A pet-sitting business owner reports $300,000 in sales and $90,000 net income last year; a MarketWatch columnist estimates its value near $300,000. Her $50,000 salary could lift it toward $400,000 if excluded from net profit, though the columnist calls that aggressive.
The columnist says buyers often value small pet-sitting businesses using seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE), rather than just bottom-line profit, and puts typical pet-sitting valuations at around three times average earnings. The owner says she has about 300 clients and 15 independent-contractor sitters, keeps 20%–30% of each client fee and still does much of the sitting herself.
BizBuySell data cited in the column put the median sale price for dog-boarding businesses at $850,000 in 2025, after a decline in 2024; the columnist says that level likely reflects a business with several employees, not a one-person operation relying on contractors. For a purchase, he recommends checking at least three years of tax returns, two years of monthly revenue and expenses, bank and credit-card statements, debt, insurance coverage, client retention and contractor arrangements.
