Many small business owners believe that strategy is just corporate jargon — a word consultants throw around to justify expensive reports. The assumption is that day-to-day operations, sales, and customer service matter far more than some abstract “strategy definition.”

The best time of year to create a strategic plan is typically in the last quarter of your fiscal year (October–December for most businesses). This timing allows you to review results from the current year, set clear objectives for the next year, and align resources before January 1. However, depending on your industry, fiscal year, or growth cycle, mid-year or even rolling planning sessions may be the better fit.

Business moves faster than ever. Markets shift, competitors innovate, and customer expectations evolve. If your strategic plan is sitting on a shelf gathering dust, it’s not a plan—it’s a missed opportunity. That’s why I believe every small business owner should revisit their plan every 90 days.

Strategic growth for entrepreneurs often gets blocked by outdated assumptions and “rules of thumb” that don’t hold up in today’s business environment. Let’s bust some of the biggest Exit Planning Myths so you can avoid costly mistakes and set your company on the right path.

Business owners are constantly faced with choices that impact both the long-term direction and the day-to-day execution of their companies. Two of the most common terms that come up in Execution Planning are Strategic Planning and Tactical Planning. Understanding the difference between the two—and knowing when to use each—can mean the difference between growth that is sustainable and activity that simply keeps you busy. In this article, we’ll break down Strategic vs Tactic

Most small business owners understand the importance of a company-wide strategic plan. But many skip the crucial step of breaking that plan down into department-level strategic plans. Without this layer, broad business goals often get lost in translation, leaving employees unclear on how their daily work connects to long-term growth.

Most small business owners spend their weeks reacting—putting out fires, managing emails, and juggling client demands. But without building in time for strategic thinking, you risk running a business that’s busy but not growing.

Why Setting Revenue, Profit, and Value Goals Matters For small business owners, goal setting  isn’t just about writing down numbers—it’s...

Why 2026 Planning Matters If you’re like most small business owners, the year flies by—and suddenly, it’s December, and you realize you never created a clear Annual Planning process. Without a plan, you risk drifting, reacting to challenges instead of proactively steering your business. A solid Business Roadmap for 2026 isn’t just about goals—it’s about creating a structure that helps you make better decisions, allocate resources effectively, and avoid costly detours.

A Business Road Map is a high-level plan that outlines where your business is going, how you plan to get there, and what milestones you need to hit along the way. Think of it like a GPS for your company: it doesn’t list every single turn, but it gives you the direction, priorities, and sequence of major goals so your team knows what to focus on.

Yes. Even if your business isn’t in a growth phase, you still need a plan. Strategic planning isn’t only for scaling—it’s also about protecting stability, preparing for opportunities, and avoiding costly surprises. A plan gives you clarity, keeps your operations efficient, and helps you make better decisions, whether you’re expanding or simply maintaining your current level.

Crafting a clear, inspiring vision is one of the most important steps in setting your business up for long-term success. Yet, many small business owners struggle to translate their big ideas into a concise vision statement that can guide decision-making, motivate their team, and align strategic efforts. That’s why we created the Vision Statement Builder—a simple, practical tool designed to help you clarify your future and put it into words.

As a small business owner, you are pulled in many directions—client demands, daily operations, and long-term growth goals. Without a clear system for Project Prioritization, it’s easy to lose focus on what truly drives Business Growth. Choosing the right projects at the right time ensures your limited resources—time, money, and energy—deliver the greatest impact.

The economy is shifting under our feet. Inflation, interest rate swings, supply chain pressures, and geopolitical uncertainty all make it harder than ever for small businesses to navigate the future. Yet, in times like these, the businesses that thrive aren’t the ones that wait for stability—they’re the ones that plan for uncertainty and build resilience into their strategy.

Strategic planning is the process of setting clear goals for your business and creating a step-by-step plan to achieve them. Think of it as your business road map—it shows where you are today, where you want to go, and how you’ll get there. Unlike day-to-day operations, strategic planning focuses on long-term direction, growth, and sustainability.

Let’s be honest: most strategic plans never leave the binder. They’re ambitious, well-formatted, and sometimes even inspiring. But when the ink dries, they often sit untouched while day-to-day fires consume leadership attention. In my experience working with small business owners, I’ve seen too many well-intentioned strategies collapse under the weight of reality.

Many small business owners believe that strategic planning is something only large corporations need. The assumption is that Fortune 500 companies have the resources, staff, and time to plan, while small business owners should simply “work harder” and focus on day-to-day survival.

A strong strategic plan should clearly define your vision, mission, long-term goals, key priorities, measurable objectives, and the resources needed to achieve them. At its core, Strategic Plan Content typically includes: an executive summary, a mission and vision statement, a situation analysis (such as SWOT), specific goals and objectives, strategies and action steps, performance metrics, and an implementation and review process.

Bookkeeping is the process of recording and organizing all financial transactions in a business. In simple terms, it’s keeping track of where money comes in and where it goes out. This includes documenting sales, purchases, payments, payroll, and other financial activities. Think of bookkeeping as the foundation of your small business records — without it, you can’t clearly see your financial picture.

A Chart of Accounts (COA) is simply the master list of all the accounts a business uses to record financial transactions. Think of it as the “filing cabinet” for your bookkeeping system—each account is like a folder where specific types of income, expenses, assets, or liabilities are tracked. In other words, if bookkeeping is the process of recording transactions, the Chart of Accounts is the roadmap that tells you where each transaction belongs.