Sept 2026
How much of this year's marketing brought in business?
If you can't answer that in one sentence, you're not ready to plan out 2027 yet.
Many SME owners I speak with write next year's plan in December or January. By then the first quarter is underway and the plan is a wish list which gets squeezed in between client calls and other pressing work.
October is a better month to get ahead.
You have nine months of data, enough of the year left to test something, and a few clear weeks before the December rush starts.
THREE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
Where did your best customers come from? Not the most enquiries. The customers who paid well, stayed and told other people about you.
What cost you time or money and brought in nothing? Remove it from your 2027 plan.
Which one number tells you the business is growing? Enquiries, repeat orders, average sale. Pick one and write down where it stands today.
Try and get accurate numbers before you write next year's plan.
SIGNS YOU'RE PLANNING ON GUESSWORK
You judge marketing by how busy it feels rather than results.
Your figures sit behind five different logins, having everything in one place saves time and shows trends.
Next year's budget is last year's, copied across. Plan and adjust each year to move towards your goals.
Nobody looks at the numbers until something goes wrong.
NEW: BUSINESS INSIGHTS BY MKT LAB
This is the reason I built Business Insights.
Your website, social and email figures in one live dashboard. Every month I go through them and advise you and your team what to do next.
No 40-page report you'll never open again. From £197 a month.
See how Business Insights works: https://mktlab.co.uk/business-insights
YOUR ONE JOB FOR OCTOBER
Block out two hours.
Answer the three questions with real figures.
Then choose one thing to stop and one thing to do more of in 2027.
Or send me a message and tell me where you're stuck and we can jump on a call!
Lucy Brook FCIM is the founder of Mkt Lab, a marketing strategy consultancy working with UK SME founders, MDs, and marketing leads. With 20+ years of experience across commercial, education, and not-for-profit sectors, she helps ambitious small businesses build the marketing clarity they need to grow with confidence.