Dear Reader;
As we enter September and the unofficial start of Fall, vacations are winding down and 2027 is starting to come into focus. That means that now is the time to start positioning and plotting your strategic moves for 2027. What are you going to do to put the pile of cash on the balance sheet to work? To address the pockets of underperformance that have been dragging down the firm for too long? To stay on the offense with building a better and stronger organization?
This issue brings you five practical tips to inject new energy for the new year that starts in 122 days. As always, we’re here to help. Whether it is strategic planning, project management improvement, growth through acquisition, transition planning, or other strategic priorities, our team is ready to guide you to long-term sustainable success.
Do you have any questions on any of these tips? Perhaps you wish to share some feedback? Maybe you need some guidance or support on a challenge that your firm is facing? Let me know in the comments.
September is the month to re-forecast reality (not defend the budget you built nine months ago).
By now, you have enough information to know where the original 2026 plan was right, where it was wrong, and where conditions have changed. Take a hard look at backlog, pipeline, hiring, project performance, cash flow, and profitability and build a realistic September-to-December forecast. Then, figure out what needs to happen now to enter January with momentum.
Still reluctant to raise your fees? Do this first.
Conduct a client perception survey and ask a wide range of questions around your firm’s performance. If no clients complain about your fees, they are too low. That’s all the data you need to drop in a 5% increase across the board. You will also get amazingly valuable insight on market trends, your firm’s real value-drivers, and where you can make improvements. Get it started now so you can make changes going into the new year.
The Founder’s last job is to make themselves unnecessary.
A successful transition is driven by one move that has nothing to do with money. The first-to-second generation transition isn’t complete when the next CEO gets the title. It’s complete when employees, clients, and key partners stop instinctively looking to the Founder for the final answer. Every decision that the Founder continues to make delays that moment. The mark of a new year is a great time to draw a line in the sand on this.
What are ten things you are going to stop doing in 2027?
Strategic planning often produces another list of initiatives. September is a great time to identify the services, markets, meetings, reports, processes, and pet projects consuming resources without producing enough return. Growth requires subtraction as well as addition.
Use the Fall recruiting window aggressively.
If growth requires additional capacity in 2027, January is too late to start looking. Identify the positions you’ll need based on your forecast (not just the vacancies you have today) and begin building the pipeline now. September is a natural career-reset point. Summer vacations are over, kids are back in school, and people tend to reassess whether they want to spend another year with their current employer. Just be aware that some may want to stay where they are until after getting a year-end bonus.
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