If you’re still using last year’s plan – lightly updated – you’re already behind
The first problem most businesses fail to solve isn’t finance, hiring or operations. It’s the future.
That might sound abstract, but it’s not.
In practice, we see it every day in growing SMEs that:
– Keep applying yesterday’s logic to a changed market
– Rely on habits that no longer give them a competitive edge
– Make strategic decisions based on internal assumptions, not external reality
– Your business must succeed in a future that’s different from the past.
But most strategies are built backwards
Why Past-Based Strategy Fails
Success creates comfort.
If something worked before, it feels safe to keep doing it.
– But markets change.
– Clients change.
– Competitors change.
– And if your business doesn’t keep pace – or ideally, get ahead – it will stagnate.
The goal of strategy is not to perfect today. It’s to position your organisation for what’s coming next
You Can’t Predict the Future – But You Can Prepare for It.
Forecasting is flawed.
We’ve seen entire sectors blindsided by new entrants, shifting technologies or unexpected regulation.
So rather than trying to predict a single outcome, we help businesses prepare for several plausible futures.
This means:
– Scanning the present with structured tools (SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces)
– Extracting insights that are specific, evidence-based and commercially relevant
– Using scenario planning to explore what might happen – and how your business would respond
The Power of Strategic Imagination
Great businesses don’t just analyse – they imagine.
We work with leadership teams to explore stories about the future:
– What if a major competitor collapses or is acquired?
– What if customer behaviour shifts overnight due to tech or pricing pressure?
– What if geopolitical change makes your current operating model obsolete?
These aren’t hypothetical distractions. They’re strategic readiness exercises
They help you:
– Stress-test decisions
– Reveal hidden risks
– Spot emerging opportunities
– Build organisational agility
Are You Skating to Where the Puck Is Going?
Wayne Gretzky famously said he skated to where the puck was going – not where it had been.
That’s exactly what your strategy needs to do.
If your business is built for yesterday’s conditions, it will lose to one that’s built for tomorrow’s.
Want to Learn How to Make Your Strategy Future-Facing?
We’ve created a short, practical, FREE webinar for founders and leadership teams of SMEs
It’s called the Primer for Business Growth, and it covers the four key problems every business must solve – starting with this one.
Watch it here:
https://sixsess.org/training/primer-for-business-growth-masterclass/
Ready to Apply It in Practice?
Our Business Growth Masterclass for Founders and Leaders of Small to Medium-Sized Businesses will help you:
– Build an evidence-based picture of where your market is going
– Turn insight into action
– Prepare your business to grow under different future conditions
Full course details:
https://sixsess.org/training/business-growth-masterclass-for-smes/
Strategy that’s built on the past won’t take you into the future.
Let’s change that.
