I’m hearing it already. Are you?
“We’ll circle back in January.”
“That can wait until next year.”
“Christmas is around the corner, let’s pick it up after.”
It’s mid-October, and a fair chunk of the business world has quietly decided the year is pretty much done. Maybe that’s where you are too. Or maybe you’re at the other end entirely – calendar full until Christmas, deep in delivery, taking a few deep breaths so you can do your best work for the clients you’ve got.
Either way, I think this is one of the most hopeful times of the year.
If things are slowing down around you, the door is wide open. Inboxes are quieter. The clients you’d love to work with are starting to think about next year, and far fewer people are talking to them about it.
If you’re flat out, that’s a wonderful place to be. It’s also exactly when business development, lead generation and sales quietly fall off the list – not by choice, just because there’s no room left in the week. But the work that fills February and March is being set up now, and keeping even a little of it going while you deliver is what turns a great year into a great start to the next one.
Once you take out the Melbourne Cup, school holidays and the festive chaos of December, there are just over ten working weeks left. That’s not the tail end of a year. It’s a genuine runway – enough to land some work before Christmas and walk into 2027 already moving.
Wherever you’re sitting, it doesn’t need a grand plan. So here are three small things. Pick one this week, even if all you’ve got is half an hour.
Reconnect with someone who went quiet. Choose a past client or prospect you haven’t spoken to since mid-year. Spend ten minutes looking at what’s happening in their world, then send one idea that could genuinely help – an article with a line on why it made you think of them, or a “have you thought about…” No “just checking in”, no ask. If they reply, suggest a coffee before the year closes out.
Find out where your best clients really came from. List this year’s clients and, next to each, how they found you – a returning client, a referral, your content, a speaking gig. Circle the three you’d clone if you could and look for the pattern. It’s often not where you’d guess, and it shows you where to put your energy next.
Write down five things you’d love to see change in your industry. The habits that frustrate you, the advice you think is wrong. Pick the one that fires you up most and ask, “What do I believe instead?” That’s your point of view. Turn it into a post this week, or your next client conversation.
Any one of those puts you ahead of where you’d be waiting for January. It might just be the conversation that shapes your next year.
I’d love to hear which one you pick.
Janine x
PS – Building 2027 properly, alongside other women doing exactly the same, is what our Elevate Business Growth Immersion in December is all about. Two days in one room in Sydney on 7 and 8 December – the year that was, then pricing, pipeline, positioning and the plan for the year ahead. There are 20 guest tickets for women new to the room, and if you can’t make Sydney, we’ve got you covered with an online session on 14 December. Everything’s here – CLICK HERE: