‘Tis the season…

…to realize you are wildly behind on your 2025 planning. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

If you have already started on 2025 planning, CONGRATS!

You are ahead of 99% of startups everywhere.

If you’ve been focused on:

• Hitting your 2024 and Q4 sales goals

• Putting out customer fires

• Closing out your funding round before everyone is OOO

• Spreading holiday cheer for customers, employees, and founders

…totally normal and it’s not too late to be ready for 2025!

Here are 5 key strategies to make annual planning successful (with lots of resources of course)…regardless of how chaotic things are!

1. Start with wins!

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Go directly to…

Make a list of your 2024 wins!

You can do this:

• Personally

• Professionally

• For your company

• As a team

• As a family

(My husband and I do this and it’s incredible to see how much you do — and forget you’ve done — in a year.)

It’s unlikely that you hit every goal.

But you probably did a lot of great stuff and made a ton of progress.

THAT is the energy you want to bring into the new year.

Momentum, improvement, excitement.

Start by focusing on the GAIN not the GAP.

PROTIP: Look at your calendar to recall highlights or start with things you’re grateful for.

2. Include self reflection.

Startups are a reflection of their founder.

You perform, the company follows.

Your growth is intertwined with company growth.

• What did you do well?

• Where do you need to improve?

• Where are you the bottleneck?

• Are you showing up as your best self?

• Any personal or individual goals that relate to company goals?

PROTIP: Sahil Bloom has a great Personal Annual Review. I also do his Monthly Audit (calendar reminder with the questions) and love it.

3. Keep it simple.

What is better — OKRs or a company scorecard? Should you follow the Entrepreneurial Operating System or a One Page Strategic Plan?

The single best framework in the whole world is…

(drumroll)

THE ONE YOU WILL FOLLOW.

Annual plans are like exercise.

All exercise is good for you…if you do it.

The best type of exercise is the one you will actually do!

Don’t get stuck in an internet (or internal) debate over nuances.

Pick something that feels easy, makes sense to you, and works for your stage and company size.

You will improve and get more sophisticated as you build the planning muscle.

Start simple!

PROTIP: Need a starting place? 5 Simple Tools For Annual Planning

4. Make a follow up plan.

As part of your annual planning…make a plan for accountability!

• Pre-schedule goal review meetings

• Hire a coach

• Block time on your calendar for a key project

• Make changes in the physical environment (e.g. rearrange desks to further collaboration, put up a sign that you see daily)

• Set up a recurring meeting, alert, or activity related to a goal

PROTIP: More ideas here → 5 Strategies For Annual Planning Success Despite Startup Chaos

5. When in doubt, less.

Now, look at everything you planned and cut 50%.

Joking, but not really.

The biggest risk to your goals is that you have too many.

The biggest risk to your company is being spread too thin (with time and money) to make real progress.

I love this question from Tim Ferriss:

Which of these items - if accomplished - would make everything else easier or irrelevant?

If I train for a running race, I go to bed earlier and eat healthier.

If you find a great CMO, the other marketing projects are handled.

Focus on the 1 thing that solves everything else!

PROTIP: Use this priority framework to get super clear on your highest value initiatives.

What are your favorite annual planning strategies? What frameworks or tips have worked for you??