Business planning is something I haven’t been particularly good at in the past, apart from creating a word of the year (courtesy of Susannah Conway’s excellent reflecting on the year guide) and some vague quarterly goals. But I’m making a commitment that I’m going to make more time for planning, reviewing and thinking beyond what my next few deadlines are this year.
Freelance coach and wise owl Georgie Darling has previously shared that it’s highly likely that many freelancers are not spending enough time working on their business. She also provided some suggestions on what business planning activities could look like, including:
- Creating some main business goals for 2026
- Breaking those down into monthly goals and regularly reviewing them
- Updating your website or portfolio more frequently
- Devising some numerical goals to keep your plans on track such as number of pitches/outreach emails you’d like to send per month or quarter
- Making time for introducing yourself to people you’d like to work with
- Spending more quality time on LinkedIn (such as contributing more and regularly updating your profile)
Business planning and carving out dedicated thinking time is an essential but often neglected aspect of working for yourself. The good news is, even spending a couple of hours a week to work solely on your business will help to make it a regular (and worthwhile) habit.