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Written by: Carolyn Young
Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.
Edited by: David Lepeska
David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.
Published on October 15, 2021
Investment range
$2,000 - $5,100
Revenue potential
$39,000 - $117,000 p.a.
Time to build
0 - 3 months
Profit potential
$35,000 - $47,000 p.a.
Industry trend
Growing
Commitment
Flexible
Here is what you should consider when starting your dog-walking business:
You May Also Wonder:
How much should I charge to walk a dog?
Prices for a 30-minute dog walk range from $19 to $29. When you are first starting out, you should be at the lower end of the range, since you will lack experience and want to draw interest. Check the prices of other dog walking services in your local area.
Are dog walking businesses profitable?
Dog walking businesses can be very profitable! Profit margins for a dog walking business are high, particularly when you are doing it on your own and have no employees to pay. Your margin could be as high as 90%.
What are the risks of starting a dog walking business?
When starting any business, you are risking the money that you put in if you are not successful. For a dog walking business, other risks include injuries to the dog or to other people, so be sure to have dog walking insurance.
How do I succeed in dog walking business?
To succeed in a dog walking business, gain experience and knowledge about different dog breeds, establish a professional image with branding and an online presence, obtain necessary licenses and insurance, provide exceptional customer service, offer additional services, network and collaborate with other pet-related businesses.
Is dog walking a good side hustle?
Dog walking can be a good side hustle for those with flexibility in their schedules, but it’s important to consider availability, physical fitness, and the ability to handle different dog behaviors.
Is it hard to set up a dog walking business?
Setting up a dog walking business requires research, obtaining necessary permits or licenses, developing a business plan, establishing a professional image, and ensuring appropriate insurance coverage.
What skills do I need for a dog walking business?
Skills needed for a dog walking business include knowledge of dog behavior and basic training techniques, the ability to handle different dogs, good communication and customer service skills, physical fitness and stamina, time management and organizational skills, problem-solving skills, and flexibility.
Starting a dog walking business requires time and effort. Before you jump in, you need to fully understand what is involved before you decide if a dog walking business is right for you.
As the pandemic recedes, dog walking is expected to continue to grow due to increased job market stability and longer working hours.
Trends in the dog walking industry include:
Challenges in the dog walking industry include:
Start-up costs for a dog walking business range from $2,000 – $5,100. If you set up your own basic website without an online booking option at first, you can minimize your costs.
| Start-up Costs | Ballpark Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up a business name and corporation | $200 - $200 | $200 |
| Licenses and permits | $200 - $300 | $250 |
| Insurance | $100 - $500 | $300 |
| Business cards and brochures | $200 - $300 | $250 |
| Website setup | $1,000 - $3,000 | $2,000 |
| Initial marketing budget | $200 - $500 | $350 |
| Supplies | $50 - $100 | $75 |
| Pet first aid class | $50 - $200 | $125 |
| Total | $2,000 - $5,100 | $3,550 |
Your profit will vary depending on:
The cost to walk a dog yourself is minimal, limited to a few treats and your fuel to get to the location, which will be an average of $2. The average price for a 30-minute dog walk in the US is $25.
In your first year or two, you might book five walks per day, six days a week. This would give you $39,000 in annual revenue and a profit of $35,000, assuming a 90% profit margin. As your brand gains recognition, you might do 15 walks per day. At this stage, you’d rent a commercial space and hire staff, reducing your profit margin to around 40%. You’d earn $117,000 in annual revenue and a tidy profit of nearly $47,000. Not bad for spending quality time with dogs!
From there, you could hire more walkers, book more clients, and build your dog walking empire.
There are very few barriers to entry for a dog walking business. Your biggest challenges will be:
Now that you know what is involved in starting a dog walking business, you need to hone your idea further in order to be able to enter a new market with tough competition.
Market research will give you the upper hand, even if you’re already positive that you have a perfect product or service. Conducting market research is important, because it can help you understand your customers better, who your competitors are, and your business landscape.
Research dog walkers in your area to examine their services, price points, and customer reviews. You’re looking for a market gap to fill. For instance, maybe the local market is missing a dog walker who offers extended hours, from early in the morning to late in the evening.
You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry, such as offering additional services, like training or grooming.
This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away.
Beyond just dog walking, you could offer a variety of other services including pet sitting, dog park visits, bathing and grooming, training, pet supply pick-up, and more.
Make a list of what you can offer to your customers and consider if any of those things can allow you to offer upgraded service packages for more money, or just charge individually for each service.
When you are just starting out, you may have to charge a lower-than-average price until you have a track record. You might want to start at $20 per 30-minute walk and build a reputation before increasing your rate.
Research other dog walking services in your area to determine what prices are in your local market. Once you know your costs, you can use this Step By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price points. Remember, the prices you use at launch should be subject to change if warranted by the market.
Your target market will be dog owners. Those people visit pet stores, so you could place brochures and business cards in pet stores near you. Veterinary offices are another opportunity. You could also search Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for people with dogs.
In the early stages of your business development, you can operate your business from home to help you keep your overhead expenses in check. However, as your business grows and operations intensify, you may hire workers and rent out an office.
You can find commercial space to rent in your area on sites such as Craigslist, Crexi, and Instant Offices.
When choosing a commercial space, you may want to follow these rules of thumb:
Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business name:
Discover over 250 unique dog walking business name ideas here. If you want your business name to include specific keywords, you can also use our dog walking business name generator. Just type in a few keywords and hit “generate” and you’ll have dozens of suggestions at your fingertips.
Once you’ve got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool. Using “.com” or “.org” sharply increases credibility, so it’s best to focus on these.
Finally, make your choice among the names that pass this screening and go ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business name is one of the key differentiators that set your business apart. Once you pick your company name and start with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider your choice before you start a business entity.
Here are the key components of a business plan:
If you’ve never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating task. You might consider hiring a business plan specialist to create a top-notch business plan for you.
Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it’s the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the road to getting a business up and running.
Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it’s complete, you’ll have your own business!
Your business location is important because it can affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their business in the state where they live, but if you are planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, as some states could offer real advantages when it comes to dog walking.
If you’re willing to move, you could really maximize your business! Keep in mind, it’s relatively easy to transfer your business to another state.
Business entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you choose for your dog walking business will shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely.
Here are the main options:
We recommend that new business owners choose LLC as it offers liability protection and pass-through taxation while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as little as five minutes using an online LLC formation service. They will check that your business name is available before filing, submit your articles of organization, and answer any questions you might have.
Choose Your State
The final step before you’re able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. You can file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Keep in mind, if you’ve chosen to be a sole proprietorship you can simply use your social security number as your EIN.
Once you have your EIN, you’ll need to choose your tax year. Financially speaking, your business will operate in a calendar year (January–December) or a fiscal year, a 12-month period that can start in any month. This will determine your tax cycle, while your business structure will determine which taxes you’ll pay.
The IRS website also offers a tax-payers checklist, and taxes can be filed online.
It is important to consult an accountant or other professional to help you with your taxes to ensure you are completing them correctly.
Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to raise capital:
Bank and SBA loans are probably the best options, other than friends and family, for funding a dog walking business.
Starting a dog walking business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments.
Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business as (DBA), health licenses and permits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well as industry-specific licenses and permits.
You may also need state-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more.
You could also check this SBA guide for your state’s requirements, but we recommend using MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance Package. They will research the exact forms you need for your business and state and provide them to ensure you’re fully compliant.
This is not a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can result in hefty penalties.
If you feel overwhelmed by this step or don’t know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help you check all the legal boxes.
Before you start making money, you’ll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account.
Keeping your business finances separate from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and track your company’s income, so it’s worth doing even if you’re running your dog walking business as a sole proprietorship. Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and similar to opening a personal one. Most major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.
Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it’s a good idea to examine your options and select the best plan for you. Once you choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if you decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open your new account.
Business insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it can be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can have a devastating impact on your business.
Here are some types of insurance to consider:
As opening day nears, prepare for launch by reviewing and improving some key elements of your business.
Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business tasks.
You may want to use industry-specific software like Scout, TimeToPet, and Easy Busy Pets to manage your schedule, handle billing, provide real-time updates to your client, and communicate with clients through in-app messaging features.
Here are some powerful marketing strategies for your future business:
Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism.
You can create your own website using website builders. This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be time-consuming. If you lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or developer to create a custom website for your business.
They are unlikely to find your website, however, unless you follow Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. These are steps that help pages rank higher in the results of top search engines like Google.
Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that sets it apart from the competition. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you’ll have a real advantage if they are able to quickly grasp how your dog walking service meets their needs or wishes. It’s wise to do all you can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer desire.
Global pizza chain Domino’s is renowned for its USP: “Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Signature USPs for your dog walking business could be:
You may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks likely offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a pet store, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is connected to dozens of potential clients. Maybe your cousin or neighbor has been working with dogs for years and can offer invaluable insight and industry connections.
The possibilities are endless, so it’s a good idea to review your personal and professional networks and reach out to those with possible links to or interest in dogs. You’ll probably generate new customers or find companies with which you could establish a partnership. Online businesses might also consider affiliate marketing as a way to build relationships with potential partners and boost business.
You may not need to hire any employees if you are starting out small from a home-based office. However, as your business grows, you may need to recruit full-time employees for various job roles, such as:
At some point, you may need to hire all of these positions or simply a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a single role or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need.
Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. You might also consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertising on Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter. Further, if you have the resources, you could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you find talent.
More than 56% of pet owners in the US are millennials and Gen Xers. Most of them are now returning to work onsite with the lifting of pandemic restrictions in most states. This presents more opportunities for a dog walking business so you can expect to find clients and build up your brand in no time. It’s important to provide consistently excellent service and get good customer reviews to be able to scale your business and expand your offerings.
Congratulations! You’ve done all your entrepreneurial homework, so now it’s time to nail down your plan and launch your dog walking business.
Prices for a 30-minute dog walk range from $19 to $29. When you are first starting out, you should be at the lower end of the range, since you will lack experience and want to draw interest. Check the prices of other dog walking services in your local area.
Dog walking businesses can be very profitable! Profit margins for a dog walking business are high, particularly when you are doing it on your own and have no employees to pay. Your margin could be as high as 90%.
When starting any business, you are risking the money that you put in if you are not successful. For a dog walking business, other risks include injuries to the dog or to other people, so be sure to have dog walking insurance.
To succeed in a dog walking business, gain experience and knowledge about different dog breeds, establish a professional image with branding and an online presence, obtain necessary licenses and insurance, provide exceptional customer service, offer additional services, network and collaborate with other pet-related businesses.
Dog walking can be a good side hustle for those with flexibility in their schedules, but it’s important to consider availability, physical fitness, and the ability to handle different dog behaviors.
Setting up a dog walking business requires research, obtaining necessary permits or licenses, developing a business plan, establishing a professional image, and ensuring appropriate insurance coverage.
Skills needed for a dog walking business include knowledge of dog behavior and basic training techniques, the ability to handle different dogs, good communication and customer service skills, physical fitness and stamina, time management and organizational skills, problem-solving skills, and flexibility.
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