Can you believe it? The year is already almost over, Thanksgiving is past, Christmas is right around the corner and before you know it, you’ll be buttoning up all of your year-end activities and starting to get ready for the new year.
One of the best ways for you to understand what your 2026 New Year’s resolutions for your LLC, Corporation or Non-profit business should be is by looking back at everything that worked well this year, and the things that didn’t, and figuring out how you need to pivot so you can have a more successful year.
Here are a number of questions you can ask yourself to better understand what you need to do starting January 1, 2026.
What did I do well this year as a business owner? Be honest with yourself and try to find the specific things you did differently this year as opposed to years prior and how that contributed to your company’s success.
What adjustments did I make that lead to improvements? These can be small things too, but they might be big ones. Try to be as specific as possible so you can understand not just overall trends but the decisions you made that made a direct difference and impact.
What people did I hire that helped the business move forward? What traits did I identify in them that led to business success? Write down their names and the specific contributions they made so you can be on the lookout for potential talent that shares similar traits with them.
What new products or services did I add this year that contributed greatly to the bottom line? List out the specific ones that you brought to market this year, what kind of impact they had on the company’s bottom line, and what kind of feedback you’ve received from customers that’s correlated with it having an impact.
What gave me the most joy in operating the business this year? Take a moment to consider what gave you the most energy while you were working. Did you enjoy working with a specific team more than others? Why is that? Did you find yourself spending more time working on a particular project or division of the company because you found it more effortless?
What habits or schedules should I continue into next year? Take stock of the what you did in the mornings that made you feel refreshed and ready to take on a new day. See what helped you keep energy going through your afternoons and remain focused even in high pressure situations.
What areas of the business improved the most in 2025? Why do you think they improved so much this year? Try to work through the reasons this could be and isolate the most likely factors.
What could I do better next year as a business owner? This can be difficult to work through since it means admitting you could have done some things differently. But this may be the most important question you answer out of all of the ones on this list. Spend enough time on this one and ask some of your employees or managers for some honest feedback on what they would do differently in your position.
What adjustments did I make that led to issues for the business? Not every decision that you make is going to be a good one. Why did you feel those decisions were the right ones at the time? Why do you think they directly caused issues? Was there a deeper reason than just the decision itself that may be a pattern you can fix in your business?
What people did I hire that caused issues for the business or our clients? What traits did I see in them that I shouldn’t have ignored prior to hiring them? How can you avoid bringing these kinds of people into your business in the future?
What new products or services did I add to the business this year that were not profitable or caused issues with customers/clients? Why do you think they weren’t profitable? What issues did they cause regularly with customers or clients, and how can you avoid having those kinds of problems with your customer experience in the future?
What caused me the most stress in operating the business this year? Some stress is normal and is to be expected if you own a business, but sometimes simplifying or delegating can be the difference between success and burnout. Identify what parts of running your business are the biggest stress factors and list out some ways you can either outsource these projects or reduce some of the stress from them.
What habits or schedules should I discontinue in 2026 that seem to hurt the business? Try to dig beyond things like laziness or lack of productivity and look at the core reasons behind why you might not feel like giving 100% on the regular if that is the case.
What areas of the business need the most help in 2026? This could be a product, a division of the company, or relationships with certain clients that could be improved. Start with the big picture and look down at the specific ways you could solve some of these problems.
Now that you have asked enough questions to help you understand where your business needs to be headed, it’s time to set resolutions that are realistic and achievable. But you also need them to be aggressive enough that it motivates you to tackle problems and change the way you do business for the better. Look at each category of questions and consider making a minor change in each that could help you move in the right direction.
These resolutions should be:
There’s no time like the present to take a high-level look at your business, understand what needs to change, and make sure that you have your most productive year as a business owner!
To help you focus on your goals for the new year, please review our extensive list of helpful business articles in our Learning Center.
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