From Rush to Readiness: Key Steps to consider for success in 2025
As the end-of-year rush intensifies and Christchurch's Cup Week takes center stage, New Zealand businesses are balancing the demands of closing out 2024 while preparing for a successful 2025. With many companies shutting down for the summer break, this period is crucial for taking strategic actions that ensure a strong start to the new year—or, for some, a strong start post-Waitangi Weekend when everyone is fully back on deck.
Here’s how to make the most of this time and get ready to capitalize on emerging opportunities before 2025 officially begins.
1. Solidify Strategic Priorities
Before the holidays, review and refine your strategic priorities. Assess which initiatives performed well, which need refining, and where potential opportunities lie. In a shifting economic landscape, driven by innovation, sustainability, and infrastructure, now is the time to ensure your priorities align with your industries areas of growth. Additionally, take time to analyse customer data. Understanding the insights behind customer behavior can help you anticipate needs and make strategic decisions that position you ahead in 2025.
2. Stay Ahead of Customer Decision-Making Cycles
Today’s customers make decisions based on ever-evolving factors—new trends, economic pressures, and technological shifts. Staying ahead of this process requires more than just monitoring; it means using the data you hold to understand emerging needs and preferences. As the year ends, spend time diving into your customer data. Look for patterns that reveal not just current but future expectations. By understanding these insights, you can align your strategies to proactively meet customer demands in 2025, enhancing loyalty and ensuring relevance. This could also spur on a conversation for any A/B testing in 2025 to further understand your customers.
3. Energize and Align Your Team
Your team’s alignment with the business strategy is crucial to start the year strong. As workloads peak, and then dips off, in December, ensure everyone understands their role in achieving the business’s broader goals when they come back in 2025. Reinforce this alignment through team briefings or individual check-ins. It can be highly beneficial to do a year-in-review to capture the achievements and learnings during 2024.
4. Reinforce Customer and Supplier Relationships
Building robust relationships with customers and suppliers is key to having resilience in the companies operating model. Use this time to strengthen any connections by discussing expectations and confirming commitments for 2025. Open, proactive communication with key partners ensures you’ll hit the ground running in January. A well-aligned network of customers and suppliers will be pivotal as you look to seize any new opportunities in 2025.
5. Invest in Leadership Reflection
Finally, take time for leadership reflection. Assess what went well, where improvements are needed, and how you can steer the business effectively in the coming year. Setting clear intentions now not only positions you to lead with confidence but also enables your team to stay engaged and committed. Using Steven Covey’s Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. Spend some time understanding where the company and team need to be at the end of 2025.
Don’t miss the chance to change
The end of the year is a prime opportunity to build momentum and resilience for 2025. By refining strategy, leveraging data, aligning your team, and strengthening partnerships, your business will be able to change effectively and understand how it will be continue to thrive in 2025.
Contributed by Luke Johnson, Strategic Advisor