The Death of the Business Plan

Let’s be honest. Most business plans suffer the same fate as forgotten gym memberships. They start with excitement and good intentions, then end up collecting dust in a drawer or a Dropbox folder no one ever opens.

Every November, agents and companies everywhere host their grand “business planning” sessions. Charts, spreadsheets, and goals fill the air. There’s usually a fancy binder involved. For a few weeks, everyone feels productive. Then February hits, and the plan quietly dies a slow, silent death.

The truth is, the old-school annual business plan is broken. The world moves too fast, and our attention spans are too short to follow a 12-month roadmap. By the time spring rolls around, the market shifts, your priorities change, and that carefully crafted plan feels outdated.

That’s why I’ve become a big believer in planning in cycles. Instead of building castles in the sky for the year ahead, you focus on short, focused execution cycles of 10 to 12 weeks at a time.

You plan in short sprints, take quick, measurable action, then adjust. It’s like running four mini years instead of one long, exhausting one. You stay focused, flexible, and in motion.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Full-blown business planning isn’t completely dead. It still has value. It gives direction, structure, and a big-picture view. But when it comes to getting results, short-term planning cycles win every time.

So yes, the business plan as we know it might be on life support. But strategic power planning is alive and well.

Speaking of which, I’m hosting a 2026 Power Planning Session on November 11 at the TRREB Auditorium. It’s free for you to attend and designed to help you set up your year for real progress and momentum.

More details to come, but trust me, this won’t be your typical “business plan” session.

Wishing you a productive week ahead,