Strategy and Planning in 2026
What difference will a strategic plan do for you, your business, and your team in 2024?
“Sound strategy starts with having the right goal.” ― Michael Porter
So many facets of running and growing a business have evolved in this modern age of artificial intelligence, eCommerce and many other technological advancements. But even in this whirlwind of innovation, the basic foundations of business ownership remain unchanged.
No amount of new technology is going to alter the fact that, to achieve success, business owners must roll up their sleeves, put on their thinking caps, and map their journeys forward. This means building strategies and creating smart, executable plans that are fundamental to every facet of even the most complex business.
If you don’t currently have a strategic plan for 2026, let’s be honest, you are a little late to the game. The good news is that there is still a tremendous amount of benefit to planning, even if you don’t actually start implementing any of it until Q2. Nine months of execution is far better than 12 months of swinging blindly.
So, invest the time and energy now in strategy and planning for 2026. Here are three tips to help you get started:
Always Start with Vision
When strategic planning, all roads should lead back to the vision of your organization. Your company vision should act as the guide for every decision you make and goal you set throughout your business. A strategic plan that is rooted in vision ensures that each initiative contributes to the realization of the broader vision. A well-defined vision also helps to attract and retain top talent and improve overall company culture.
Late last year, while doing a reflection on the past year with one of my members and talking about the future he described his thoughts on strategy like this to me, and I thought it was quite poetic.
“Strategy is a pattern of proactive decisions that allows you to surf ahead of the wave. If you are making reactive decisions, you are always behind the curve.”
By starting with a Vision and making a set of strategic decisions based on that vision, you can keep yourself and your business ahead of the curve. Everything else is a knee jerk reaction to the changing tides.
Now I’m not narrowly defining this as ‘staying the course no matter what’. That can also lead to trouble. A key component to having a Vision, is that it offers the business the ability to adapt. Whether you suspect good times or challenges in 2024, there will almost certainly be an obstacle for every business to overcome. By having a clear vision, you make your business more resilient to change due to a strong foundation and guiding principles for making decisions.
Prioritization Is Key
Understanding what you need to do to improve your business and knowing what you need to do FIRST are two entirely different things. During the planning process, it is critical to spend time and effort identifying the actions that need to take place and the ideal sequencing of those events.
Prioritization helps to better manage time, materials, budget, and manpower. It also helps to build and implement an executable map by streamlining processes, adding clarity, defining expectations, and managing time on both micro and macro levels.
So, as you build your strategy and map out your plans for 2024, make sure that you don’t fall into the “everything all at once” trap. By prioritizing your initiatives and goals, and even mapping them out on the calendar, you are far more likely to achieve the success you seek.
Be as Transparent as Possible
Your ability as a business owner to communicate with your leadership team openly and clearly is essential, and perhaps never more so than throughout the planning process. Transparency fosters the free flow of information and insight that are essential to building a thoughtful and successful strategy. Think of all the wasted time if your team is collaborating and planning with only a partial sense of reality. Now consider how much better that strategy and plan would be if you provide them with the insight and tools, they needed to make it sing.
Throughout the planning process, commit to being as transparent as possible with your team. This openness will almost certainly result in a better, more comprehensive plan – and a lot more trust built along the way.
Conclusion
The best time to start planning was last year, the second-best time to put some thought and energy into your plan is right now.
- Start with a Vision.
- Prioritize what needs to be done first to achieve it.
- Share your goals and plans with your team.
“In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell.”
― Jack Welch
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If you want to learn more about hosting a workshop on this topic or simply have a conversation over coffee about it, feel free to send me a message.
You can contact me via email or call +27 78-804-2347
Cheers
Coach Colin at the Alternative Board
I guide Overwhelmed and Frustrated Business Owners and their Management Team from Chaos to Clarity & Control using the Business Builders Blueprint™ to Improve their Business & Change their Lives.
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