Behind the scenes of the 2026 Pet Business Content Planner launch

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Are you planning to launch a new product or service and want to get an idea of what to expect?

This episode is a behind-the-scenes account of launching my Pet Business Content Planner for 2026.

This is a product I created in 2025, so this year was the second year and I wanted to put this episode out to give an insight into the work involved.

I’m sharing a ‘warts and all’ insight into my planner launch as I think hearing how it’s actually gone – the wobbles, the grit, the moments of doubt – is more helpful than a polished success story.

If you’d like to listen in to me talk very openly about the experience, click the player link below, or you can read the key points covered in a blog post.

How the Pet Business Content Planner idea started

Back in 2019, when I started working with pet business owners, I noticed one thing came up again and again as a challenge.

It was about planning, thinking of the future, coming up with ideas, so I started supporting people in getting more comfortable with knowing what they were going to talk about.

My journalism background meant I could come up with ideas easily.

When I ran a pet column for a newspaper and a pet blog, I started to think ahead more, considering the coming months, knowing I might need a product to feature, a story, or an expert angle.

My clients kept telling me it was the most useful thing I offered when I started showing them how to do the same.

But I didn’t want to create another planner.

I wanted it to be more me and to include the coaching work I was doing.

So I waited until 2024, when I finished my ILM Level 7 coaching training, and this was when I felt ready.

That’s when I felt ready. I had evidence-based ways of explaining the challenges people face and I could back up the advice I was giving.

That’s what made it different – the ‘Words for when’ coaching exercises you’ll find at the start of the planner.

The first year

I started in September 2024 and I needed to turn it around quickly.

Most of the work was already done in my head – coaching sessions I’d run with clients, exercises I’d created, frameworks I’d tested.

I needed to pull it all together, gather all the awareness days, and hand it over to Kate Hendry at Finbo, my designer, to bring it to life.

(Listen to Kate on the podcast here.)

I involved people in the process, asking my audience what they wanted, what kind of diary layout would help, and what resources they’d find valuable.

People were invested because they’d been part of making it.

I opened orders in November and by January I’d sold 200 copies so ordered another 50.

This year has been a tougher launch

I made quite a lot of changes based on feedback from last year.

I added in quarterly planning tools, a content checklist and an audience tracker for this year.

The coaching exercises are completely new.

Things like ‘Words for when you need to show yourself compassion, words for when you’re being copied, words for when something derails you, words for when peer fear strikes.’

These come from what I’ve been working on with clients.

But the sales have been harder.

I think there are a few reasons and I’m trying to be kind to myself on this.

We’re still in a cost-of-living crisis and there’s economic and political uncertainty.

I increased the price from £30 to £40 to reflect the costs of printing and the work that goes into it and that’s quite a jump.

The things that go through your head when people don’t buy

All kinds of things go through your head when sales don’t go the way you thought.

You wonder if you’ve talked about it too much.

You wonder if you’ve not talked about it enough.

You wonder if people don’t like you.

You wonder if your product is rubbish.

You get messages from people who bought last year saying they didn’t use it, and even though you want feedback, it can sting.

What I’ve learned is this – just because someone doesn’t use something doesn’t mean it’s rubbish.

I bought fitness courses from Joe Wicks.

I bought a Mulberry handbag I never use.

I bought a book by Gabor Maté and haven’t read it yet.

These people aren’t rubbish. Neither am I, and neither is my planner.

I think people are overwhelmed by social media.

A content planner is supposed to take away the overwhelm, but if you’re already drowning in it, are you going to buy something?

There’s also AI. People can find information for free.

What I know is that I’ve done my absolute best in creating this planner and getting it out there.

I’m proud of what it does, particularly when I see people using the exercises to overcome their fear of putting themselves out there.

The wobble in December

In December 2025, I was sitting in a Costa Coffee in Didsbury having a coaching session with Maria, a lady I trained as a coach with.

I’d just been through the pre-order period and the planners were here.

I was sending them out and I was worried about the sales. I was exhausted from talking about the planner for months and I burst into tears.

Maria asked me: “Can you think of something you do for work that you never question? Something nobody could ever challenge you on?”

And I said: “Sunnyside Cottage. I never question what I do there. I know in my heart of hearts that I’ve done everything to make it as dog-friendly as possible.

“If someone said it wasn’t dog-friendly, I know they’re wrong because I’ve thought of absolutely everything.”

Maria helped me see that the planner is the same.

It’s a tool to help people tackle everything around putting their pet business out there.

When it’s in the hands of the right people, it really works, and at that moment, I needed to reinstall my belief in it.

That conversation was what I needed and helped me keep going, and I remind myself of that ‘unshakable belief,’ when I’m having a wobble.

What I did to get it out there

I focused on press coverage – we got in the Warrington Guardian, Yahoo News, Pet Gazette, Pet Trade Extra and did a feature in Edition Dog.

I got in the PIF newsletter and Small Business Sunday newsletter.

I did talks in loads of communities including The Dog Trainer School, Pet Industry Federation, Pet Professional Network, Tugg-E-Nuff and Unleashed Network.

I did a takeover week with PPN, a webinar with the Heart Dog community, a conference with Stephanie Zikmann for the holistic grooming community and Rikki at the Canine Copywriter was really supportive and we collaborated for International Women’s Day.

I donated £5 from every planner sold until 9th December to StreetVet through their Big Give campaign.

That ended up being £600, which was match-funded to £1200, and with gift aid on top, around £1500. That’s money that will actually make a difference to people affected by homelessness who have pets.

Listen to co-founder Jade Statt on the podcast here.

I posted about the planner hundreds of times on social media.

I did a competition where people could win a three-night stay at Sunnyside, had an online planning event as part of my Planner Club, and did multiple email campaigns – pre-order, launch, Christmas, New Year, birthday, spring reset.

The numbers and the change

The sales have been tougher than last year. Around 70 per cent of people who bought in the first year bought again, which I’m happy with. But the overall numbers were lower.

I reduced the price to choose-what-you-pay in February from £20 upwards, some people pay £20, some pay £30 and a few pay £35 or the full £40.

Because £40 means different things to different people. I love this post from Claire from The Girls Mean Business on how it’s never just £40.

The Planner Club

One of the best things I’ve done this year is create the Planner Club.

It’s support for people who’ve bought the planner and want to keep on track. We have co-working mornings throughout the year and quarterly planning calls.

People come along and leave the calls feeling clear about what’s next and on the co-working, they get loads done.

One, Elizabeth Hack, who’s a trained coach herself, came thinking she’d find it a bit weird being on the receiving end of coaching.

She posted on LinkedIn that it was brilliant, that’s what every great coach needs, to have a coach themselves.

Where I am now

I recorded the podcast episode to go with this post on 9th April 2026, and it would have been my dad’s 79th birthday.

He died 10 years ago, in January 2016 and one of the things my dad taught me was to be determined, to have grit, to believe in what you do and keep going.

He also taught me that sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t, and what matters is that you keep moving forward and deal with it

I’ve done my best and I’m proud of what I’ve created. I know it works when it’s in the hands of the right people.

And I’m going to keep going, even when sales are tougher, even when I’m tired, even when I’m wondering if I’ve got it wrong.

Because that’s what you do when you believe in something, and that’s what I’d tell my clients to do.

If you want to know more

If you’re interested in the planner, you can find it at rachelspencer.co.uk/shop. It’s choose-what-you-pay from £20 and at the time of publication, on April 14th 2026, there were 23 copies left.

If you’ve got a product you’re launching, or something new you’re doing, I hope this has been helpful and it’s made you feel a bit less alone if you’re having a tough time with it.

And I hope it’s reminded you that the wobbles and the hard bits are part of the process – they’re not a sign that you’re doing something wrong.

To order a planner head here: https://rachelspencer.co.uk/shop/