Are Doggie Daycares and Kennels Profitable? How to Calculate Pet Business Profitability

Are you thinking about starting a doggie daycare and want to know what kind of profit you can expect to make over the course of the year? If so, you're in the right place.

Doggie daycares and boarding kennels and the pet care industry in general have been a booming industry during the last 10 years and they don't show any signs of slowing down. Starting a doggie daycare might just be your key to financial stability and freedom.

To get started on this exercise, we're going to use the pet business profit spreadsheet. This is a free online spreadsheet we developed to help new businesses calculate their future profit margins. You can play around with all the different variables to see what kind of profit you can expect in the future. Maybe charge more for one service and less for another, and see how that changes your business revenue and final profit.

Step 1: Calculate Expected Daycare Revenue

The first step of completing the profitability spreadsheet is to enter your expected earnings from your daycare business. Here you can choose how many pets you expect to have at your daycare during the first month, and then how many pets you expect your business to grow during the course of the year. You're also given the choice of selecting how much you plan on charging for half-day and full-day daycare. Once you've completed the entire spreadsheet, you can start to adjust these numbers to see how a $5 change in half-day daycare might put an extra $5,000 in your pocket over the course of the year.

Step 2: Calculate Expected Pet Boarding Revenue

If your business is going to provide overnight boarding, you'll want to include this section when you complete the financial spreadsheet. Here you can estimate how many pets you'll provide boarding for per night, as well as your growth rate and expected price for a night of boarding. As usual, you can play with these numbers to see how small changes in growth or price can have huge effects on your total business profitability.

Step 3: Enter Expected Business Expenses

You'll notice that there are two sections that we're skipping over, the grooming section and the retail section. If your business is going to provide grooming services or if you expect to sell pet food, supplements, etc, you'll want to include these sections. Then you'll need to move on to the business expenses section. Here you're asked about the cost of rent for your dog daycare, as well as the cost of insurance, equipment, operating expenses, marketing, etc. Take your time to make a good estimate of how much you'll be spending in each area. This will make the final printout much more valuable.

Step 4: Analyze the Financial Spreadsheet Output

Last but not least, once you're done filling in the spreadsheet, you get to see the results. The spreadsheet that displays will show you exactly how much money you'll be making per month, as well as your fixed and variable expenses. Near the bottom, you'll see a lot of text in red. Those are your expenses. At the very bottom, you'll see your break-even point section. This is a running total of how much money your business has spent and earned during the course of the year. When the "Yearly Total" section turns from red to black, that means you've paid off all your investment and you're finally making pure profit.

Enjoy playing with the spreadsheet and good luck starting your doggie daycare or kennel. If you need software, make sure to check out DoggieDashboard.

10,511 Page Views since May 20, 2019