Every new year starts a new chapter, completely unwritten and ready for you to fill its pages. As we move into the new year, it’s important to take the time to reflect, plan and set goals to keep your growth moving forward.
Not too long ago, you focused on 4th quarter planning. Now, it’s time to turn your attention to Q1.
Here are six things that every business owner should do this quarter to set themselves up for success in 2026.
1. Wrap Up and Review
With 2025 behind us, it’s important to take a moment to review a few things, such as:
- 2025 financial reports
- 2025 goals and objectives
- The events of the last year (both the good and the bad)
- KPI goals that weren’t met (and try to identify why)
- Industry trends and changes that impacted your business
- Bottlenecks that need to be addressed
- Receivables that need to be followed up on and collected
Wrapping things up will allow you to start 2026 with a clean slate.
While you’re at this stage, take a look at internal issues that need to be addressed and resolved. Maybe certain products aren’t selling well. Maybe material costs are up. In this case, it may make more sense to either increase prices to offset costs or drop the product.
2. Assess 2025
A new year is here, which means it’s time for some reflection. The first quarter is the perfect time to dive deep and assess the previous year.
Ask yourself:
- What went well in 2025? What didn’t go as planned?
- Are we missing deadlines?
- Are customers more price-sensitive?
- Are we struggling with employee turnover?
Your answers will help you make meaningful changes this year. For example, do you have any products that are doing really well? Consider how you can leverage this trend to keep the growth momentum going.
Taking an honest look at 2025 will put things into perspective and help you find potential areas of improvement.
3. Set a Thematic Goal
You have many goals and plans for the year. But have you taken the time to break these big objectives down into smaller, short-term goals?
If not, now is the time to start.
Setting smaller milestones will not only keep your team motivated, but it will also give everyone a shared objective to aim for.
Take the time to set a thematic goal for Q1 and get the entire team involved. You want everyone on board and supporting the goal in some way, even if indirectly.
When you break down your larger goal, aim to:
- Give everyone a timeline to meet and a set of tasks to complete
- Keep the goal in front of your team
- Share updates on your progress regularly
- Reward your team for their hard work
Everyone should feel that they are in this together. By giving each team member a role to play, they will feel valued and understand that their role is critical in achieving the final objective.
When you do achieve your goal, make sure that you reward your team and let them know how much they are valued.
4. Build a Positive Company Culture
You could have the best strategy in the world, but you’ll struggle to implement it if you don’t have a strong, united team behind you.
After all, your team is the backbone of your business.
How can you create a stronger team?
Cultivate a positive company culture. Build a culture of communication. Make your business a place people want to work at.
Company culture is more important than you think. According to one survey, 73% of respondents said positive organizational culture matters most to them.
But how do you begin to cultivate a positive culture?
Focus on:
- Giving feedback regularly
- Setting clear expectations upfront
- Reward team members when they meet expectations and redirect when they don’t
Team meetings are a great way to hit all of these points. Make them short (often all you need is 10-15 minutes), purposeful, and focused so that everyone walks away knowing:
- What to do
- What’s expected of them
Along with meetings, you can build a positive culture by:
- Using the Working Genius concept to ensure the right team members are in the right roles
- Finding new ways to challenge your team
- Providing opportunities for growth
- Planning team building events
Keep your team engaged and challenged. Encourage them to find creative solutions. At the same time, use team events to build relationships and trust among team members.
5. Use Capacity Planning to Prevent Burnout
Poor capacity planning has led to 77% of businesses overcommitting their resources. If you’re overcommitting your team, you’ll struggle with burnout.
A burned-out team is not a productive (or happy) one. In fact, one survey found that more than half of employees reported feeling burned out, and 37% were so overwhelmed that they found it hard to do their job.
Effective capacity planning can help you avoid this fate, especially if you have big growth plans for this year or you’re struggling with bottlenecks.
Before you dive into the planning stage, take the time to:
- Calculate how many people you need to keep operations running smoothly
- Find tech solutions that can automate or streamline tasks
- Consider seasonality and how much your needs increase during your busy seasons
AI, automation, and other technology solutions may be able to eliminate certain tasks and reduce your need to hire more staff. By taking these tasks off your team’s plate, they’ll have more time to focus on tasks that help your business grow.
Once you have a clear understanding of your needs and how tech can help with your workload, you can effectively focus on capacity planning to avoid overloading your team.
6. Make Your Business Less Dependent on You
If you had to step down from your business today, could it run without you? If your answer was “no,” it’s time to change that.
Your goal for Q1 is to make your business less dependent on you.
How can you do that?
- Start creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for tasks. SOPs outline every step to complete a task, so virtually anyone on the team can step in to carry out the work.
- Consider training team members for different roles.
- Consider hiring if there’s a talent gap on your team so you can delegate some of your tasks.
When your business is no longer entirely dependent on you, it gives you peace of mind and flexibility. If you have to step away for a period, either because you want to or because you’re forced to, operations will continue with minimal disruptions.
The Takeaway
As we move through the start of 2026, take the time to reflect, plan, cultivate a positive work culture, and take steps to make your business less dependent on you.
Not only will you set your business up for success, but you’ll enjoy peace of mind that you’re headed in the right direction this year – no matter what comes your way.
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