Planning for a successful 2026
1. AI Isn’t Coming — It’s Already Changing How Work Gets Done
2. The Hidden Cost of Disconnected Systems
3. From Skills Shortage to Skills Strategy
4. Successful Businesses Think in Systems, Not Silos
Why the Next 12 Months Matter More Than Most Businesses Realise
Over the past few years, one thing has become clear: waiting for conditions to “settle” isn’t a strategy anymore.
Across manufacturing, trades, insurance brokerages and professional services, we’re seeing the same pattern. In 2025, the businesses that performed best weren’t always the biggest or best funded. They were the ones with clearer systems, tighter workflows, and fewer moving parts. That clarity showed up in faster decisions, less rework and steadier growth.
Planning for a successful 2026 doesn’t mean predicting what’s coming next. It means making practical changes now that give your business more control, regardless of what changes around you.
Below are a few areas we believe matter most.
1. AI Isn’t Coming — It’s Already Changing How Work Gets Done
AI has moved well past the “interesting experiment” phase. For many businesses, it’s already affecting margins, productivity, and risk — whether they planned for it or not.
In the work we are doing with our clients, we’re seeing AI used to:
- Cut down admin time in quoting, reporting, and documentation
- Speed up internal decision-making
- Highlight inefficiencies that were previously hidden in manual processes
The real risk isn’t adopting AI too early. It’s adopting it without a plan. Random tools layered onto broken workflows usually create more noise, and more stress.
2. The Hidden Cost of Disconnected Systems
Most businesses don’t have one broken system — they have too many systems that don’t talk to each other.
Spreadsheets, inboxes, job management tools, CRMs, and accounting software need to work seamlessly together.
When things are ticking over in your business in a seamless way, it can lead to:
- Higher error rates
- Gaps in reporting and compliance
- Slower onboarding and higher staff frustration
As insurers, regulators, and partners ask for better data and clearer controls, these gaps are becoming harder to ignore. By 2026, operational maturity won’t be a “nice to have”. It will affect insurance outcomes, costs, and how seriously your business is taken, which will affect your bottom line.
3. From Skills Shortage to Skills Strategy
The skills shortage isn’t new, and it’s not going away. But waiting for the perfect hire is leaving many businesses stuck.
The businesses moving forward are doing something different. They’re:
- Redesigning roles to remove low-value, manual work
- Using systems to help less experienced staff become effective and faster
- Documenting workflows so knowledge isn’t trapped with one person
This isn’t about replacing people with software. It’s about making better use of the people you already have. Systems should reduce pressure, not add to it. Done properly, they give teams more room to focus on work that actually matters.
4. Successful Businesses Think in Systems, Not Silos
When we look at high-performing businesses, one thing consistently stands out: they think end-to-end.
Sales feeds into delivery. Delivery feeds into finance. Finance feeds into risk and reporting. Everyone is working from the same information and making clear decisions.
When businesses operate as a connected system — rather than a collection of departments — decisions get made faster, accountability improves, and growth becomes more manageable.
Final Thoughts
Planning for 2026 isn’t about chasing trends or predicting the future. It’s about building a business that can handle change without constant firefighting.
The next 12 months are a chance to:
- Simplify before you scale
- Fix workflows before adding new tools
- Build systems that support people, instead of wearing them down
At Fortix, we focus on helping businesses create that clarity — not through hype, but through structure that actually works.
Want to plan out your
next 12 months?
Contact our Systems Specialist to see how you can grow your business today.
Talk to our systems specialist
