How to Start a Pet Sitting Business in 2026 (Step by Step)
6 min read·Updated June 2026
Startup cost: almost nothing
Pet sitting is one of the cheapest businesses to start. You need reliability, a phone, and a way to get to clients. The real investment is earning the trust to be left with someone's pets and home.
Step 1: Decide your services and rates
Offer drop-in visits and overnights to start, and decide whether you will add dog walking and boarding. Set your rates with the free calculator, and price recurring clients to keep them coming back.
Step 2: Get insured
Pet sitter insurance is inexpensive, and serious clients ask for it. Being insured is part of what lets you charge more than a neighbor doing it casually.
Step 3: Get your first clients
- Tell neighbors and post in your neighborhood app.
- Leave cards with local vets, groomers, and pet stores.
- Start on Rover to build reviews, then move clients to direct booking.
Step 4: Build a route and add overnights
A cluster of recurring drop-in clients plus overnight and holiday bookings is the income engine. Once that is full, add boarding to grow without adding drive time.
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Free, no signup. See what you should charge in about ten seconds.
Open the pricing engine →What to SayAI
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