Rasmussen MA CEC PCC If you are reading this, you are still here.
That might sound simple. It is not.
You have poured your time, money, pride, and heart into building something that serves people, creates jobs, and keeps your household moving forward. Small business ownership asks a lot of a person, and you keep showing up anyway.
Before we talk strategy, take a moment to acknowledge what you have already done.
You Are Already Beating the Odds
In Canada, survival rates vary depending on how the data is measured and which businesses are included. The point stays the same, the first five years are tough.
Government reporting shows that for businesses that begin with 1 to 4 employees, about 62.5% are still active after five years. ISED Canada
BDC also reports that just over half of new businesses survive to see their fifth year. BDC.ca
So yes, congratulations are in order. If you have made it this far, you have already done something difficult.
The Shift for 2026: Facts, Not Fantasy
2026 can be different, and not because of a new trend, a guru, or an instant fix.
It can be different because you choose to run your business on facts. Real numbers. Real customer behaviour. Real capacity. Real systems.
That means looking directly at the things that quietly take businesses out:
- Reputation leaks, the promises you think you are keeping, and the places customers experience something else
- Money leaks, the costs, errors, rework, discounts, waste, and time drains you have learned to tolerate
- Knowledge gaps, the parts of business you were never taught and have been forced to guess at
This is not a mindset issue. Business requires structure, and structure is built one decision at a time.
The Question That Builds Strong Businesses
Ask yourself this every day in 2026:
What is one thing I can do today to strengthen this business?
Not one more thing to sell. Not one more thing to post. One thing that makes the business more stable, more consistent, and easier to run.
Look at the Places That Most Often Need Systems
Customers
Take a clear look at your customers and ask:
- Which customers leave you with healthy margins and clean delivery?
- Which customers drain time, create problems, and leave you second guessing your pricing?
If you are not sure, that is useful information. It means you need a simple way to track what is happening by customer, not just by total sales.
Marketing
Marketing is not meant to feel like a slot machine. If you cannot tell what is working, you are paying in time and money for uncertainty.
Your 2026 goal is clarity:
- Where do leads come from?
- What do they respond to?
- What converts, and what does not?
Operations
The daily work of delivering products and services needs fewer heroics and more repeatability. If your business relies on you remembering everything, you are carrying risk you do not need.
The “Bug List” Exercise That Creates Momentum
Make a list called: Everything That Is Bugging Me About This Business.
Put it all on the list. Every irritation, every recurring issue, every task you avoid, every customer problem, every number you do not understand.
Then prioritise the list by asking one question:
Where is the system missing, unclear, or broken?
That becomes your build list for 2026.
The 5-Hour Weekly Appointment That Changes Everything
If you do one thing differently next year, do this:
Pause for at least five hours every week to work on the business, not just in it.
Protect that time like a client appointment, because it is. It is an appointment with the future of your business.
Use it to:
- review numbers you have been avoiding
- fix one broken process
- document one repeatable step
- clean up one customer experience issue
- tighten one part of your marketing system
- train one team member on one standard
This is how stability is built. Quietly. Consistently.
We Are Building a Place to Do This Together
In 2026, I am starting a Skool community based on the practical foundations in my book Small Business, Big Opportunity.
It is for small business owners who are done with noise and ready for structure. Real conversations, real tools, and a steady pace of improvement that adds up over a year.
If you want support, you do not have to do this alone. Having a business coach in 2026 would help.
You and your business deserves a plan you can execute, and systems you can rely on.
