Running a firm in 2026 will demand more than operational excellence; it will require deliberate, strategic thinking.

With shifting markets, evolving client expectations and rapid technological advances, firm owners need time and space to step back from day-to-day demands and focus on the bigger picture.

The following 25 questions are designed to guide that thinking time, helping you clarify priorities, stress-test assumptions, and position your firm for sustainable growth in the year ahead.

1. Pricing & Value

What is the real, core obstacle preventing you from raising your fees and valuing your services properly? Which assumption about client ‘price sensitivity’ might you be clinging to?

2. Client Quality & Fit

Which clients are draining your morale and resources? How would pruning or re-pricing these clients free up capacity for the ones who truly value your expertise?

3. Rebuilding from Scratch

If you had to build your practice from the ground up tomorrow, what systems, processes, or leadership principles would you install first to ensure it’s a business, not just a job?

4. Tech & AI Adoption

Which long-standing ‘best practices’ might now be barriers to adopting automation or AI solutions? What small pilot could you run to test new tech safely?

5. Symptoms vs. Root Problems

Where might you be patching a symptom, like staff turnover or client churn, rather than tackling the real, underlying cause?

6. Referral-Driven Firm

If 100% of new clients came from glowing referrals, what must change in your service delivery, pricing, or culture to make that happen consistently?

7. Second-Order Consequences

Which growth initiatives could actually harm your firm if you don’t also invest in leadership, processes, or well-being?

8. Stopping the Wrong Work

Where are you running enthusiastically in the wrong direction? Which activities absorb time and money but add little actual profit or client satisfaction?

9. Service Mix for 2025

How confident are you that you’re offering the right balance of compliance and advisory services for today’s market? What might you be missing?

10. Obstacles & Inaction

If you could solve one obstacle overnight, what would it be and why hasn’t it been tackled yet? What hidden benefit or fear might be holding you back?

11. Leadership Development

Which specific leadership qualities, such as delegation, communication, or innovation, would most strengthen your firm? How might you systematically develop these in your team as well?

12. Capacity & Facts vs. Story

Is your capacity truly maxed out, or is there a hidden bottleneck (like fear of delegation) causing your ‘lack of resources’?

13. New Possibilities

If your practice suddenly doubled in size, which parts of your existing workflow or structure would you have to abandon for something radically more efficient?

14. Replicating Top-Client Success

Review your 10 most profitable (and enjoyable) clients. What do they have in common, and how can you replicate that success across your entire client base?

15. Outsourcing & Automation

Which daily tasks are you doing yourself that either software or a trusted team member could handle? Where might you be undervaluing your own time?

16. Letting Go of Old Methods

Which practices or processes from 5 years ago are now obsolete? If you had to justify each step to a new partner, which would you struggle to defend?

17. Leadership Pipeline

What single point of failure, if a key person left, would critically impact your firm? How might you actively build a leadership pipeline to prevent that risk?

18. Trajectory Check

If you keep doing what you’re doing for the next 3 years, where will you realistically end up? How does that compare to your ideal vision for 2028 and beyond?

19. Attracting Top Talent

What unasked question might reveal why you’re not drawing in and retaining top-tier staff? Are there subtle signals in your culture or recruitment process that might be repelling the very talent you need?

20. Perfection vs. Progress

Where might a desire for perfection be stopping you from launching new tech initiatives, marketing campaigns, or service lines? What’s the true cost of waiting for ‘perfect’?

21. Client Profitability

When you review your entire client list, which segments are genuinely profitable and which ones are just treading water? What decisive action could change that dynamic?

22. Client Definition of Success

How do your clients actually define ‘success’ in 2025? Are you tangibly helping them get there, or just ticking compliance boxes?

23. Personal Freedom Goals

If one of your top priorities is more personal time and freedom, which structural changes or habits need altering straightaway so you can step away without chaos?

24. Data & Visibility

Which meeting rhythms, scorecards, or KPIs would give you real-time visibility into your firm’s performance, instead of ‘flying blind’ until problems arise?

25. Outside Perspective

In three years, what would an outside observer say about your culture, innovation and client service if you genuinely solved the root problems rather than mere symptoms?

Courtesy of Profit Pro