Lucrative dog boarding business an opportunity amongst rural oasis

Striking the perfect balance with a charming rural abode and flexible, lucrative business, this beautiful Oallen property offers a lifestyle that is the best of both worlds.

Set on a 44ha landholding with sprawling pastures, 297 Burden Drive is home to Matt Knight and his partner Kompat, as well as their dog-loving boarding kennel business, Rovers Retreat.

The 1904-built residence was relocated from its original position on the North Head of Manly Beach 25 years ago, and has since been lovingly renovated and extended into a charming rural home.

Matt seized on a gap in the market for premium boarding kennels with a pick-up and drop-off service and established the unique business at the property – 90 minutes’ drive from Canberra and 50 minutes from Goulburn.

“I used to travel a lot for work and I could never find anywhere in Canberra that I was happy with as far as space goes for my dogs. When I had the opportunity to leave my corporate existence, that was when I decided to try and fill that gap in the market,” Matt said.

“Canberra is a massive dog owning city, and I knew that people would willing to travel a bit further for a better product.”

Matt said the business, which was established in 2007, had become a go-to for dog owners from Canberra and surrounding areas, who liked the fact that their pets could also go on holiday, have room to move while boarding and would be socialised with other dogs.

With capacity for 60 dog across the property’s 11 large indoor/outdoor kennel blocks (and approval for an additional six), each unit is fenced to ensure the animals are secure. There is also a large training and exercise yard, and the sale includes a dog transport vehicle.

“We know so many of the dogs that stay with us, and people very much send their dogs to us for the social aspect. They like the idea that we allow them to socialise,” Matt said.

“The business has gone from strength to strength and our reputation has grown over the years. A lot of people come to us because of reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations.”

Windrose Property Principal Sam McGregor said the business, which had been built on repeat and referral clientele, offered a profitable investment and there was scope to grow the business further.

“Rovers Retreat provides a service that a lot of people would be very enviable to live a life doing,” Sam said.

“Looking after dogs has got to be a dream for a lot of people. I can imagine why living in a resort-style home, looking after dogs and earning a good income would be a pretty appealing way to live.

“It’s making a lot of money now and it’s definitely not living up to its full potential. There is capacity to grow it further, which really is an exciting prospect.

“So long as the future operators maintained the reputation of quality service and looking after people’s pets in the same way the current owners have, there’s no reason the business wouldn’t continue to go from strength to strength.”

Matt said while Rovers Retreat was extremely profitable, he had decided to call it a day seeking a lifestyle change.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved from an empty field,” Matt said.
“My reason for moving on now is that we’ve been here for 25 years, we’ve had the kennels for 18 years, and it’s just time to do something else.
“We only use about 8 acres out of 100. I see that land around us as a bit of a buffer between us and anybody else, so there’s certainly potential if you wanted to have stock, sheep, cattle, horses – it’s grazing land so you could certainly accommodate.”

Windrose Property is inviting offers on 297 Burden Drive, Oallen between $2.1 million and $2.3 million.