PetPocketbook Business Spotlight
For Margo Sergi Parish, owner of Sandy Paws in Charleston, South Carolina, building a pet care business has never been about doing the bare minimum. From the beginning, her vision was clear: offer deeply personalized pet care, build strong client trust, and create a business that reflects how much she genuinely cares about dogs.
That commitment helped Sandy Paws grow quickly. In fact, the business has seen roughly 33 percent year-over-year growth, something even her accountant recently pointed out when reviewing the numbers.
But growth also brought a new challenge: the systems behind the business had to keep up.
Before PetPocketbook, Margo was managing scheduling and payments manually, and it was taking over her life. “I would hate my life on Sundays,” she said. “I would do payroll and scheduling on Sundays... it would take me like three or four hours to build everything out. I was individually texting. I mean, it was ridiculous.”
At the time, Sandy Paws was much smaller. But even then, Margo could tell her process wasn’t sustainable. As the business kept growing, the old way of doing things stopped being stressful and started becoming impossible.
Now, with hundreds of visits each week to coordinate and a team of about 25 to support, she says there’s no way she could run the business the way she used to.
Building a business that could grow with her
Sandy Paws has now been serving Charleston pet parents for four years. During that time, Margo has built a reputation for thoughtful, high-touch care. That standard has stayed the same from the beginning.
“People are booking us for personalized pet care,” she said. “We have to go above and beyond. That’s why people like us.”
That philosophy shows up in the little things her team does every day. After each visit, clients receive detailed report cards about their pets. Margo is known for encouraging her team to go beyond quick updates and share meaningful moments from each visit.
“I tell my staff, two to three sentences and at least two photos,” she said. “People love the report cards.”
She even laughs about how detailed her own updates can be.
“I probably sound crazy sometimes,” she said. “I’ll be writing about how much fun we had on the walk and how much I love the dog.”
But that level of care is exactly what clients appreciate. It reassures them that their pets are not just being checked on, they are being truly cared for.
One system, less chaos
When Margo first signed on with PetPocketbook, her biggest goals were simple. Make scheduling easier and eliminate invoicing headaches.
Both were taking up enormous amounts of time and mental energy. Between manually organizing visits, sending reminders, tracking availability, and handling payments herself, the administrative side of the business was becoming overwhelming.
PetPocketbook gave her a way to bring everything together. Today, scheduling, client communication, visit history, report cards, photos, and payments all live in one place. “Honestly, peace of mind is what it’s given me,” she said. “Everything is housed in one area. Everybody uses the same portal. Walk information, messages, photos. It’s all there.”
That peace of mind has made a big difference.
Instead of spending hours building schedules every Sunday, Margo can send reminders, review requests, and organize the week much faster. Clients know when and how to book. Her team can see the same information she sees.
And when questions about billing come up, everything is documented. “There’s no ‘this number seems wrong’ or ‘I already paid that,’” she said. “I’m like, nope, the system does not lie.”
That shift has helped her feel more confident as a business owner, too. With everything documented in one place, client communication is clearer, team coordination is smoother, and she spends less time second-guessing herself. “It’s helped me tremendously,” she said.
Better for clients, too
The benefits haven’t just been internal. Clients have embraced the change as well. Margo says clients have responded well to the experience, especially the ease of use and the visibility they get into their pet’s care.
“Everybody tells me that it’s user friendly,” she said.
Pet parents love being able to easily see updates, photos, and notes from each visit. Some even set up automatic payments, which removes another layer of friction for both sides.
The result is a smoother experience for everyone involved. Clients stay informed about their pets. Margo and her team spend less time managing logistics and more time focusing on the animals in their care. That reflects the heart of Sandy Paws as a business: yes, strong systems matter, but only when they support better care and stronger relationships.
PetPocketbook makes that level of consistency easier to deliver.
Creating space for the next chapter
As Sandy Paws continues to grow, Margo is entering a new phase of the business. One focuses less on doing everything herself and more on building the business for long-term sustainability.
She describes this year as her “big girl year.” Along with adopting PetPocketbook, she also implemented a payroll system, switched accountants, and moved to a new bank. All of these changes are designed to support the next stage of growth.
Her next goal is to spend more time working on the business instead of constantly working in it.
That means fewer daily dog walks for her personally and more energy directed toward emails, partnerships, collaborations, team support, and future planning. She wants to continue growing Sandy Paws thoughtfully, without rushing into new services or expansion before the business is fully ready.
“I want to master everything before I add more,” she said.
Margo is ambitious, but she is also realistic. She knows what sustainable growth requires, and she is building with intention.
Rooted in community
That same intentionality shows up in how Margo thinks about community involvement, too.
Recently, she began volunteering with Pet Helpers, a local Charleston shelter which was something she had wanted to prioritize for a long time. Through dog walking and “doggy day out” outings, she helps shelter dogs leave the kennel for a few hours, explore the beach or a coffee shop, and experience life outside the shelter. For many dogs, those outings provide enrichment and help potential adopters see their personalities more clearly.
For someone who has built her career around understanding dogs, it was a natural fit.
“I just need to stop making excuses,” she said. “I promised myself that I was going to do it.”
Now, Sandy Paws is also looking at ways to involve clients and staff in supporting the shelter through donated supplies and future volunteer efforts.
It’s a great example of how Margo approaches business overall: with heart, initiative, and a desire to do meaningful work well.
Advice for other pet care businesses
Margo is honest about what it takes to build a pet care business. She doesn’t romanticize the early days.
“I did not have friends for the first year that I did it,” she said. “I was charging people like $25 to have their dogs all day and night. I hated it, and I was so tired.”
But she also doesn’t sugarcoat the payoff. Sandy Paws exists today because she kept going, and because she cared enough to build something worth trusting.
Her advice to other pet care business owners is simple: if you want to do this, go all in.
“You have to be passionate about it,” she said. “You can’t sell something that you don’t care about.”
That passion is all over Sandy Paws. In the way Margo talks about her clients, her team, her standards, and her future, it’s clear this business is more than a job. It’s something she has built with real commitment, one relationship at a time.
And with better systems in place and a clearer path forward, Sandy Paws is set up for an even stronger next chapter.