The early days of the New Year can be energizing for business leaders. It’s an ideal time to reflect, look ahead and optimize their organization’s growth strategy. It’s about evaluating new or untapped opportunities. It’s also a chance to predict possible risks on the horizon. And there are many facing Canadian companies.
Take the political uncertainty in Ottawa as a federal election and a potential change in government (not to mention policy direction) looms, or the Trump administration’s threat of 25 per cent tariffs (perhaps less—or more) on Canadian exports to the U.S. And let’s not forget the legislative uncertainty with the prorogation of Parliament and questions swirling around the planned implementation of tax and business-focused measures such as the increase to the capital gains inclusion rate.
Regardless of the hope or hurdles to come, these early days of the New Year are ripe for reviewing your organization’s current market position and finding new ways to drive profitability. Whatever your industry, sharpening your focus now can lay the groundwork for progress in the months ahead, ensuring that your business meets and exceeds its objectives as the calendar moves forward. Think of it as a time for renewal, the ideal window to implement changes, set new goals, and prepare your team for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Here are several ways you can optimize your business strategy as we head further into 2025:
Reassess market trends and customer needs—This starts by conducting market research (quantitatively and/or qualitatively) to analyze industry trends, your competitors’ movements and shifting customer preferences to highlight areas for improvement or growth. This process can be managed using surveys, focus groups or third-party reports, then leveraged to adjust your product or service offerings to align with sector realities and customer demand.
Set achievable goals—Once you understand where you need to take your business strategy in 2025, set specific, measurable (and realistic) goals and the timeline in which you hope to achieve them. Remember that it’s always best to focus on the projects that will have the greatest impact on your organization’s growth or efficiency. Work with your team to review progress towards achieving those goals at least quarterly, but potentially even on a monthly basis by setting micro-objectives over shorter time periods (e.g., days or weeks). Doing so will also allow your team to celebrate small wins in service of a much more significant strategic objective.
Consider technology investments—Inefficient legacy technology systems can be a burdensome anchor on an organization’s innovation and productivity (depending on the nature of the business, that could include everything from outdated administrative software to aging manufacturing equipment). By leveraging the latest customer relationship management (CRM) systems, tapping artificial intelligence and cutting-edge analytics platforms, or by automating routine tasks wherever possible, you can dramatically enhance efficiency and better understand customer needs and industry trends. In some cases, that could mean embracing greater digital adoption while streamlining processes across the organization. Few CEOs regret the decision to make significant technology investments when they realize the value that the right digital tools can deliver to their bottom line.
Take a financial deep dive—Who or what is really delivering value to your organization? That’s a big question and one that’s answered with an in-depth understanding of your employees, product or service offering and competitive landscape, to name only a few considerations. Take these early weeks of 2025 to analyze spending and identify areas for cost savings without sacrificing product or service quality. Consider your sales strategy and whether there’s an opportunity to sell more to your existing customer base, or even across new markets at home or abroad. While there are many financial analyses that organizations can undertake to boost profitability, one of the most important is a comprehensive cash flow analysis. Can you make simple enhancements such as prompt invoice processing, or renegotiating vendor contracts to obtain more favourable terms, to boost your organization’s financial health for the year ahead? Are there certain product or service lines that generate greater revenue or profit, but could benefit from additional resources? Now is the time to ask these questions and develop effective solutions that put your organization on a better financial path.
Invest in your people—At Adams + Miles, we’ve long embraced the idea that our people are our greatest asset. It’s fair to say that most business leaders would agree—and that the same rule applies to their organizations. But the reality is that employee engagement is as fragile as it is vital to a company’s success. This is a good time of the year to improve communications with employees to keep them aligned on strategic goals, to invest in training and skills development, to equip staff to manage future challenges and to recognize strong performance—or make personnel changes that better reflect your organization’s growth trajectory.
However you customize your business strategy for 2025, having frank leadership conversations, analyzing key metrics and making result-focused changes will help to position your organization for success in the year ahead.
Tony Sokic, Managing Partner
For assistance with your strategic accounting needs, contact a member of our team today.
