When Amanda Hagicostas launched Happy Tails By Amanda in 2022, she wasn't following a detailed business plan. She was following something much simpler: a lifelong love of animals and a desire to build something of her own.
What started as a solo pet sitting business has grown into a thriving pet care company serving Hunterdon and Somerset Counties of New Jersey. Along the way, Amanda discovered a specialty she absolutely loves: helping pets be part of one of life's biggest celebrations.
Today, Happy Tails By Amanda is an award-winning pet care business that provides dog walking, pet sitting, overnight care, cat visits, farm care, and one of its most unique services, wedding pet attendant services that allow couples to include their beloved pets in their special day.
By the numbers
Founded: 2022
Location: Somerville, New Jersey
Team size: 21 team members
Clients served: 716 families
Pets cared for: 1,132 pets
Visits completed in the last year: 7,000
First Year-over-year visit growth with PetPocketbook: 63%
Building a business around a lifelong passion
Amanda's journey into pet care started long before she became a business owner.
Growing up in a large neighborhood, she spent her early years helping families with childcare and household responsibilities. Naturally, she found herself drawn to the pets in those homes as much as the people.
"If they had a dog, it was even better," Amanda shared.
After earning her bachelor's degree in psychology, Amanda knew one thing for certain: she wanted to create something of her own. While working a job that wasn't fulfilling, she began researching how to start a pet sitting business.
What began as a side venture quickly gained momentum.
Within just nine months, demand had grown beyond what one person could handle alone.
"It got to be too much," Amanda said. "That's when I started bringing on help."
Outgrowing Google Calendar
Like many pet care business owners, Amanda started with the tools she already had.
In the early days, that meant relying on Google Calendar and team collaboration tools to manage schedules, client information, and communication.
It worked when she was handling everything herself.
But as more clients came on board and additional team members joined the business, those systems quickly started showing their limits.
"I realized Google Calendar and team tools weren't good enough anymore," Amanda said.
What she needed was a way to securely manage client information, coordinate a growing team, and keep every moving piece of the business organized in one place.
That's when she found PetPocketbook.
Building the operational backbone behind her business
Today, PetPocketbook helps power nearly every part of Happy Tails By Amanda's operation.
The business now serves 716 families and cares for more than 1,100 pets. In the first year using PetPocketbook, from August 2023 to August 2024, Happy Tails By Amanda completed 4,293 visits. The following year, that number grew to 6,982 visits, a 63% increase.
Managing that level of growth requires more than a calendar. It requires systems designed to keep client information organized, schedules coordinated, payments processed, and team members supported.
With a team of 21 pet care professionals and an average of 77 visits per day throughout the year, staying organized isn't just convenient. It's essential.
PetPocketbook helps Amanda manage client requests, coordinate schedules, maintain pet and client information, bill for services, process payments, and track team compensation so everyone is paid accurately and on time. As requests come in, Amanda can quickly review staff availability, assign visits, communicate with team members, and keep everyone working from the same source of information.
"It definitely straightened me out," Amanda said.
What once worked for a solo pet sitter became increasingly difficult as the business expanded. Moving to a pet care-specific platform gave Amanda the structure she needed to support a growing team without losing sight of the personalized care that built her reputation in the first place.
PetPocketbook also helps create a more professional experience for pet parents., who now have an easy way to acknowledge Amanda’s policies, submit requests, review and pay bills, and communicate with the team. Much of the administrative work that once required manual effort now happens behind the scenes.
By automating many of those processes, Amanda can spend less time juggling schedules and payments and more time supporting her team, serving clients, and growing the business.
Finding a niche in wedding pet care
As the business grew, Amanda's role began to shift. Instead of personally handling every walk and visit, she started focusing on building systems, supporting her team, and creating the structure needed to scale. That gave Amanda the operational capacity to discover a service that combined everything she loves about pet care: wedding pet attendant services.
Wedding pet attendant services have become one of the most rewarding parts of her business. For many couples, pets are family members. Amanda helps coordinate transportation, care, and supervision so couples can include their pets in their celebration without adding stress to an already busy day.
"I really focus on weddings now," she said. "My favorite thing is bringing pets to and from weddings, seeing people get married, and spending the day with them."
For Amanda, it's the perfect combination of animal care and helping families create meaningful memories.
While weddings have become a major focus for Amanda, the Happy Tails By Amanda team continues to provide the daily walks, overnight care, vacation visits, and cat care services that clients rely on year-round.
Evolving from operator to strategic leader
Like many successful pet care business owners, Amanda admits that most days are still spent working in the business.
Between supporting clients, coordinating schedules, managing her team, and overseeing daily operations, there isn't always time to step back and evaluate the bigger picture.
But that's where she sees the future of Happy Tails By Amanda heading.
As the business continues to grow, Amanda wants to spend more time working on the business rather than exclusively in it. That means digging deeper into trends, understanding which services are growing fastest, identifying opportunities for expansion, and making strategic decisions that support long-term success.
With the reporting and operational insights available through PetPocketbook, Amanda is building a stronger understanding of how the business is performing, where resources are needed, and how to support both her clients and team members as the company grows.
Her goal isn't simply to get busier. It's to grow intentionally.
That means making informed decisions about staffing, identifying opportunities before they become challenges, and creating a sustainable business that continues delivering exceptional care while supporting the people who make that care possible.
At the same time, Amanda plans to continue growing the wedding side of the business, allowing her to spend more time in the area of pet care she's most passionate about while her team continues providing the walks, overnight care, cat visits, and daily services clients rely on.
Advice for growing pet care businesses
The systems that work when you're managing everything yourself don't always work when you're coordinating a growing team, managing dozens of daily visits, and serving hundreds of clients.
Looking back, Amanda believes getting organized early was one of the important investments she could have made in her business.
"Get organized as soon as possible and get a good routine going before you continue to grow."
For Amanda, having the right processes and technology in place created the foundation that allowed her business to grow without sacrificing the quality of care that her clients and their pets depend on.
Today, that foundation supports Amanda, her husband, and a team of 21 pet care professionals who serve hundreds of families throughout the Somerville area. As Happy Tails By Amanda continues to evolve, Amanda remains focused on helping pets and their families feel cared for every step of the way while building a business designed to thrive for years to come.
About Happy Tails By Amanda
Happy Tails By Amanda is a pet care company based in Somerville, New Jersey, offering dog walking, pet sitting, overnight care, cat visits, farm care, and wedding pet attendant services. They were awarded Best Pet Service and Best Pet Boarding three years in a row from 2023 to 2025 for the Somerset Hills City Lifestyle Reader’s Choice, and are in final rounds of voting for 2026 too! Learn more at happytailsbyamanda.com.
