Setting Intentions to Finish 2025 Strong

We’re at the starting line of the fourth quarter – five weeks of pro football have already been played, Hollywood is gearing up with new offerings of television and movies, and I’m harvesting all of my garden vegetables and fruit. Fourth quarter is also the time for business planning for 2026 – are you ready?

Our focus with clients is to finish the fourth quarter strong and prepare for the new year with well-planned strategies. I’ve always been a fan of worksheets because they encourage us to think and take action. That’s why I include worksheets in each chapter of "Best of the Best - Lead Boldly, Scale Rapidly, Create Your Legacy," just like I have in my previous books. Last year, I even created a succession planning toolkit filled with worksheets. The more I take the time to think and create actions, the better the results I see. I’ve found this approach incredibly helpful for myself and the leadership and executive teams I work with. I hope you find it helpful as well.  

The worksheets in Best of the Best are especially relevant for fourth-quarter planning because they provide a practical, step-by-step guide to what I like to call the Four Wheels of Business Strategy.  When I was recently working with CEO groups, I used a hot sports car as an example and broke down the four areas of strategic planning as the four wheels of this sports car. It was fun, so let’s keep the analogy going.  These areas are: 

  1. Finance Wheel

  2. Marketing Wheel

  3. Sales Wheel

  4. Team Wheel

The first thing we do is look at each wheel in planning our strategic goals, as we aim to finish the fourth quarter strong.  Then, set yourself up for great growth and success in 2026.  

Wheel One – Financial Strategy

  • DO THE NUMBERS! Numbers tell a story that will help account for cash on hand, reserves, and planned investments for growth or exit.

    • Have those essential discussions with your CPA, CFO, and bookkeeper to avoid surprises, come tax season.

  • Carefully manage your capital ahead of 2026 to stay secure and prepared with capital for growth.

    • Review your revenue forecasts, expense trends, and tax obligations now, in the fourth quarter.

  • Aligning financial plans with vision and legacy.

Wheel Two – Marketing Strategy

  • There are MANY forms of marketing from SEO, Social Media, Podcast Guesting, Speaking, Neworking, and on and on. It is essential to know what types of marketing efforts are best for your business.

  • Determine where business is coming from, what’s working, and where your best customers and clients are coming from. 

    • Which campaigns, approaches, and executions have been the most effective in 2025?

    • Track your ROI consistently and know your best marketing ROI tactic.

  • Build brand strength that carries through growth and transitions.

    • Are there opportunities to boost or repurpose what’s proven to be working?

Wheel Three - Sales Strategy

  • Identify consistent revenue streams.

    • Assess who your top clients are. 

    • Consider how to strengthen these relationships and nurture new leads. It is always easier to grow and expand an existing client than to gain new clients. 

  • Gain perspective on your exit: how do recurring revenue and strong pipelines genuinely increase the business's valuation?

    • Analyze the lifetime value of your best or loyal clients.

  • Understand growth: how to scale sales without overextending?

Wheel Four – Team & Operations

  • Build thriving teams regardless of whether you grow, sell, or step away.

    • Assess your team’s performance and identify any support they might need to meet year-end goals. 

Using Slater Success Worksheets

Over the past seventeen years, Slater Success has worked with high-performing leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives. The Best of the Best Worksheets have evolved as a result of that collective success. They’re designed to help you reflect, refine, and reset your vision to guide your 2026 Planning.

We invite you to download the PDF resource and complete the full set of worksheets included. They collectively include topics that will help you reflect on your 2025 activities in order to build a coherent strategy for 2026. The topics covered are:

  • Reflections on 2025

  • Vision for 2026

  • Strategic Goals

  • Daily Intentions

As a quick 15-minute exercise, do the first set of worksheets that cover your reflections on 2025. It will give you an idea of the inherent power of concentrating on aspects of your 2025 review, one at a time. Significant changes begin with clearly thought-out intentions.

-Reflection on 2025-

Year-End Reflection Worksheet

Take time to fill in this worksheet to unpack your wins, lessons, and momentum heading into 2026:

2025 WINS

2025 LESSONS

YOUR INGOING MOMENTUM FOR 2026

Again, download the PDF to fill out a full set of worksheets for yourself and your organization that can be used to guide 2025 Planning.

Spending time now to set your goals and strategies for 2026 will pay off big time. You’ll have laid out your vision, identified key areas that need action plans, and gotten feedback and buy-in from your team and other vital stakeholders. 

As always, please share your thoughts with me, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the worksheets.

Enjoy implementing your 2026 business plan!

Set intentions clearly, not haphazardly: Make this your most aligned year yet!

Ivy SlaterComment