The only thing that’s certain about the coming year is uncertainty. The fate of our economy is no exception. There’s only one thing you can do about that. Well, two things. First, don’t panic. We’ve weathered a horrific storm (remember 2020?), and we’ll do it again. Second, PLAN. Having a good strategic action plan for your business is the best way to find solid ground in shaky times.
Let’s review the domino effect of economic uncertainty and downturn. Risk tolerance goes down and perceived value tightens. People and businesses are far less willing to take chances and make commitments, and suddenly things just don’t seem worth the cost. All that translates into more “no, thank yous.” (Don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s them.) But with a thoughtful action plan, you’ll be set up to achieve reasonable goals even in trying times.
Where to focus and what to ask (yourself)
To see where you need to go, you need to review where you’ve been. Specifically, for the past 12 months. (If you don’t have that information, there’s no time like the present. Start tracking now.) And here’s the trick: review without judgment. Maybe you didn’t meet your goals. It’s ok. Knowing what actions you took will help you determine what you need to do differently to get where you want to be.
Below are three key pieces of a solid action plan and direction on how to get the information you need to make sound decisions for the coming year.
1. Key profit indicators:
Who you’re serving, where the money’s coming from, and whether you’re making the rate you need to in order to achieve your goals. Here are questions to consider:
- Are your clients mostly new or repeat? If they’re all new, something is broken.
- Are you hitting your target markets and do they really fit the target? If they don’t, you either have a new target that’s showing up organically or you’re fishing in the wrong pond.
- What is your sphere of influence? Where are clients coming from (e.g., social media)? This will inform where you spend more time and money on marketing.
- Are clients moving through your purchasing funnel successfully or are they getting stuck? If it used to take three weeks to close and now it takes six, speed it up.
- When is your money coming in? What months are better than others? Are your contracts finishing on time or are they dragging out due to lag on the client’s side? If it’s the latter, get tough on enforcing timelines—it’s costing you profitability.
- Are you billing overages or are you underbidding? (Both cause resentment.) Most female founders leak money by neglecting to account for behind-the-scenes hours.
- Are you keeping the money you earn or spending it on unnecessary expenses?
Ready to kickstart your most profitable year yet?
Join us on January 16th at 11:30 PT for our Key Profit Indicators Workshop—a 90-minute hands-on session designed to help you identify the metrics that matter most for your business’s success. Together, we’ll dig deep into the profit indicators you need to track, so you can take the guesswork out of decision-making and craft a clear, actionable plan for 2025. Don’t just survive uncertainty—thrive in it. Reserve your spot today and give your business the focused attention it deserves to make this your most successful year yet!
2. Projections based on resource allocation:
A specific and REALISTIC reverse-engineering of what you want to accomplish in a certain timeframe and how much time, money, and talent you’re willing to invest to achieve the changes you want. Here are some examples:
Goal: Sell to a new target market.
Ask: How will I get access to them?
Goal: Get more repeat clients.
Ask: How do I revise my sales process to reactivate past clients?
Goal: Add a new service offering.
Ask: What’s it going to take to create it, market it, and sell it?
Goal: Boost sales of an existing service offering.
Ask: What am I going to do differently to change the number of sessions being purchased?
Goal: Make more money for the same amount of work.
Ask: What do I need to do to make that happen?
3. Implementation planning:
How to act on ideas in ways that generate results. The three big questions are:
- Is everything on your list actually yours? Or is it on your list because someone else in your industry is doing it? If it’s not yours, dump it.
- What is the level of urgency for each item? Everything is not urgent. Period. Categorize what’s urgent, what’s important, and what can wait, and prioritize accordingly.
- Who needs to do the work? Determine which skills are needed to achieve the task and what available resources you have. If you have no money, no time, and no skills, remove that item from your list because that isn’t getting done. You’re going to make a sacrifice. If you have no time and no skills, you’re going to spend money.
Let’s make a plan
Learn how to track your strategic action plan for 2025 with our hands-on workshop to identify key profit indicators, set realistic goals, and implement actionable steps. Plan for a profitable year with confidence! Save your seat to our KPI Workshop below.
