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​5.) You will be doing SO much more then making suits.
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Another thing people so often seem to forget is that when you work for yourself, you are the end-all-be-all to your business’s existence anywhere outside of your workspace.

You are the driving force that lets people know you exist, and you are doing the thing.

So on TOP of creating your fuzzy and adorable creations, you are also a social media manager, website designer, bookkeeper, schmoozer, you are networking at cons, taking product photos, shipping out orders, designing logos and new patterns, and making sure the world KNOWS YOU ARE THERE. It can be super overwhelming and it’s a big reason why a lot of people who try it give up and get a real job again.

THe stress of constantly having to push yourself out there is a LOT, and there will be times where you feel like you’re screaming into the void. But you have to be persistent and understand you are just one voice. You don’t necessarily have to be louder then everyone else, but you have to be distinct, and be different enough to catch someone’s eye.

Focus on one aspect of your work or product line that no one else has or can offer, innovate new ideas, and try new methods of advertising on social media. You have to hustle 24/7, 7 days a week. With how easy and accessible social media is, you could be on vacation and find something worth tweeting about that could help boost sales. You could edit SEO keywords while at a con because of a panel you attended. You will always need to be ON in terms of finding ways to keep yourself succeeding.

​And if that paragraph was enough to wind you, take a step back and think about what you’ll be getting into here.

​TL;DR

Basically, the root of the post is this. While becoming a fursuit maker full time might sound fun, and honestly THE BEST JOB EVER OMFG, there is some real gut-punching reality checks to consider, if you’re hoping to make this an actual bill-paying tax-paying tell-the-gov’t-I’m-my-own-boss type of job.

​ It’s exhausting, it’s downright terrifying sometimes, and it will probably make you cry...a few times. Ooh, and hyperventilate...a little. But if you truly think you’ve got what it takes to make the leap, I BELIEVE IN YOU TO DO THE THING. Good luck, and stay tuned to more of my blog posts where I’ll go even further in depth about the money side of things and help you get on the right track to success. Peace!