How business owners should approach 2026

At a glance

• Why clarity on your 2026 destination is the ultimate competitive advantage
• How to identify and close the gaps that limit growth and optionality
• The key steps to reduce owner dependency and build resilience

Martin Brown, CEO of business growth advisory firm Elephants Child, shares his tips for business owners to successfully navigate 2026, especially those considering when and how they will exit their business.

The New Year is more than a symbolic reset; it’s an inflection point.  This is the moment to resist the temptation to dive straight back into the day-to-day operations and instead ask:

Where do I want my business to be by the end of 2026?

Not “someday.” But 12 months from now.

Clarity is the ultimate competitive advantage. You need to know where you are going so you can make a realistic plan to get there.

Define your desired outcomes

Start by defining outcomes, especially around how you might want to exit your business. Do you want the option to sell or retain full control? How involved do you want to be day to day? What does success look like financially, operationally, and personally? Could someone else run this business without you?

Too many owners drift into the future, reacting rather than leading. This can have a huge impact on the growth and eventual value of your business. How will you choose to own and allocate your precious resources—time, focus, and energy—this year?

Identify the gaps

Once your long-term destination is clear, take an unflinching look at where you are today. What could prevent your business from achieving that outcome? Where are you fragile, messy, or overly complex? What would concern an outside buyer, investor, or successor?

This gap isn’t a problem; it’s your roadmap. Turn it into an opportunity that you lead and control by creating an achievable plan to close the gap.  A three-year plan combined with a one-year plan breaks goals into manageable sections and clarifies the steps to make progress.

Make your business less dependent on you

We’ve worked with many businesses where owners struggle to delegate, feeling they are essential to every decision and process in their business, and it stifles growth. If you disappeared for a month, would decisions stall? Would revenue drop? Would clients panic?  If the answer is yes to any of these questions, make 2026 the year your business becomes less dependent on you.

A business that relies on the owner for sales, approvals, and problem-solving is hard to scale and harder to exit. Focus on documenting processes, delegating decision-making, and building leadership beneath you. The goal isn’t irrelevance – it’s replaceability. The less the business needs you, the more valuable it becomes.

Review customer and revenue concentration

How much revenue comes from your top few customers? How dependent are you on a single channel or partner? High concentration increases risk and reduces your options. Not only is too much dependence on one client or relationship a risk for your growing business, when it comes to getting a good price at exit, buyers don’t like it.

Resilience comes from balance: broadening your customer base, diversifying lead sources, and strengthening accounts.

Financial readiness is a strategic asset

Running your business as if you are going to sell it and due diligence lies ahead is one of the smartest moves you can make in 2026. Clean, consistent bookkeeping, clear separation of personal and business expenses, and trusted monthly reporting will give you confidence and credibility long before any exit transaction. We’ve recently completed an exit with a client having spent several years working with them. And because they had such a clear understanding of the figures, they were able to quickly and easily answer more than 100 questions put to them by the business broker involved in the sale of their business.

The opportunity ahead

You don’t need to decide everything today. But you do need to decide to be strategic. Run your business this year as if you are planning to sell it or at least explore sale options. Whether you are ready to start the process during 2026 or not, your business will benefit from a New Year’s resolution to becoming exit ready.

We work in conjunction with an extensive network of external growth advisers and SME specialists, such as Elephants Child, who have been carefully selected by St. James’s Place. The services provided by these specialists are separate and distinct to the services carried out by St. James’sPlace and include advice on how to grow your business and prepare your business for sale and exit.

SJP Approved 06/01/2026