The S.T.R.A.T.E.G.Y. Method: A Simple Approach To Strategic Business Planning
This blog post was updated in September 2026.
When you hear strategic business planning, what comes to mind?
For most of us it’s a stuffy boardroom crammed with people surrounding a long, wooden conference room, but my goal is to paint a different picture, one that is light, focused, and empowering.
Every business needs a business strategy. For years, I defined strategy the way most of us learned it: as a plan for reaching your goals. I don’t anymore.
Here's how I define it now:
Your strategy is how you'll get through the one problem standing between your business and the life you want.
The S.T.R.A.T.E.G.Y. Method is my step-by-step process for doing exactly that. It helps you look honestly at what's happening in your business, get clear on what you need it to make possible for your life, choose a path forward, and build the plan and weekly practice to bring it to life. All of this is done with an eye toward predictable, consistent revenue, so you can finally get off the revenue rollercoaster.
This Method moves through three distinct phases.
PHASE 1: IDENTIFY THE REAL BUSINESS PROBLEM YOU’RE FACING
State of Your Business
This is your opportunity to take stock of what’s actually happening in your business. Numbers don’t lie, so this is where you look at where your revenue came from, where your time and energy went, and whether those two match.
You’ll also look at what’s changing around you. This includes everything from your clients and their needs and wants, your competitors and how they’re showing up, and the larger business landscape, including ecosystem volatility and how AI is shifting the way we do business.
All of this analysis should help you answer the following question:
What is really happening in my business?
Your goal in this step of the Method is to identify the one core problem that, if you solved it, would change everything else.
Thrive in Your Life
This is one of my favorite parts of the process. At the end of the day, your business has to work for your and your life. This is part of the process where you get to assess how things are going in four areas (Health, Love, Friends and Family, and Work), then set your terms.
How many hours can you realistically work? What is the minimum you need to pay yourself? What work do you actually want to be doing? What does this phase of your life need from you? What difference do you want your business to make in the world?
PHASE 2: CHOOSE YOUR PATH FORWARD
Revisit Your Business Design
Have you designed your business strategically, or defaulted to what's convenient or what you've always done? Here you'll look at your clients, your offers, and the WOW! in your business. Then you'll choose your path forward: how you'll solve the core problem you identified in Phase 1, and what you'll stop doing as a result. This is where the hard, but necessary, choices happen.
Aim High
Traditional aspirational goals are still powerful, but now they come from the path forward you identified in your business design work, not the other way around. Here, you'll set a revenue target starting from the least you need to pay yourself, lay out exactly how you’ll hit those targets with the offers you decide to keep, and check it against the hours you can realistically work.
Then you'll choose two or three milestones that clearly help you see that the path forward you identified is actually working.
PHASE 3: MAKE IT HAPPEN
Tailor Your Marketing and Offers For Traction
The path forward you identified in phase 2 tells you who you're serving and what you're offering. The 5Cs of Client Attraction (Captivate, Connect, Cultivate, Convert, and Care) make sure the right people find you, and help you spot the weak link in your pipeline.
Engineer Your Weekly Plans
This is where the rubber meets the road. I’m a huge believer in 90 day plans. When I look at an entire year and try to figure out all the steps I need to take to accomplish those goals, I feel myself shrinking under the weight of it. Your 90 day plan and weekly focus area take the overwhelm out of the equation and make sure your actions work together instead of pulling you in different directions.
Get Moving
Everything leading up to this point is just a plan. Action is required for results, and this is where you take your first step, build in accountability, and stop doing the things that aren’t actually serving you or the business.
Your Weekly CEO Time
I can't overstate how important weekly CEO Time is to your success. This dedicated time on your calendar is your time as the CEO to assess whether you're on plan and make adjustments. It's where you get your head out of the weeds and take a bird's eye view, including checking whether the problem you identified is still the one holding you back.
So, that’s the S.T.R.A.T.E.G.Y. Method. No matter how big or small your business is, it’s an important part of your success. If you’d like a second set of eyes, grab a spot on my calendar and let’s talk through it. Book your spot here.
