How do I cope when my pet business is more about people than animals?

You can build a real pet care business, and the surprise nobody warned you about is how much of it turns out to be people, not animals. You came for the dogs and the cats, and you spend your days managing owners, staff, and expectations. That is a genuine kind of tired. The animals are simple in the best way. They do not argue or complain or leave bad reviews. People are the hard part, and the more your business grows, the more people it involves. That is not a sign you built the wrong thing. It is just the shape of running something real. Make room for the reason you started. Keep some hands-on animal time that is actually yours, even a little, so the work still feeds you. And get better at the people side on purpose, since it is not going away. You do not have to love every part equally. You just have to protect the part that made you love it in the first place.