Big Survey 2025: Performance

What has been the most valuable “prize” your business has won in the past year?

So many of you enter —and win — community recognition awards. Congrats! Other “prizes” that made indies proud:

• “Just being successful is a prize. Prices are way up, the government is in turmoil, customer attitudes are all over the place, you can buy dog toys everywhere, and indie brands are selling us out left and right. If your doors are open, you are winning.”
• “Getting more and more customers on raw diets.”
• “Opening! We had to endure major renovations to the building, which we own, and we started the business from scratch — all while running other businesses/jobs and raising a toddler.”
• “My most valuable ‘prize’ would have to be the shout-outs on social media from rescue/shelters I help and from our customers. Seeing those makes me feel good about my ‘why.’”
• “Getting a certificate in geriatric pet grooming.”
• “We donated a large amount of supplies and food to rescues in North Carolina after the hurricane and received two letters of thanks from state representatives.”
• “Removing a toxic manager and thriving through the chaos.”
• “I’ve had several customers over the last few months tell me that I literally saved their pet’s life with my nutrition recommendations. You just can’t get better than that!”
• “We hired two groomers who are just fantastic, and we look forward to their growth and ours — finally.”
• “We have helped get hundreds of cats spayed and neutered at our locations.”
• “We hit $2 million in sales.”
• Celebrating 50 years. We have proven ourselves year after year!”
• “I became a certified Pet Health Coach.”
• “Building new relationships with veterinarians in our area to work together helping more pets.”
• “Being recognized in public like a celebrity when I’m not. LOL.”
• “Celebrating 30 years in business and retaining many of our original customers — and now their families!”
• “That our Google reviews are all 5 stars.”
• “Paid off our SBA loan!”
• “The money we raised for rescue through our Love Four Paws program.”
• “Being financially stable enough to close for two weeks in order to have new floors put in for the downstairs playgroups.”

What were your total sales in 2024? If you have multiple locations, give your top-performing location only.

*Historical data based on previous Big Surveys

Candace D’Agnolo Tip: There are so many variables that impact sales — store size, age of the business, visit frequency and sales channels — so take the gross number with caution. While total sales give helpful industry insight, profitability is what truly fuels longevity. Many pet businesses thrive in the $500K-$1M range when margins are healthy and expenses are managed. Prioritizing sustainable profit over top-line growth creates stability, supports owner pay, and funds future investments to keep your business thriving.

Based on the first eight months of this year, how do you expect your total sales for 2025 to compare with 2024?

Candace D’Agnolo Tip: This is fantastic! It’s so encouraging to see more businesses expecting growth or stability despite ongoing uncertainty. This shows the resilience and adaptability of independents. While external factors may feel unpredictable, savvy pet bosses are leaning into strategy, tightening operations, and finding new ways to grow profitably even in challenging times. This is what makes indies awesome!

Has legislation and/or a government policy impacted your business’s performance in 2025?

Please share what made the impact and the result.

• “Tariffs. Prices have gone up on so many consumer goods, which is causing people to cut back on discretionary spending overall, typically on higher-margin categories and on healthy add-ins for diet.”
• “The federal layoffs caused some of our regular daycare clients to discontinue services because they lost their jobs and are home with their dogs.”
• “I believe in fair trade, and wish the tariffs would have been explained better, rolled out better, and that both political parties and the American public would look at the long game. If you get past the headlines, the U.S. does get taken advantage of by most countries, and the consumer pays for it.”
• “The ban on the sale of dogs and rabbits in New York has decimated our business. Not that we sold many, but with our services and loyal clients we were able to be profitable. Now we are down 40-60% and circling the drain.”
• “We import many tropical fish from Asia and supplies from Europe, and tariffs have made us reconsider some offerings.”
• “The FDA recently seized and destroyed an order from Canada. It was just collagen chews. There was no explanation.”
• “The increase of ICE presence and illegal deportation/detention in Los Angeles made lots of folks stop coming out to shop. It didn’t matter people’s race; everyone was scared of masked unidentified people grabbing them.”
• “We are a divided state and, while some customers understand and accept price increases as the cost of doing business, others express that we are raising prices ‘because we can’ and not because tariffs have increased.”
• “We have lost a couple of our Canadian vendors as they will understandably no longer ship to the U.S.”
• “Zoning laws, harsher laws on breeding and keeping dogs. I have been in and out of court and in front of boards and commissions for the last year.”
• “Credit-card processing and legislation around the rates impact small businesses, which is leading to and contributing to inflationary pressures. The percentage of reward card use in overall transactions increases and leads to price increases on top of commodity inflation.”
• “The tariffs have been a little trying and some of the out-of-stocks because of slow shipping have put a damper on things, but over all it has been minimal.”
• “The minimum wages continue to increase as well as city/county/state taxes. So the cost of doing business is significantly higher.”
• “A portion of our customers are immigrants, and they are no longer buying like they did in the past. We hardly ever see them now and/or they have cut back drastically.”
• “The state of Illinois now requires all businesses, no matter the size, to provide paid sick leave/PTO that accrues per the employees’ worked hours. Employees no longer have to provide notice or reason to call off of a shift. Illinois also requires us to provide/offer 401k, medical insurance and other benefits that are just NOT affordable for a business that has a maximum of five employees, including owners.”
• “We have seen sales come to a snail’s pace, but traffic is the same. We’re in a tourist town, and foot traffic is steady, but no one is spending. People are tending to hold on to their money and are not spending on pets.”

Candace D’Agnolo Tip: Legislation can feel like a moving target, and these responses really show why preparation and pivoting matter. We can’t control policy, but we can control how we respond. Diversify your vendors, adjust your product mix, revisit pricing and deepen customer relationships. A little agility goes a long way in turning outside challenges into opportunities for resilience and growth.

Broken down by percentage, what were your product sales by category in 2024?

In which product category did you see the biggest sales growth in 2024?

How many months of operating costs do you have in your business savings account?

What was your average retail sale per transaction in 2024?

What were your average retail items per transaction in 2024?

How often do you meet or exceed your sales goals?

Candace D’Agnolo Tip: These results show that many pet businesses hit their goals regularly or at least occasionally — which means there’s a huge opportunity to push further. Don’t sell yourself short. Get bold and intentional when setting targets. A little more strategy and stretch can unlock growth you didn’t even realize was possible. Show, show, show until they say no! You never know what’s possible. What you focus on grows!

Tell us about your largest revenue day:

Survey respondents said special events boost sales, with anniversary celebrations, Neighborhood Pet Store Day and holidays among the wins. There were also looks back at pandemic panic buying.

• “Depending on the duration of our annual anniversary event, we could generate $75,000-$200,000. It generates, on average, what we would typically sell in a month.”
• “I did 13 dogs in a day and do not recommend it. It creates burnout and possible injuries. Our sales increased by 20%.”
• “Our largest revenue days are usually when we release a new month’s worth of training classes.”
• “About $15,000 during a cage sale with the distributor on site, double a good Saturday.”
• “During an adoption event on site, over 50 cats and kittens were adopted in a three-day span. Sales increased by 45% for the same period over any other year.”
• “We are in a lake community, and weather and holiday weekends are the best indicators of a good Saturday. We will get on social media and show pictures of dogs with our products. Last year, we had a picture go viral (220,000 views and 605 shares) and give us record sales.”
• “For us, it was simply luck, a bunch of transactions taking place on the same day totaling over $12,000. None were atypical; they’re just usually spread over multiple days.”
• “There were two Mondays in August that were killer. The average cost of dog boarding is $75 per night, but with add-ons and grooming upcharges, the average cost coming in per night was $128.”
• “We made over $12,000 in sales on a Black Friday! This was thanks to a very successful day of selling daycare passes (“Buy a 30-Day Pass, Get a 5-Day Pass for Free).”
• “Our largest revenue day ever was mostly all services, but the biggest factor to help us achieve it was, surprisingly, walk-in nail trims! We had over 50 that day!”
• “We had a community event focused on aquatics, and it drew customers from all categories. We did nearly $19,000. It was a nearly 600% increase over average days.”

How much time do you give the following to start showing it/they can perform?

Candace D’Agnolo Tip: I spent a lot of time reflecting on this question for my own pet business and was curious to see how others would respond. From a business coach’s perspective: A new hire deserves about three months to show their best self — sometimes the breakthrough is just around the corner. But marketing campaigns and merchandising should deliver faster. If you’re not seeing results within six weeks, it’s time to reevaluate and adjust your strategy.

What in your business/the industry feels like a rigged carnival game? Meaning a high level of skill does not ensure a win.

• “Pricing tiers offered by distributors provide an unfair advantage to larger, corporate-owned retailers. We need the support of our distributors. Not to be told our prices are increasing because we cannot afford to buy, nor have the space for, huge bulk amounts. Our loyalty should be worth something.”
• “Customer satisfaction! A lot of owners with high-maintenance dogs don’t understand the work that goes into keeping their coats in top shape. If they go four months without grooming and the dog needs to be shaved, they place blame everywhere but on themselves.”
• “Competing with Chewy, Amazon, big-box, etc. and how many previously indie-loyal brands are branching into direct-to-consumer shopping.”
• “Dog and cat food sales. No matter how much I try to educate the customer, they often have the mindset that if the same ingredients are in a high-end food as a low-quality food, they will stay with low quality and go elsewhere. They do not consider the sourcing of ingredients.”
• “Making sure we are in the MAP pricing when the competitors don’t have to be.”
• “New customer acquisition. We have spent thousands of dollars on different types of marketing, our customers rave to their friends and family about how great we are and the level of service we provide, but yet the majority of our new customers just happened to be in the plaza or walking by.”
• Yelp reviews. Why are all the grumpy people on Yelp? But all of the nice people are on Google?
• “Hiring employees is like rolling dice. You can have a great work environment, competitive pay and strong training, and it’s still a crap shoot.”