Surviving the ups and downs of 2025
2025 demanded a significant shift in how all of us conduct business. The turbulence throughout the year affected everyone. Consider the major news topics that were pervasive throughout the year and created economic uncertainty: tariffs, interest rates, international hostilities, and technology changes. If you have a pulse and received a paycheck, you’ve been – either directly or indirectly – impacted by at least one of these issues in 2025.
Congratulations on surviving the ups and downs of this years’ business environment roller coaster without throwing up. This last week of 2025 is a pretty good time to set our feet on the ground and look at what’s ahead and what we want to do next.
Will 2026 be a year of growth?
2026 has signs of yielding some significant opportunities. For starters, it’s an election year so we know that some of the public policy that’s fueled economic uncertainty will be minimized compared with the last 12 months.
Yet the technical changes that we’ve seen mean that we can’t go back to the old ways of doing business in a pre-Artificial Intelligence world. And certainly the business environment pushing executives towards the next series of investment funding prior to the COVID pandemic feels like a bygone era in ancient history.
So where do we go now?
Issues impacting business in 2025
- Tariffs
- Interest Rates
- International Hostilities
- Technology Changes
Our Approach to 2026
The answer I always use to evaluate the upcoming year lies back in the most fundamentals of questions in business… How do you serve the goods and services that you supply to meet the demand of others in the most effective way possible given the changes that happened in the past year?
Once you have a sense of your expectations, then you can easily plan the updates to your strategies and tactics for 2026.
Here are some of the changes I’ve come up with so far. We apply these changes to our clients who work with us on the Revenue Engine or our other marketing opportunities. These may or may not be revised as the year progresses along, but it’s important to realize that regardless of whether you’re an entrepreneur or a seasoned business leader that you start with assumptions and anticipate that change is a constant.
Once you’ve adapted this focus on your plan for the year, you can steadily adapt these into the tactics that you would like to place on your marketing calendar for the upcoming year. But for 2026, start by looking at the forces that impact the fundamentals in your business. If you’re rowing a boat against the current, you might be doing yourself a disservice in your business.
Business Issues in 2025 | Marketing Tactics for 2026 |
|---|---|
Unstable fluctuations in TariffsThese affect the import and export of goods and the profit margins we can make. The trade environment is in a delicate state right now and that’s causing everyone to pull back on spending to help protect their position in the short term. | Upsell Goods with ServicesFocus on campaigns to cross sell and upsell your products with associated services. (e.g. an oil change involves a product, but offering a tire rotation is a valuable service where a tariff wouldn’t apply. |
Interest ratesAffect the cost of money that you use to fuel your business systems and that your customers use to pay you (which is everything from your customer database CRM to your product development) | Offer flexible payment termsLocking in prices with long term contracts or subscriptions might be unwise with upcoming changes. Plus, customers notice when pricing changes happen… just ask your internet company. So how can you position your business to offer flexibility in your pricing? Say with monthly rates? Or interest-free financing that is factored into your price? |
International HostilitiesEmotions are high with the news of ongoing hostilities on an almost weekly basis. You may not do business directly in another country or have relatives elsewhere, but the news doesn’t stop impacting consumer sentiments and their willingness to buy, which affects everyone’s bottom line. | Delight Your CustomersChange the conversation to focus on positive solutions. Share a case study that highlights a happy, satisfied customer. Or talk about the emotional benefits that your business produces. It might be a food product that satisfies your taste buds or fun time your kids favorite Christmas present provides for the whole family! |
AI is changing how we do businessI’ve intentionally placed this last because it’s become trite to continue to mention this alongside the flood of other business articles on this topic. Yes, AI changes the minutiae of certain parts of our work. That means that some skills are no longer needed, which may include offerings used in your business | Change with the timesIncorporate an element of AI within your business to show its competitive among others in your market. We no longer need ice delivery men to keep our groceries cool, starting a car by turning a crank lever manually, or people to turn on gas lanterns that light up a city street. |