Education and Care · Seller's Guide

How to Sell a Pet Boarding, Grooming, or Dog Daycare

Pet-care businesses sell on recurring clients, capacity, and often the real estate. Here is what drives value.

Why It's Different

What makes selling a pet care business different

A pet-boarding, grooming, or dog-daycare business runs on recurring clients and capacity, repeat boarding and daycare customers, grooming regulars, memberships or packages, and how full your kennels and daycare run against capacity. Recurring revenue and high utilization are what buyers pay for.

The facility, zoning, and staff are central. These uses need proper zoning and often a conditional-use permit, the buildout of kennels, play areas, and grooming stations is specialized, and when you own the real estate it is a major part of value; trained, retained staff keep the operation running.

How It's Valued

What is a pet care business worth?

Most buyers value a pet care business on a multiple of Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE), your profit plus the owner's salary and the personal expenses run through the business.

Pet-care businesses are usually valued at about 2 to 3.5 times SDE, plus the real estate valued separately when you own it, with recurring daycare and boarding revenue and high utilization at the higher end. I rebuild SDE with proper add-backs, and when the property is included, handle it under my DRE license, #02372118.

A broker's job is to rebuild your SDE with the right add-backs so your true earning power, not just the tax-return bottom line, sets the price. Get a free, confidential valuation →

Confidentiality

Selling without your staff or competitors finding out

Selling a pet care business works best when no one finds out until the right moment. Employees, competitors, customers, and suppliers learning early is the number-one fear owners have, and for good reason, it can cost you staff and revenue mid-sale. I market every business with a blind profile: a teaser that describes the opportunity, the numbers, and the area only in general terms, and never names your business. Every buyer is screened and signs a non-disclosure agreement before they learn which business is for sale. Your team keeps working, your customers keep coming, and your sale stays private until it closes.

What's your pet care business actually worth?

Get a free, confidential valuation, built on your real numbers, with no obligation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Selling a pet care business, answered

Yes. Repeat daycare, boarding, and grooming clients, and any membership or package programs, make revenue predictable and raise value more than one-time visits. We document utilization and recurring revenue clearly.

Yes. Boarding and daycare uses require proper zoning and often a conditional-use permit, which buyers and lenders confirm. We verify zoning and permits early so it is a known factor, not a late surprise.

Often. When you own the facility, the real estate is valued separately and can be sold with the business or leased to the buyer. That side is handled under my California DRE license, #02372118.

About Your Broker

Martin Navarro, Business Broker

Martin Navarro is a California business broker, DRE #02372118, and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and a member of the California Association of Business Brokers (CABB), the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), ACG Los Angeles (Association for Corporate Growth), and the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce. Gas stations, car washes, self-storage, and other businesses with real estate are a specialty within his full-service brokerage practice. Martin serves business owners across Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Ventura, and Orange County, and throughout Southern California.

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Tell me about your pet care business. Every inquiry is confidential and there is no obligation.