If you’re reading this, you’re probably looking for a way to start 2026 with clarity, confidence, and momentum. You may have tried business planning before—perhaps you’ve even downloaded my simple business planning template. But if you’re like most business owners, you’ve found that traditional planning methods can be overwhelming, confusing, or just plain ineffective.

Let’s be honest: most business plans fail not because the ideas are bad, but because the plans are too complex, too vague, or never get implemented. I’ve seen it time and again in my work with small and medium business owners. The forty-page business plan gathers dust on a shelf, while the business itself struggles to move forward.

So, what’s the solution? Simplicity. Clarity. Action. That’s why I advocate for the one-page business plan—a tool designed to help you focus on what matters most, take meaningful action, and review your progress regularly. In this post, I’ll walk you through the process of creating your own one-page plan, share the reasons why it works, and give you practical tips to make 2026 your best year yet.

Download your one-page business plan template

Why Most Business Plans Fail—and How to Fix Yours

Let’s start with a bit of truth-telling. Most business plans fail for five simple reasons:

No plan at all. Many owners never get started because the process seems daunting.
Vague goals. “I want to increase my profit” isn’t enough. How much? By when? What will you do to get there?
No follow-through. Goals and actions are set, but never acted upon.
Lack of accountability. If you don’t share your plan or have someone to check in with, it’s easy to let things slide.
No way to measure success. Without clear metrics, you’ll never know if you’re on track.

The good news? Each of these problems can be solved with a simple, focused approach. The one-page plan is your antidote to complexity and procrastination.

The Power of Clarity

When you sit down to create your one-page plan, you’re embarking on a journey towards clarity. It’s not just about filling in boxes or ticking off tasks—it’s about understanding your actual goals, your purpose, and the actions required to achieve them.

I’ve worked with hundreds of business owners over the years, and I can tell you: clarity is the single most important ingredient for success. When you know where you’re going and why, the path becomes much easier to follow.

How to Create Your One-Page Plan

Here’s the process I recommend, based on decades of experience and the feedback from my clients:

1. Where Are You Now?

Start by taking an honest look at your current situation. What are your strengths? Where are your weaknesses? What are your key numbers—revenue, profit, client count, cash flow?

This isn’t about beating yourself up or glossing over problems. It’s about getting a clear, accurate picture of your business today. Clarity starts here.

2. Where Do You Want to Be in 12 Months?

Set one to three clear goals for the year ahead. These could be financial targets (eg. increase profit by $100,000), operational improvements (e.g., reduce client churn by 20%), or personal objectives (eg. reclaim five hours a week for family time).

Make your goals specific, realistic, and challenging. Don’t set the bar too low—but don’t aim for the impossible either. As you work through the planning process, you’ll refine these goals to ensure they’re both ambitious and achievable.

3. How Will You Get There?

This is where most plans go off the rails. It’s easy to come up with a long list of action items—sometimes hundreds! But that only leads to overwhelm and confusion.

Instead, focus on the three to five most critical strategies or projects that will move you towards your goals. What are the big priorities for the next ninety days? Maybe you need to hire a salesperson, launch a new website, or improve your marketing. Maybe you need to streamline your operations or raise your prices.

Remember: many “nice to have” tasks will happen as a byproduct of focusing on the big priorities. Others will turn out to be distractions. Simplicity brings clarity—and clarity drives results.

4. What Will You Measure?

Choose lead and lag indicators to track your progress. Lead indicators are things you can influence directly (eg. number of new enquiries, conversion rate), while lag indicators are the outcomes (eg. revenue, profit, cash flow).

Regular measurement keeps you on track and allows you to adjust quickly if things aren’t working. If you don’t measure, you’ll never know if you’re making progress.

5. Who Is Responsible?

Assign owners for each action. Accountability is the difference between a plan that gathers dust and a plan that delivers results. If you’re working alone, find an accountability partner—a coach, peer, or trusted colleague—to check in with you regularly.

The 90-Day Sprint Approach

One of the most powerful features of the one-page plan is the 90-day sprint. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, break your plan into ninety-day chunks. This timeframe is long enough to achieve meaningful progress, but short enough to stay focused and adaptable.

At the end of each sprint, review your progress, celebrate your wins, and set your next priorities. If something isn’t working, adjust your strategy—don’t wait until the end of the year.

This approach makes your goals more meaningful and measurable. You can see the outcomes, change your strategy if needed, and keep moving forward.

Realistic and Challenging Goals

As you work through the planning process, you’ll find that your goals need to be both realistic and challenging. It’s a balancing act. If your goals are too easy, you won’t push yourself. If they’re too hard, you’ll get discouraged.

Start with a rough draft—a “first pass”—and refine your goals as you go. Maybe you want to increase sales by $500,000, but after reviewing your resources, you decide $200,000 is more realistic. Or maybe you realise you need to hire a salesperson or invest in new technology to reach your targets.

Don’t spend too much time on the first draft. The process is iterative. As you work through the workbook and review your progress, you’ll refine your goals, targets, and actions.

Accountability and Support

One of the biggest reasons plans fail is lack of accountability. That’s why I recommend working through the process with someone else—whether it’s a coach, peer, or group. Accountability helps ensure your goals are sensible, achievable, and actually get implemented.

My business planning course and workbook provide structure, expert guidance, and ongoing support. You’ll get step-by-step instructions, practical examples, and the benefit of my experience working with small and medium business owners for over thirty years.

Outcomes Beyond Profit

While profit, sales, and cash flow are key outcomes, the one-page plan is also about regaining time, control, and enjoyment in your business. Many owners come to me feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and out of control. The planning process is designed to help you reclaim your freedom, reduce stress, and enjoy the rewards of business ownership.

Remember why you started your business in the first place. The one-page plan is your tool for getting back in touch with your purpose and making it a reality.

Implementation: Making Your Plan Work

Creating the plan is just the first step. The real challenge is implementation. That’s why the one-page format is so powerful—it makes actions clear and manageable, focusing on what needs to happen in the next ninety days to move towards your year-end goal.

Set aside a block of time—ideally four hours—to work through the process. If you can’t do it all at once, break it into manageable tasks. My course is designed to help you work through the programme in one sitting or in smaller lessons, depending on your schedule.

Once your plan is complete, review it regularly. Don’t fall into the trap of creating a plan and then forgetting about it. Use it as a living document—update it, adjust your strategies, and keep moving forward.

Practical Example: Building Your One-Page Plan

Let’s walk through a practical example:

Where are you now?

You’re generating $250,000 in annual revenue, with a profit margin of 10%. You have five regular clients and a steady stream of enquiries, but you’re spending too much time on admin and not enough on growth.

Where do you want to be in 12 months?

Increase revenue to $350,000, boost profit margin to 15%, and add three new regular clients. Reclaim five hours a week for strategic planning.

How will you get there?

Hire a part-time admin assistant to free up your time.
Launch a targeted marketing campaign to attract new clients.
Review pricing and raise rates for new projects.
Streamline your onboarding process to improve client retention.

What will you measure?

Number of new enquiries per month.
Conversion rate from enquiry to client.
Monthly revenue and profit.
Hours spent on admin vs. growth activities.

Who is responsible?

You: Strategic planning and pricing review.
Admin assistant: Onboarding and admin tasks.
Marketing agency: Campaign execution.

Break these actions into ninety-day sprints, review progress, and adjust as needed.

Ready to Get Started?

I’ve created a fillable one-page plan template to help you put these ideas into action.