Your Next Revenue Stream Is Already Sitting in Your Facility
How smart add-ons, memberships, and trained staff turn the clients you already have into the growth you’ve been chasing
A few years ago, I was turning away roughly 15 clients a week at my first facility. Full schedule, stretched team, no room to grow without building something new. So I did. I built a second location from the ground up, and I designed it around a different revenue model entirely.
But here is what that experience taught me: you do not have to build a second location to unlock more revenue. Most facilities already have it. It is in the relationships you have with clients who trust you, animals who look forward to coming to stay or play, and a team that, if trained well, can turn every single client interaction into something that benefits the pet, the pet parent, and your bottom line.
Selling to an existing client costs five to seven times less than acquiring a new one (Overdog Digital, 2025). And the market is primed for it. U.S. pet parents spent $13 billion on pet care services in 2024, with spending projected to grow 5.5% through 2032 (Pet Care Insurance Industry Trends, 2025). Ninety-seven percent of pet owners consider their animals part of the family, and 83% say there is no realistic limit on what they would spend on their pet’s wellbeing (Dogtopia Pet Care Industry Trends, 2025).
These are not people who need convincing. They are people waiting to be given a good reason.
Build a Model That Creates Recurring Revenue, Not Just One-Time Add-Ons
Before we get into individual add-ons, I want to talk about structure, because this is where I see the biggest missed opportunity at most pet care facilities.
My second facility runs on a membership model for dog daycare. Clients pay a monthly fee plus a per-day rate. That monthly membership creates predictable, recurring revenue that is not tied to whether a dog comes in on any given Tuesday. It also creates commitment. A client who has purchased a membership is far more likely to be a consistent, engaged client than one who books day-by-day.
You do not have to replicate that model exactly, but the principle can apply broadly. Prepaid daycare packages, boarding bundles, monthly wellness plans, or VIP membership tiers that offer a discount on services in exchange for a recurring commitment all accomplish the same thing: they smooth out your cash flow, deepen client loyalty, and give you a financial foundation that a transactional model cannot provide.
If you are only capturing revenue when a pet walks in the door, you are leaving a significant amount of money on the table.
Add-Ons That Actually Move the Needle
Not all add-ons are created equal. The ones that stick, meaning the ones clients actually purchase consistently and come back for, tend to do two things at once: they make the owner feel like their pet received something special, and they are easy for your team to deliver without disrupting the flow of the day.
Boarding suite upgrades are the most obvious starting point. A standard space becomes a premium experience with a cozy bed and a personalized tuck-in with one-on-one snuggle time at bedtime. This works whether you are boarding dogs, cats, or other small animals. The physical difference is almost secondary. What the client is really paying for is the feeling that their companion is being treated as an individual, not just occupying a kennel.
Enrichment sessions are where facilities with well-trained staff can have a genuine competitive edge. One-on-one time with a handler during a boarding stay, whether that is a training session, puzzle time, story time, or a simple structured activity, can be a huge differentiator. For facilities equipped with a PEMF bed or red laser treatment options, these become high-value wellness add-ons that resonate strongly with owners of senior or recovering animals. The specific activity often matters less than the intention behind it. Clients notice when their pet comes home noticeably calmer or happier, and that becomes a story they share.
Specialty food experiences are some of the highest-return, lowest-cost add-ons available. A barkuterie board, a curated tray of pet-safe snacks presented like a charcuterie board, is visually delightful, can be inexpensive to assemble, and almost always photographed by the client. That photo goes on social media. Their friends see it. You receive marketing you did not have to pay for. Frozen KONGs stuffed with species-appropriate fillings, themed holiday meals, and birthday or “gotcha day” packages all operate on the same logic: they feel celebratory and intentional rather than routine, and that perceived specialness is exactly what today’s pet parents are willing to buy.
Grooming cross-sells work particularly well for dog boarding clients. An exit bath sends a dog home clean and smelling great, which is a small thing that makes a big impression. If you already offer grooming, a bundled spa upgrade with a conditioning treatment, paw balm, and a blueberry facial can meaningfully increase the average ticket with minimal added labor. You can even lease grooming space within your facility to an independent groomer, as we do at one of my facilities, Pawesome Pets Country Club, which adds a revenue stream without adding a department to manage.
A retail section at the front of your facility rounds this out. Think of it the way grocery stores think about the checkout aisle. Clients are in a spending mindset when they pick up their pet. A curated display of treats, toys, and branded merchandise captures purchases that would otherwise go to a big box store, and branded merchandise in particular serves double duty as walking advertising.
The Real Reason Most Facilities Leave Money on the Table
I have worked with boarding and daycare facilities across the country, and here is the pattern I see over and over: the problem is almost never that clients will not buy add-ons. The problem is that staff do not offer them consistently. And that is a training problem, not a sales problem.
Most owners build out a thoughtful service menu and then send their team onto the floor without ever training them on how (or when) to talk about it. One staff member mentions the enrichment session at check-in. Another never brings it up. A third stumbles over the price and the client moves on. Three interactions with the same client in the same week, and none of them produce the same result. That inconsistency is where revenue disappears.
What makes upselling work at the facility level is more than a sales script although that is where you should start! It is confidence and specificity, and both of those come from real training. Every team member who interacts with clients, from the front desk to the handler on the floor, needs to know what each add-on includes, what it costs, and specifically why a particular animal might benefit from it. That last part is the one that changes everything.
When a handler notices that the senior Lab checking in today has been moving stiffly and suggests a warm blanket add-on because of it, that is not upselling. That is a knowledgeable team member advocating for a dog. The client experiences it as exactly that, and it builds more trust than any promotion you could run.
Train your team to present premium options as the natural recommendation. "Most of our boarding guests prefer the deluxe suite for longer stays" is a fundamentally different statement than "would you like to upgrade?" One is guidance from someone who knows what they are talking about. The other is a transaction. The booking moment, both online and at the front desk, is when clients are most receptive. That is where premium options should be presented first, not at the end as an afterthought.
Regular team huddles that keep your service menu front of mind are what turn good intentions into reliable habits. The revenue does not come from having the right services. It comes from a team that talks about them every single day.
It Does Not Require a Renovation. It Requires a Decision.
The facilities I watch grow their revenue most consistently are not the ones with the longest service menus or the biggest buildouts. They are the ones that decided, deliberately, to do a few things exceptionally well: clear service tiers, a team trained to present them with confidence, and a handful of experiences—a barkuterie board, a birthday package, a warm blanket for the old dog with the stiff joints—that make clients feel like their pet is genuinely known here.
None of that requires a renovation. It requires a decision to stop leaving revenue in the relationship you have already built, and start putting it to work.
Your clients already trust you with the animals they love most. That is not a small thing. Build on it.
Sources
Overdog Digital. (2025, December). 4 Ways Your Existing Pet Resort Customers Can Boost Your Bottom Line. https://overdogdigital.com/4-ways-your-existing-pet-resort-customers-can-boost-your-bottom-line/
Pet Care Insurance. (2025). Pet Care Industry Trends & Statistics for 2025. https://www.petcareins.com/blog/pet-care-industry-trends
Dogtopia. (2025, January). Top Pet Care Industry Trends in 2025. https://www.dogtopia.com/franchising-us/blog/top-pet-care-industry-trends-in-2025/
