77: How to Plan for 2026 In Your Business

2026 is right around the corner, and if you're the kind of person who loves the energy of a fresh start (hi, same), this episode is your sign to start planning now so you’re not scrambling in January.

In this episode, I’m sharing 5 (okay, 6 🤪) of my best tips to help you prep for a new year in business with intention and strategy. Whether 2025 went exactly the way you planned, or not at all, let’s set you up right for 2026!

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Transcript

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2026 is just a couple of months away, and I'm sorry, but I am 100% a new year, new me kind of gal. Okay. I love the energy of a new year or a new season in general. But honestly, planning for 2026 in your business starts right now. So in this episode, I'm going to share my top five best tips with you when it comes to planning out your new year goals so that you can roll into January with a plan instead of scrambling last minute. Let's get started. Welcome to the Virtual Assistant School podcast. I'm your host, Kate, a teacher-turned entrepreneur, mom of two, and I teach women how to use the skills they already have to make money from home as a virtual assistant. Every Tuesday and Thursday, you'll get step-by-step strategies, behind-the-scenes insights, and hear honest, unfiltered conversations about making money and growing an online business so you can stop feeling stuck and start taking action toward your goals. Whether you're looking for a flexible side hustle or want to take your business full-time, this podcast is for you. Building a business or starting something new can be super overwhelming at times, but here you don't have to do it alone. So grab your coffee or make another cup and let's dive into this week's episode. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Hopefully, the sound sounds a lot better than maybe the last couple of episodes have sounded. I, for the last six months, my mic has been packed away from the move. And I just now got to unpacking it and setting it back up before I was just using like my headphones, like my Apple, you know, corded headphones and using that mic, which honestly gets the job done. I'm not too worried about it, but I know that this mic, the sound, sounds a lot better. So hopefully you're enjoying that in your ears today. I'm back with another episode. And honestly, I can't believe I'm even recording this episode because it feels like yesterday that we were all complaining about how long January felt, and now it's November. And I feel like the year has just flown by. Anyone else? Today we are talking about goal setting and yearly planning. And this is something that we are actually doing inside our clubhouse membership this quarter, which is for online business owners, service providers, coaches, et cetera, who have successful businesses and now they want to be known as the go-to gal in their industry. So I figured why not take my best five tips and share them with you here. So I'm just gonna dive right in with tip number one, which is auditing your previous year. It is so important for you to spend time reflecting on the year that you have just gone through. You aren't able to figure out where you need to go if you haven't figured out where you're coming from. So spending time looking at what went well, what didn't go well, what you want to change for next year, it's all really important. And it doesn't have to be something crazy. Honestly, for me, this just looks like brain dumping like, okay, this went well, this didn't go well. Um, sometimes I actually keep a note in my phone throughout the year that has like things to change for next year when it comes to my business, so that when I think of it in the moment, whether it's like going through a launch or, you know, it's something to do with like the summer, some sort of note where I can be like, okay, next year, let's not launch at this time, or you know, this went really well, let's do that again. And that seems to be really helpful. But if you haven't done that, obviously, you can just go look back at your year and write down things that went well, what didn't go well, things you want to change for next year, things you want to implement for the next year. And that um is a really, really good place to start. For us, 2025 was a tough year, honestly. We moved to a completely new state, not knowing a single person. My husband completely changed careers and went back to law enforcement after six years of being out of it. My business has kind of been in a rebuildingslash restructuring season because at the end of last year, I stopped working with my own VA and OBM clients and started solely focusing on coaching and our programs and all of that good stuff, which obviously is a huge shift in a business. And I'm so grateful that I did it, but it's just been tough, you know, and we've been doing all of that while adjusting to a new normal with new schedules and everything that comes with it with having two really young kids in a new area. And while this year has been so good in so many ways, I am honestly so grateful for the Lord's faithfulness through this year because there were so many times, so many times where things worked out when they really shouldn't have. Truly. And the move was the best thing that we could have done for our family, truly. We love our home, we love our neighborhood. My husband loves his job, like it was the best decision for our family, but that doesn't mean it wasn't also hard. You know, hard doesn't always mean bad. And that's something that I say all the time. It was just a huge transition year, huge. Now we are kind of going into this season of feeling a lot more settled. You know, we're starting to find community, and that all feels really, really good. I heard this phrase last year, and it was all work works. It either works for you or it works on you. And this year, the work really worked on me. This year really refined me and pushed me and made me step up in ways that I just haven't had to in a while. I think that this will probably make for a really good episode all on its own. But I feel like for the last year or so, I have just been getting stuck with this like upper limit situation kind of thing holding me back, which is like I just kept getting to this ceiling or this point in my business or even in like my personal life. And I would just self-sabotage. Um, if you haven't read The Big Leap, I really, really recommend that book. I honestly am probably gonna read it again. I've read it like three times at this point over the last eight years of being an entrepreneur, but it talks about this upper limit and how like once you get to like this certain point, like sometimes we self-sabotage because we've just never gotten past that like ceiling to get to the next level. And I feel like I've been experiencing a lot of that. And honestly, just within the last month or so, I feel like I've really broken free of that, which is exciting. Um, I feel like things are starting to work for me and not just on me, definitely still on me a little bit, but mostly for me. And it's really exciting. So it's just good to reflect on the year and reflect on, you know, what felt good this year and what I want to carry into next year and what didn't feel good and how I want that to change for the new year. And that's one thing I really recommend that you do as well. Okay, my second tip is to come up with a word or a theme for the year. So I like coming up with a word or a theme for the year. This year in 2025, my word was becoming. And honestly, I had no idea what this year really had in store for us when I chose that word. But boy did I become exactly who I was meant to be this year. And it wasn't by things going smoothly by any means. Like I said, the work was working on me. Um, but it really challenged me in a lot of good ways that allowed me to step into this new version of myself. But the idea for having a word or theme of the year is so that you can center everything around that theme. So that if something, you know, comes up or it's an opportunity or it's an action you want to take or it's a habit that you're implementing, if it doesn't align with that word or theme, then it's probably a no. Now going into 2026 and kind of based on what I mentioned before about having this refinement that went on in my life this year, I'm really going into this new year with kind of like a renewed confidence and steadfastness and outlook on my business and just in life in general. And I'm not sure what my word of the year is going to be or if I'm gonna do a theme. But one way that I did do this was back in 2024. My theme was hot and rich 2024. That was like my theme. It honestly started out as a joke and then it just became a whole thing. And honestly, 2026 is giving similar energy because if you follow me on social media, you know that I'm on a journey to lose 50 pounds. And I've been sharing that a little bit on social media. And I do have some revenue goals that I would love to hit. So I don't know, maybe we're gonna run it back and do that again, but we'll see what happens. But the reason I'm telling you this is that that phrase or the word that you pick for the year is going to set the tone for the year as a whole. Okay. So basically, like if something didn't help me get hotter or healthier, okay, don't freak out. It's not just about looks, it's also about being healthy and feeling healthy, but also feeling hot, okay. Or richer, which for me is both income, time, it's also impact, relational, all the things. If something didn't help me do those things or it didn't align, then it was a no. Having a word or a theme just helps you like center all of your goals, all of your actions, all of your habits around that thing. And you can kind of like use it as an anchor to always come back to you throughout the year. Okay, tip number three is look at what you have going on in your life and plug that in first. Okay, so when you're doing your planning and your goal setting and all that stuff, I want you to look at your life stuff first and work your business around that because you know that I'm a big fan of building a business that supports your life and not the other way around. Okay. And in order to do that, you have to be putting your life first before you can really look at any business-related goals or actions or anything that can be added to the calendar. For example, I know that my sister is having a baby in spring of 2026. She's having her first baby. I'm so excited. And so I'm planning, okay, I'm probably gonna go visit her for a couple of days around that time, and that's gonna go in my calendar first before anything else does. Another example is my oldest starts kindergarten next year, which I cannot believe I just said that out loud. Like, oh, that makes me so sad to say out loud. It's like happy, sad, right? Like I'm I love watching my kids grow and I'm actually really enjoying the age he's at. And I feel like each year just gets better and better. But wow, like having a kindergartner, that feels crazy. That feels crazy. Um, anyway, he starts kindergarten in August of 2026. And so I'm plugging in when the first day of school is going to be, and I'm planning on keeping things pretty low-key, like the first couple of weeks leading up to the first day of school, and probably like three to four weeks after, so that we can get our groove with school, with you know, a new pickup and drop-off situation. I'm gonna be doing pickup and drop-offs at two different places because my youngest is still gonna go to preschool. So it's just gonna, it's gonna be interesting. And so I know, okay, I probably shouldn't plan like a huge launch during that time. Or I should, you know, make sure that I'm doing things in my business that can help us with um, you know, revenue and income so that, you know, the month of August can be like a little bit more chill and I can kind of step back from the business a little bit to make sure that like our life stuff is taking priority, you know? I also really think it's important to make room for play. Okay. This is something that I've been trying to do for years, and it wasn't until we moved and I really felt like I found solid community. And um, there's I just feel like there's a lot more to do here. Like it just feels a lot better. Um, where I started to actually be able to look at like, okay, what things do I want to just like go out and do that is not related to like being a mom. And it's also not really just my business. And, you know, that could it could be as something as like just a hobby that you do at home. It doesn't have to be something that you go out and do. It could also be prioritizing your health, like that could be a huge thing. And that could look like, you know, just getting your workouts in every day. But making time for play is really, really important. And one thing for me is I joined an adult volleyball league, which I've only gone to one day so far, one night. And it was so much fun. I have had, I have not had more fun than that in so long. Like it was the best time. Um, we played for like two hours, and I definitely went to bed way too late, but it was so worth it. Um, and I'm going back again this week. So I'm excited about that. I really think it's important for us to make time to do things that are fun and aren't related to our business and aren't related to even us as moms, if you are a mom, because business isn't that great if you don't have time to enjoy your life too. Right? Like a lot of the reasons that people start a business is so that they can have more time to live their life. And then a lot of times people get so stuck in the hamster wheel of growing their business and wanting to scale and getting it off the ground and all these things. And they just never take time to actually reap the benefits of having a business and having flexibility and being able to take a day off whenever you want, or being able to leave in the middle of the day to go do something. And that is like the the biggest part of having a business. And so um making room for play is really important and it should be a priority, I think, in everyone's 2026 plan. Okay, tip number four is to make sure that you are aligning your income goals with your offers and your launches. It is all fun and games to set revenue goals for the year until you have to break down exactly how you're gonna get there and you have no idea because you either only have one offer that isn't super scalable or it's not aligned to that revenue or number. Or, or, or you have too many offers and you have no idea which one to lean into most. This is actually something that we're working on this quarter in our Clubhouse membership because it's honestly mission critical when it comes to goal setting. You have to know what offers are profitable. You gotta know when you're selling those offers, you gotta figure out what your marketing plan is in order to sell those offers and everything in between. Okay, so you need to make sure that you kind of look at your offers that you have. If you are needing to create a new offer, then maybe that's something you can focus on the next couple of months and launch it in the new year, or maybe that can be something that you launch in Q2 and spend Q1 focusing on it, whatever that might be. Um, but you have to make sure that your income goals are aligned with your offers and your launches in your sales strategy. It's really, really important, or else you're just setting a revenue goal and you're not giving yourself a roadmap to hit it. Okay, tip number five is figure out what kind of support you're gonna need to reach your goals. This is really important too. I mean, all these tips are really important. I don't know how many times I've said this is really important, probably after every single tip. Um, but this is really, really important. Okay. Saving the best for last. Actually, I have one more tip for you after this. I have a sixth tip to give you um a little bonus. But you have to figure out what kind of support you need in your business in order to get to where you want to go. And I'm not gonna be here and tell you exactly what that's gonna look like for you because it's gonna look different for everyone. But I feel like right now, everyone in the online space is just kind of like yelling at each other on like what they need to, who they need to hire, what they need to invest in, all this kind of stuff. And I think it's really easy to get shiny object syndrome and think that you need all of it. You need every single piece of support, you need to outsource every part of your business, you need all of it. And A, feel discouraged because you can't afford all of it, or B, you spend so much money on all of it, and then you're overwhelmed and it's just a nightmare. You have to figure out what kind of support you need in this season. And I think once you look at like what your intention is for the year, and that can really help with what it looks like for you to get the kind of support that you need. Um, whether it's coaching, right? Like maybe it's maybe it is some sort of coaching, maybe it is some level of group support or a mastermind or something like that. I mean, I'm a huge fan of having a coach. I do think that it's important to get the right coach. Um, I think that there's just a lot out there in the online business space that you just have to be aware of and you just have to, you know, figure out what's gonna work best for you. Um but having a coach is really beneficial for a lot of different reasons. But one reason is because it's someone who is on the outside able to look in and see exactly what you're doing in your business, um, you know, what things you can do to get to where you want to go, give you feedback because honestly, like we can do that all on our own, but it's really hard to see the label from inside the jar, right? Like sometimes we are so close to it that it's hard to see what needs to be changed, what needs to be tweaked, what's actually going really well, and we just need to be more consistent with it, all of that good stuff. I like to think of having a coach, I always think of this analogy of like when you take golf lessons, for example, or really any kind of lessons, but specifically with golf lessons, like you could go to YouTube, you could go on Google and you could try and figure out exactly how to fix your slice, figure out how to actually, you know, swing so that the ball goes straight, but you can't see yourself swinging in that moment. Even if you set up like a recording device to be able to, like you set up your phone or whatever to see your swing, you are not going to be able to pull from experience or expertise like a coach can, who has helped so many other people. They might have even golfed professionally themselves, like whatever that means for them. They're gonna be able to give you such a different perspective than you're gonna be able to give yourself, even if you were able to see your own swing, right? You can't see the label from inside the jar. And that is one reason why we have the clubhouse. That's why we have our membership, because it is really a mastermind without the high ticket. Okay, because I know sometimes when people hear mastermind, they hear, you know, five figures, and that's not how much this is. This is a membership that includes coaching with me. It also includes masterminding with the other gals in the membership. Um, we have things called office hours where you can submit, you know, sales pages, um, even sales call recordings, uh, offer ideas, launch plans, marketing plans, all that good stuff. You can submit it and get feedback. Um, we have quarterly themes. Like I mentioned, this theme is really about this quarter's theme, it is really about planning for 2026. Next quarter in quarter one is all about marketing and sales, which I am so pumped about because if you know me, you know that that is like my jam. Um, and so it's just this really amazing place where you can come and you can not only get community, but you also are getting high-level strategy, you're getting collaboration, and you're getting coaching without having to spend a million dollars. And so if that's something that you're interested in, I'm gonna put the link for you to join in the description and in the show notes. But maybe coaching or you know, community and collaboration and all that kind of stuff like that, maybe that's not the right investment for you right now. Maybe you need to hire a VA. Maybe you need to, you know, hire a different service provider to outsource some of what you're working on. Maybe you need to buy a course to help you get, you know, information on what you need to do. One example of what I'm investing in for 2026, I'm actually gonna invest in it um this month in November because I know there's gonna be a Black Friday sale, is I'm investing in a YouTube course because next year I'm really gonna start leaning into YouTube, which is scary to say out loud on the podcast, but I would love to start putting the podcast on YouTube. Um, and so I'm investing in a course to figure out how to do that and like what I need to do that, how to do it the best way, the most effective way. Um, and so that's something, you know, I know I need support with that. I've never even dabbled in YouTube, and so that's gonna be something that I'm working on. Tip number six, which is our bonus tip. I want you to pick one to two things to really focus on in your business versus doing all the things in 2026. Okay. I'm adding quotations to doing all the things. This is where I see so many people go wrong when it comes to business is that they are trying to do everything. They're trying to do everything, they're trying to focus on everything, they're trying to master everything. And in doing so, they just get spread really thin with their time, even financially, only to feel overwhelmed and then have like a course or resource graveyard in their email inbox, right? Pick one to two things that you are really going to master during the year. What are you going to focus on being really consistent with? Okay. Now you can always change your mind because you know around here we like to normalize that, but I want to encourage you and challenge you to really try to stick to your focuses for the year instead of bouncing around to different focuses just because that's like what's trending or what's looking good and like not chasing the shiny object. Okay. I can we just all agree that our theme in 2026 is to not have shiny object syndrome and to like actually look at things at face value and determine our capacity and if it's actually something that we need for a problem that we have that we want to solve. Okay. Okay. I'll get off my soapbox on that one. But that that's a whole, that's a whole thing that I have tucked away for another episode. I just think it's really important to stick to a couple of focuses because I think you're gonna end up seeing so much more growth long term versus you know, trying to figure out every single component of your business and not being able to give every single one of them 100%, you know. So I'll give you an example. Next year for me, our focus at your behind the scenes BFF is visibility and recurring revenue. Okay. So content, marketing, I mentioned YouTube, but obviously also the podcast, SEO, that is like a huge priority for us, um, visibility just in general. And then we are gonna be focusing on recurring revenue, which means focusing on our memberships. So we have the clubhouse, which I already talked to you about, and that's for our more experienced business owners, the ones who have a successful business, but they're ready to get to that next level. And then we have our your behind-the-scenes BFF membership, which is really for virtual assistants who want support. Um, and so we are focusing heavily on those memberships in the new year. We feel really solid with our other offers. We have great systems in place. We're still gonna be offering those and doing live launches around those. But now it's time to master these other things, you know? And so we are focusing heavily on them. And basically, anything that we do in the new year, we want it to, you know, we want these things to be high priority. Okay. All right. So that is all that I have for you today. Five, well, six tips on setting goals and planning your 2026. I know that it seems early to be having this conversation, but it's really not because November is here. And before we know it, it's going to be January. And I want you to head into the new year with a plan of attack already in place. So if you liked this episode, please, please, please take two minutes to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It would mean so much to us as we try to get the pod into hands of people that would love to listen alongside you. I am rooting for you as always, and I will chat with you in the next episode. Bye.