How to recover from a tough year in business and plan for a better year ahead

This year has been a tough year for many businesses so if it’s been a tough one in your business, you are not alone. It might have been a tough year financially. Revenue could have been down, profit could have been down, or you might personally been able to pay yourself / take less out of the business. Or maybe the financials stayed the same, but it all felt tough. You had to work harder than before to make sales, clients were more demanding that before, or you’ve ended up doing work you don’t enjoy as much. Regardless of why it’s been a tough year I’m here to share how to move into the new year ready for a better year. Keep on reading to find out how to recover from a tough year in business and plan for a better year ahead.

 

 

 

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HOW TO RECOVER FROM A TOUGH YEAR IN BUSINESS AND PLAN FOR A BETTER YEAR AHEAD

 

What a tough year in business looks like for businesses that survived the year

 

You already know that not every business that is created survives. In fact, the odds are really stacked against you, especially the longer you are in business. So if your business has survived another year, congratulations! But I’m not in the business of helping people to have businesses that survive; I’m here to help people have businesses that thrive.

 

So what does a tough year in business look like for a business that is still operating? It could be that…

• Revenue was down compared to the year before
• Profit was down compared to the year before
• Having to work more hours than before
• Finding it harder to make sales
• Having to do work that you’d rather not be doing
• Saying ‘yes’ and taking on clients you’d rather not work with
• Struggling with your team – people leaving o r performance issues
• Dealing with more client complaints, defaults and refunds than before

 

If you resonate with one or a few of the things mentioned then you are justified in feeling it has been a tough year in business, even though your business has survived, and understanding why it has felt so tough is key to moving forward and having a better year.

 

You need to realise things won’t just magically change

If you’ve had a tough year after a few good years, it’s easy to think it’s an anomaly and things will just bounce back. That rarely is the case. Especially at the time of writing this (end of 2026), there has been significant changes in the world. Changes that are meaning sales are tougher for many businesses, what people are willing to pay and the amount people are willing to pay is changing. To thrive in the year ahead you can’t wish for things to go back to how they were. Instead, you are going to have to take a hard look at your business in today’s world and work out how it can thrive in today’s world.

 

CREATE A STRATEGIC PLAN TO MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD IN THE YEAR AHEAD I’m the Annual Planning Queen and I specialise in helping micro service-based business owners plan for the year ahead so they can achieve the goals that are important to them. By booking a Strategy Day with me, I’ll ensure you have a powerful and productive annual planning experience where we consider all the major elements to ensure you can achieve your goals for the year ahead. All you have to do is secure your date, block it out in your diary and get ready to be guided through my signature annual planning framework that guarantees that, by the end of the end of our time together, you’ll have a clear roadmap to achieve your goals and be excited for the year ahead. For all the information and to book a Strategy Day click here.

 

Step 1: Look at your business and the world as it is right now

 

To plan for a better year ahead, you first need to understand why this year has been so tough. Understanding why it was tough (less revenue, working more, harder to make sales etc) is a good starting point. But then you need to dig deeper and work out why you think there has been a change. This will require you to look at what is happening outside your business and inside your business.

 

Outside your business, you may need to consider

• The economy
• Buyer behaviour
• Competition
• Marketing channels and platforms

 

Inside your business, you may need to consider

• Offer Suite
• Pricing
• Capacity
• Skills
• Energy

 

You wont’ know for certain why you’ve had a tough year, but your job is to really what you think are the main causes. If you don’t do this then there is no way you can plan for a better year ahead.

 

Step 2: Decide what your version of a ‘better year’ is.

Saying you want a better year is a bit like saying you want to take your business to the next level; it doesn’t really mean anything. You have to define what that actually means. I’ve gone into more detail about defining what your next level is in Stop chasing the next level in your business until you’ve defined it. 

 

When you’ve had a tough year, it is easy to just reminisce to earlier, better years and want to replicate that. But avoid falling for that trap. Instead, get brutally honest based on the business right now, what’s happening in the world and the season of life you are in, what a better year would actually be like.

 

Step 3: Create the plan to achieve your better year

 

Once you’ve got clear on what your ‘better year’ would actually be like you can create a plan to get you there. The point of the plan is to bring the gap between where your business is right now (hence Step 1) and where you want your business to be (Step 2). In this instance, you are looking at have a better year and so creating an annual plan is the sensible choice.

 

There are two key elements to creating this plan.

 

Element 1: The Strategy 

The strategy part is where you are going to focus on how you are going to approach achieving your better year. This requires you to look at, and make strategic decisions around the core areas of your business, such as offer suite, pricing, marketing, sales and operational setup.

 

Element 2: The Roadmap

The roadmap is where you plot when activities are going to take place. This is what helps you to see how you, and your team, will implement the strategy. It breaks down key activities and when they’ll take place. It is key for helping to see how things build up sequentially across the year, but also to gauge how much is happening with a specific month so you can ensure implementing your strategy is manageable.

 

BE THE CEO YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS. GET CLEAR ON WHAT CAUSED THE TOUGH YEAR AND PLAN HOW TO OVERCOME IT AND MAKE THE UPCOMING YEAR BETTER. I’m the Annual Planning Queen and I specialise in helping micro service-based business owners plan for the year ahead so they can make their business better. By booking a Strategy Day with me, I’ll ensure you have a powerful and productive annual planning experience where we consider all the major elements to ensure you can achieve your goals for the year ahead. All you have to do is secure your date, block it out in your diary and get ready to be guided through my signature annual planning framework that guarantees that, by the end of the end of our time together, you’ll have a clear roadmap to achieve your goals and be excited for the year ahead. For all the information and to book a Strategy Day click here.

 

That’s it. You now know what you need to stop chasing the next level in your business until you’ve defined it.

 

Step 4: Implementing, monitoring progress and keeping on track

Having a plan for a better year ahead is one thing, but there are plenty of annual plans that are created and never looked at. And whilst creating the strategy element of your annual plan is helpful in itself, if you are serious about turning a tough year around and making the next year better then you need to ensure your implement the plan and monitor your progress.

 

This is where having external accountability makes all the difference. I’ve helped hundreds of business owners with annual planning and if you are serious about implementing your plan you’ll get external accountability so you follow through. This is especially important if you are in your business alone, you don’t have anyone else in your team at a senior level or there are parts of your plan that are going to require you to get out of yoru comfort zone.

 

Once your plan is done it is key to decide how you are going to monitor your progress. If you’ve had a tough year, it isn’t going to turn around instantly. So you want to be monitoring progress so you can see that things are moving in the right direction in the first instance. You’ll need to decide what metrics to monitor, how often you’ll monitor those metrics and who you’ll have holding you accountable.

 

That’s it. You now know how to recover from a tough year in business and plan for a better year ahead. 

 

After a tough year, it’s easy to lose hope, but I know personally and I’ve seen with clients, that one tough year doesn’t spell the end of your business. In fact, it can be an opportunity to rebuild even stronger. In this blog post I’ve outlined the steps that will help you to recover for a tough year in business and plan for a better year ahead. The steps aren’t complicated, but I know not everyone who reads this will make the time to follow them and put in the effort, but I really hope you are someone who does.

If you’ve found this blog post useful, please do let me know over on Instagram or LinkedIn.

 

If you are serious about turning things around and recovering from a tough year, then I would love to support you with that.

 

If you just want help with looking at your business and the world right now and creating an annual plan for the year ahead, then a Strategy Day is perfect for you. Click here for all the information.

 

If you are looking for the annual plan, but then want the ongoing support, training and accountability to ensure that you are implementing your plan and strategically reacting to what the world throws at you through the year, then my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring is perfect for you. Click here for all the information.