Pet services
Dog Walking Pricing Calculator
Prices walks, where the travel has to be in the price.
Result
Overhead and margin are taken as shares of the selling price, which is why the cost is divided rather than multiplied. Adding 15% to cost does not produce a 15% margin. Gross profit is what is left after the cost of doing the job. Overhead comes out of that: the building, the office wages, the vans, insurance, software and advertising. A healthy gross margin still loses money if overhead is larger.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Cost including travel divided by one minus overhead and margin, giving a price per walk. Because travel is roughly half the time, a price set against the walk duration alone recovers about half the cost, which is the structural error in this business.
What moves the number
- Travel time to include in the cost.
- Walk duration and whether solo or group.
- Overhead including insurance and software.
- Whether a minimum number of walks per week applies.
Where this one goes wrong
A minimum commitment of several walks a week from each client is what makes a route viable, because a single weekly walk at a remote address cannot cover its own travel, and most established walkers have one for exactly that reason. Set a minimum. Pricing solo walks higher than group walks is also necessary rather than optional, since a solo walk occupies the whole slot that a group walk would have shared.
Before you quote
- Include travel time in the price, not just walk time.
- Set a minimum walks-per-week commitment.
- Price solo walks for the capacity they occupy.
Questions
About this calculator
Why do walkers require a minimum number of walks per week?
Because a single weekly walk at a remote address cannot cover its own travel. A minimum commitment is what makes a route viable, and most established walkers have one for exactly that reason rather than as a sales tactic.
Should solo walks cost more than group walks?
Yes, because a solo walk occupies the whole slot that a group walk would have shared. Pricing them the same means every solo walk is subsidised by the group ones, which is a structural loss rather than a service decision.
How much should a walk cost?
Enough to cover walk time, travel time, mileage, insurance and overhead with a margin on top. Pricing from the walk duration alone recovers about half the cost, which is the error that keeps walking businesses unprofitable.
The formula
price = direct cost / (1 - overhead% - margin%)
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How to use this calculator
- Labour cost ($). Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $6.
- Other direct costs ($). Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%). Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 15%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to price to quote, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Labour cost | $28 |
| Materials cost | $6 |
| Other direct costs | $0 |
| Overhead rate | 22% |
| Target net margin | 15% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price to quote main result | $53.97 |
| Direct cost | $34 |
| Overhead recovered | $11.87 |
| Net profit | $8.10 |
| Gross margin | 37.0% |
| Markup on direct cost | 58.7% |
Quote $53.97 to cover $34 of direct cost, recover $11.87 of overhead and leave $8.10 of net profit. That is a 58.7% markup on cost.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour cost, this is what happens to price to quote. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour cost ($) | Price to quote |
|---|---|
| $14 | $31.75 |
| $21 | $42.86 |
| $28 example above | $53.97 |
| $42 | $76.19 |
| $56 | $98.41 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Labour cost ($)
- Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $6.
- Other direct costs ($)
- Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%)
- Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 80, starting at 15%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price to quote | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Direct cost | A money figure. |
| Overhead recovered | A money figure. |
| Net profit | A money figure. |
| Gross margin | A percentage. |
| Markup on direct cost | A percentage. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.