When to Rethink Your Business Strategy, and How to Keep It Alive

by Sean Foster | November 10, 2025 | Business Coaching

A well-crafted strategy is meant to guide your business forward. But if it’s no longer helping you make confident decisions, or your market is shifting faster than your plans, it might be time for a rethink your business strategy.

Most business owners don’t fail because they don’t have a strategy. They struggle because they stick with one that no longer fits. And often, that strategy has never been really formalized 🤔.

Is It Time to Rethink Your Strategy?

You don’t need a crisis to justify reviewing your strategy. Some signs are subtle:

• You’re meeting targets, but growth has stalled
• Your team is unclear on priorities or direction
• Your product or service feels out of sync with market needs
• Competitors are outpacing you with innovation
• You’ve changed, but your strategy hasn’t

Many companies struggle to execute strategy not because the strategy is wrong, but because they fail to adapt it regularly as conditions change. This emphasises the importance of reviewing your business strategy to ensure it stays aligned with evolving business realities.

Why Strategies Go Stale

It’s easy to fall in love with the plan that got you here. But markets evolve. So do customers, technology, and your own ambitions.

Some common strategy pitfalls include:

• Building around outdated assumptions
• Trying to plan too far ahead without flexibility
• Failing to revisit goals as the business scales
• Creating a strategy that looks good on paper but lacks real traction with the team

When your strategy becomes a checkbox exercise rather than a living tool, it stops being useful.

How to Keep Your Strategy Alive

1. Make Strategy Reviews a Habit

Don’t wait until something breaks. Set a quarterly or bi-annual review rhythm. Look at what’s working, what’s lagging, and what needs realignment.

2. Build Strategy Around Real Data, Not Gut Feel

Use actual customer feedback, team input, and performance metrics to inform decisions. Business coaching can help facilitate this process by asking the right questions and helping you interpret what the data actually means. For a deeper dive into how structured thinking can enhance your strategic direction, explore our article: Efficient Model for Strategic Thinking & Planning.

3. Reconnect with Your Vision

A stale strategy usually means you’ve drifted from your “why.” Re-examining what success really looks like for you can reignite clarity and commitment.

We explore this further in our article: Setting Goals for Success: 5 Tips to Define Clear Goals.

4. Include the Right People in the Conversation

Don’t try to rethink strategy in isolation. Your leadership team, middle managers, and even frontline staff can offer valuable insight. You don’t need to agree on everything, but you do need alignment on what matters most.

5. Use Coaching as a Strategic Lever

Business coaching isn’t just for fixing problems. It helps you create space to think clearly, challenge assumptions, and explore fresh ways forward.

• A coach helps you:
• Audit your current strategy and assumptions
• Reframe your priorities around what the business actually needs
• Navigate team dynamics that affect execution
• Hold you accountable to implementing change

We explore this further in our article: Craft a Strong Business Strategy in NZ with Expert Coaching.

Keep It Living, Not Locked

The best strategies don’t sit in binders. They live in conversations, decisions, scoreboards, and team behaviours.

If your current strategy feels like it’s slowing you down more than speeding you up, it’s time for a refresh, not just a rewrite. For a simple, visual tool to help get started, check out our guide: Simple Business Strategy Canvas for NZ Business Owners. It’s designed specifically for New Zealand business owners looking to clarify direction and prioritise effectively.

Evidence-Based Insights

Research confirms that a successful business strategy must be regularly revisited and adapted to stay relevant. Harvard Business School defines business strategy as a long-term plan aimed at achieving goals, but stresses that staying competitive requires continuous strategic alignment with evolving market conditions. Similarly, Spider Strategies outlines how adaptable strategies, driven by key performance indicators and real-time data, support stronger decision-making and performance. These insights emphasise the need for business leaders to treat strategy as a living, evolving process rather than a one-time plan.

FAQ

Q1: How often should I review my business strategy? At least every 6–12 months, or anytime there’s a major shift in market, team, or business direction.

Q2: What makes a strategy outdated? When it no longer reflects current realities, such as customer needs, market trends, or internal capabilities, it’s time to revise.

Q3: Can a coach help me rethink strategy? Yes. A business coach provides space, guidance, and objectivity to assess and reshape strategy effectively.

Q4: What’s the biggest risk of not rethinking your strategy? Stagnation. Without adapting, businesses risk falling behind, losing relevance, and missing out on better opportunities.

Ready to Realign Your Strategy With Where You’re Really Headed?

Book a free 30-minute clarity call with Sean to explore how coaching can help you rethink, reshape, and re-energise your business strategy.