Dog Adventures Northwest is a legal business entity (Limited Liability Company) in the State of Oregon, with full-coverage insurance and bonding. Licensure is renewed every year. To see the Dog Adventures Northwest credentials, click here.
While Dog Adventures Northwest contractors' business dealings are covered under DANW's business insurance policy, the United States is highly litigious, and there is nothing to stop clients from personally suing Dog Adventures Northwest contractors. Even if such a suit were frivolous, it could nevertheless incur massive costs.
Additionally, the State of Oregon automatically opens an investigation into Dog Adventures Northwest every time a contractor applies for Oregon Unemployment. (To apply for unemployment, you are legally obligated to report your income, including any contract work.) When a contractor has an LLC, however, DANW often gets to skip an intensive investigatory process, which saves us thousands of dollars in legal fees and dozens of administrative hours.
For these reasons, as of January 1, 2024, it is mandatory for all contractors to operate under an LLC (limited liability company) and to be paid through a business bank account under that LLC's name.
Registering an LLC can be done online in about an hour's time, and costs $100/year. To complete the process, visit the State of Oregon's SOS website.
Once a contractor has registered their LLC, they must then set up a business account at their bank. (Note: call ahead to make sure you are bringing the correct documentation to open a business account.)
Dog Adventures Northwest contractors receive a 5% commission bump when payments are sent from DANW to the independent contractor's LLC's business account, and not the individual's personal account.