Every January, business owners tell us the same thing: “We meant to plan, but the year started.” A plan does not need to be a 40-page document to work. It needs to fit on one page, name a handful of numbers, and be reviewed often enough that it changes behaviour. The format below is the one we use with clients in our strategy consulting work, scaled down so a two-person company can finish it in a few hours spread across November and December.
Why one page
A long plan gets written once and read never. A one-page plan sits on the wall or the first tab of a spreadsheet and gets looked at every Monday. It forces choices: if you can only list three goals, you have to decide which three matter. And it is easy to share, so your team, your accountant and your bank see the same picture.
The one-page format
Draw six boxes on a page and fill them in this order.
- Where we are. Three to five facts about 2026: revenue to date, your best-selling service, your most profitable customer type, and one thing that went wrong. Use real numbers from your books, not impressions.
- Where we want to be on 31 December 2027. One revenue target, one profit or cash target, and one non-financial target (a new service, a second location, a hire). Three targets, not ten.
- Who we serve. The two or three customer types that produce most of your margin. If you are not sure, your 2026 invoices will tell you.
- How we win. The one or two reasons those customers choose you over the alternative. Keep this honest; “great service” is not an answer unless you can say what you do that others do not.
- What we will do. Three to five initiatives for the year, each with an owner and a quarter. An initiative is a project with a finish line (launch the new offer, replace the booking tool, hire a part-time coordinator), not a wish (grow sales).
- What could stop us. Three risks and what you would do about each. A late-paying client, a key supplier closing, a tool price increase. Naming risks early is what turns them into plans instead of surprises.
The 90-day schedule
Planning fails when it is a single afternoon in late December. Spread it across three months and the work gets lighter.
November: look back. Pull your 2026 numbers from your accounting software by month and by service. Ask three customers why they hired you and what nearly stopped them. List every recurring cost and mark the ones you would not miss. This month is about facts, not decisions.
December: decide. Fill the six boxes. Set the three targets. Pick the initiatives and say no to the rest. Check the plan against your cash: if an initiative needs money in Q1, know where it comes from. Share the page with your team before the holidays so they return in January knowing the direction.
January: build the rhythm. Put a 30-minute review in the calendar every Monday for the first quarter. Each week, look at the page, note what moved, and pick the one thing to push this week. By the end of January, the plan is no longer a document; it is how the business runs.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Planning revenue without planning capacity. If the target needs 30% more work, say who does it and when they are hired.
- Copying last year with a percentage added. Growth comes from a change, not from the calendar turning.
- Keeping the plan private. A plan the team has not seen cannot guide their decisions.
- Never revisiting it. A plan reviewed quarterly is a plan; one reviewed once is a memory.
Key takeaways
- A business plan that fits on one page gets read and used; a long one gets filed.
- Fill six boxes: where we are, where we want to be, who we serve, how we win, what we will do, what could stop us.
- Spread the work across November (facts), December (decisions) and January (rhythm).
- Three targets and three to five initiatives are enough for a small business.
Need a second pair of eyes on your plan?
Working through the six boxes with someone outside the business is the fastest way to spot the assumptions you cannot see. Our strategy and management services include a planning session built around exactly this format, and you can see how we have approached projects for other clients on our Our Work page. Book a consultation and bring your 2026 numbers; we will leave with a first draft of your page.
