Business basics
for Care Partners.

The Swiss pet-care market is one of the strongest in the world for premium positioning — and one of the most underpriced for general sitters. The gap is what your credential closes.

The current market in CHF (Zürich anchor, mid-2026)

How to set your number

Three principles, in this order:

1. Cover the floor. Calculate your hourly cost: insurance + AHV/AVS + tax + transport + admin. For most Swiss Care Partners this is CHF 35–50/hour before any take-home.
2. Price the credential, not the time. What you bring isn't an hour — it's nine months of training, ongoing CE, and a credential that protects the family. Bill for that.
3. Test up, not down. If your calendar is more than 70% full at your current rate, raise it 10%. Repeat until 70% full at the new rate. The market tells you when you've reached its ceiling.

Most newly certified partners undervalue themselves by 25–40% in their first year. The single most common one-year-in regret is "I should have priced higher from day one."

"Cheap sitters are everywhere. Trusted, credentialed, longevity-aware partners are scarce. Price like the second category, because that's what you are."

The four insurances you need

• Professional liability (Berufshaftpflicht). Covers you if an animal is injured in your care, or causes damage. AXA personal liability covers self-employment damage up to CHF 20,000 annual turnover; above that, separate professional liability is required. Allianz personal liability automatically includes pet-related liability. Minimum coverage CHF 5 million, scalable to 10/20 million. Critical: when you are in custody of a third party's dog, the owner's liability policy may not cover damage caused while the animal is in your care — you need your own. CHF 500–900/year typical for Swiss sole-trader Care Partner. Non-negotiable.
• Personal accident (Unfallversicherung). Covers you if you're injured on a visit. Required if self-employed without an employer covering NBU.
• Income protection (Krankentaggeld). Covers extended illness. Often skipped — and often regretted.
• Vehicle / transport rider. If you transport animals, your standard auto policy may not cover them. Ask explicitly.

Legal scope · Swiss Tierschutzgesetz

Step zero before your first paid client is a call to your kantonales Veterinäramt. Commercial dog walking, sitting, day care and boarding require authorization from the cantonal veterinary office. The federal threshold rule:

• ≤5 animals at a time · no nationally mandated training requirement (cantons can add their own — Zürich, Geneva and others have additional rules).
• >5 animals commercially, or more than 5 care places offered, requires a recognized FBA (Fachspezifische berufsunabhängige Ausbildung) for animal care. The SKG dogsitter/dogwalker training is the most common qualifying path.

The authoritative reference is the BLV "Anforderungen für die Betreuung fremder Heimtiere" PDF — bookmark it and reread annually.

The five contracts you sign with every client

1. Service agreement · scope, rates, cancellation terms.
2. Emergency authorization · pre-authorized amount for emergency vet care, with the client's preferred vet listed.
3. Photo & data consent · what you can capture, store, share. GDPR / revFADP compliant.
4. Key & access protocol · how keys are stored, who has them, what happens if you can't make a visit.
5. Code of conduct acknowledgment · the PETVITY professional standard. The Care Partner credential carries it.

The PETVITY portal in your Care Partner dashboard generates these as fillable PDFs. You don't draft from scratch — you customize the templates. Reviewed by Swiss employment lawyers in 2026, refreshed annually.

AHV/AVS · the registration step most sitters skip

Self-employed pet sitters in Switzerland register with their cantonal Ausgleichskasse (compensation office). AHV/IV/EO contributions are 5.371%–10% of annual income, with a minimum of CHF 530/year. The thresholds:

• Side occupation under CHF 2,500/year · contributions only collected on request; registration optional.
• Above CHF 2,500/year or as primary income · mandatory registration as selbständigerwerbende(r) with sole-proprietorship status.
• Self-employed status is verified after activity has begun — you'll need contracts/invoices as evidence.

Important nuance: care performed in the client's home may qualify as "household service" with different rules; care in your home or outdoors does not. Your mentor will walk you through your specific situation. The SVA Zürich page is the authoritative cantonal reference if you're in ZH.

Most sitters have one income stream: their own time. That's a ceiling. Certified Care Partners have three — and the second and third compound.

Stream one · service revenue

Your hourly billings. Capped by your hours and your rate. Works while you're working. Scales linearly.

Stream two · the 35% wholesale

Certified Care Partners unlock 35% wholesale on the PETVITY shop — supplements, food, accessories. You can either use these for your own animals (saves CHF 600+/year for a typical multi-pet partner) or recommend with healthy margin to clients. A partner managing 25 active clients who recommend even modestly typically generates CHF 800–2,000/month in product margin without active selling.

Stream three · the 10% lifetime referral

Every member you refer to PETVITY pays you 10% of their membership for as long as they remain. A Plus member at CHF 49/month gives you CHF 4.90/month — for life. A Premium member at CHF 199/month gives you CHF 19.90/month. Refer 50 members and stay above the typical 90% retention, and that's CHF 5–15K/year passive — compounding as you keep adding.

The compounding picture · year one vs year three

These are illustrative midpoints, not promises. Some partners exceed them substantially. Some grow more slowly because they prefer fewer clients. The point is the second and third streams turn a service business into something with leverage.

How does this practice actually grow? In our experience training the first three Care Partner cohorts, four channels deliver almost everything. Here is what works in Swiss-anchored practice.

Channel 01 · the PETVITY directory

You're listed publicly the day you certify. Members searching their region see you first if you're certified, second if you're trained-but-not-yet, last if you're external. Most partners report 30–50% of their first-year clients come from the directory.

Channel 02 · the vet referral

Build relationships with two or three local vet practices. Drop in. Bring excellent coffee. Ask their reception team what they wish a sitter would know. Send hand-written thank-you cards when they refer. This is the highest-trust channel and the slowest-burn — but compounds for years.

Channel 03 · the cohort network

The 40-person Zürich intensive cohort is your professional family. Refer to each other when you're booked. Cross-cover on holidays. Specialize complementarily — one of you does cats, another does horses, another does seniors. The cohort dinner is not networking theatre; it's the start of a 20-year professional life.

Channel 04 · the showcase visit

Every visit is a showcase. The owner who watches you read their dog accurately, brief their afternoon plan, log the visit in the app and leave the home better than you found it — that owner brings you their two best friends. Most six-figure Care Partners told us their first 50 clients came almost entirely from referrals after this kind of compounding.

What not to do

• Discount aggressively to win against generic sitters. You are not the same product.
• Rely on social media. It's not a strong channel here.
• Take on every client. Decline poor fits — they cost you reputation.
• Skip the contracts because "they're a friend." Especially because they're a friend.

International context · PSI and NAPPS

For your international awareness: Pet Sitters International (PSI) is the largest membership body globally — ~4,000 member businesses across the US, Canada and a dozen+ countries — and offers the CPPS (Certified Professional Pet Sitter) credential by exam. NAPPS (National Association of Professional Pet Sitters) is the US non-profit alternative. Useful as international signals if you serve expat or English-speaking clients, but neither maps onto Swiss regulatory requirements. PETVITY's Swiss-specific credential is what you need for legal practice; PSI/NAPPS are supplementary, not substitutes.