Why You Need to Look Three Years Ahead Before You Finalise Next Year’s Plan

Once we map out the one-year plan, there’s a point where I’ll usually pause and ask:

“Is this building the business you actually want or are we just managing the one you currently have?”

That’s where the 3-year view comes in.

Not because we’re trying to predict the future. But because the 3-year plan sets the direction and the shape of the business you are working towards.

Without it, I often see 12 month plans simply

• Keeping things going

• Fixing what’s noisy

• Or tidying up what already exists

Useful, yes but it does not change the business!

When you look three years ahead, different questions surface:

• What size and shape do we want the business to be?

• Which products or services are genuinely worth scaling?

• What level of margin are we aiming to be operating at?

• What role do you want to be in as the owner?

• What capacity and team structure would be needed to support that?

And importantly:

What systems and processes need to be improved for the business to run well at that size?

Because growth without structure only increases stress.

This is also where we consider:

• What training or development the team will need to step up

• Whether the current tools and workflows will hold up as you grow

• And whether the business will need funding or a cash runway to support the expansion properly

Most businesses only think about these things after they’ve grown but that is when the cracks are already showing.

A 3-year plan gets ahead of that.

Once that direction is clear, the one-year plan becomes much more focused.

Year 1 becomes the first phase of moving toward the business you actually want instead of just maintaining the one you currently have.

From that point onward, decisions get faster and simpler.

The question becomes:

“Does this move us closer to the business we’re trying to build?” or “Does it pull us off track?”

That single anchor removes a huge amount of pressure from the owner.

It replaces constant reactivity with steady direction.

I am a big fan of creating a 3 year plan on a single page outlining:

• The shape and scale of the business

• The margin goal

• The role of the owner

• The future team structure

• The systems and processes that need to mature

• The training required internally

• The funding or cash headroom needed

• And how this shifts gradually across Year 1 → Year 2 → Year 3

It’s not a forecast. It’s a steering mechanism.

So if you’re working on your planning right now, the most useful question to sit with is:

“If the business kept running exactly as it is today, would it become the business I want to be running in three years’ time?”

If the answer is no, then the one-year plan has a clear job:

To start shifting things in that direction — steadily, and at a pace the business can realistically support.

It doesn’t need to be dramatic. It just needs to be intentional.

Steady progress is what strengthens a business.

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In case we haven't met...

I hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter edition. Hi I'm Sharon Kearns, a business growth advisor who has spent over 20 years helping Irish SMEs plug the leaks that drain cash, profit, and time.

I work with business owners who are great at driving sales but feel frustrated that the numbers don’t add up the way they should.

My role is simple: give you a clear view of where the leaks are with recommendations, build a practical scoreboard to track the right numbers each month, and help you build a growth plan to scale with confidence -without the chaos.

For a confidential chat feel free to email me on sharonkearns@sgk.ie