Six franchise brands run a pet boarding & daycare. Here they are beside the independent version of the same business, with each brand’s fees as it publishes them and worked out in dollars. A brand can bring customers an independent has to earn one by one. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs.
Typical for a pet boarding & daycare: $400k to $2M in sales, and the owner keeps 28% to 34% after paying for its own marketing. Change either to your own numbers.
Work each brand out at
How the two sides are counted
Sales. A brand’s name brings customers an independent wins one at a time, so each brand is worked out at the sales it reports where we have them, and at yours where we don’t.
Marketing. On your own you pay for all of it, about 4% of sales here. The ad fund does part of that job, so it is counted once, not twice.
Survival. New franchised businesses were about 5 to 6 points more likely to make it through their first two years in Census data, and about half of all new businesses close within five years. It is not in the dollars; each brand’s details give the sources.
The independent version
Your own pet boarding & daycare
Built and run under your own name
Cost to open
$238k to $667k
Annual sales
$890ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$275,900
The owner keeps in a year, after about $36k of marketing
Taking new owners
Hounds Town USA
Dog daycare and boarding
Total investment
$476k to $1.3M
Avg. annual sales
$314k to $843k
Franchise fee
$49k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$145k
The owner keeps in a year at $578k in sales (what it reports), after $46k to the brand
$131k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
The Dog Stop
Dog daycare, boarding and grooming
Total investment
$554k to $1.1M
Avg. annual sales
$584k to $972k
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$195k
The owner keeps in a year at $778k in sales (what it reports), after $62k to the brand
$81k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Central Bark
Dog daycare, boarding, grooming
Total investment
$620k to $1.4M
Avg. annual sales
$812k to $903k
Franchise fee
$55k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$215k
The owner keeps in a year at $858k in sales (what it reports), after $69k to the brand
$61k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Dogtopia
Dog daycare and boarding
Total investment
$688k to $1.8M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
7% + 2% of sales
$214k
The owner keeps in a year at $890k in sales (your sales), after $80k to the brand
$62k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Camp Bow Wow
Dog daycare and boarding
Total investment
$955k to $1.2M
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
3.5% + 1% of sales
$245k
The owner keeps in a year at $890k in sales (your sales), after $40k to the brand
$31k less a year than on your own
Selective
K9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel
Upscale dog daycare and boarding
Total investment
$2.4M to $3.9M
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
7% + 2% of sales
$214k
The owner keeps in a year at $890k in sales (your sales), after $80k to the brand
$62k less a year than on your own
Free account
See all 6 pet boarding & daycare brands side by side
Every brand’s investment and fees, and what the owner keeps against running your own
The yearly sales the first 3 report, and a plus to add brands to your comparison and benchmark them in your account
Members see the sales every franchisor reports, for every brand
Free, no card. A new account accepts the Terms and the Privacy Policy. smbnest is a self-assessment tool and never takes a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor.
Before you sign: what to read in the disclosure document
Every franchisor must give you its Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign or pay. These are the parts that answer the questions above.
Items 5 to 7, the fees and the investment. The franchise fee, every other fee (technology, training, transfer, renewal), and the full opening budget, including working capital.
Item 19, what owners earn. Whether the brand states owner sales or earnings at all, and for which units. Put its figures in the boxes above in place of the typical ones.
Item 20, units opened, closed and sold. How many owners left in each of the last three years, and a list of current and former owners you can call.
Item 12, the territory. Whether you get a protected area, and what the brand can open or sell inside it.
Item 21, the franchisor’s own finances. Whether the company behind the brand is in good health.
smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice. Fees are as each brand publishes them on its franchising page and in its disclosure document, reviewed in the month shown, and change; the figures in dollars are worked out at the sales you enter and are not a forecast. We never take a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor. Before you sign, speak with a franchise attorney and a qualified financial adviser, and call owners from the disclosure document.
Your guidesmbnest
The guide is an automated assistant. Answers come from this business’s model, its sources and your plan; they are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk to a person