by Suzanne King | Sep 19, 2026 | Business Planning, Market Research, Planning Season
The questions AEC firm leaders ask most before their annual planning cycle — answered directly. Every planning season, I have the same conversations with AEC firm leaders. Not because the same problems keep coming up, though some do, but because planning season...
by Suzanne King | Sep 18, 2026 | Business Planning, Planning Season
Here is the planning pattern most AEC firms repeat every year. The off-site happens in October or November. The leadership team talks through what the year felt like, which sectors were strong, which clients were active, and which pursuits went the right way. The team...
by Suzanne King | Aug 23, 2026 | Market Research, Planning Season
If you’re still marketing and selling to the buyer you knew 10 years ago, you’re aiming at someone who’s already gone. Today’s decision-maker researches independently and makes most of the call before your firm ever hears from them, so by the...
by Suzanne King | Aug 5, 2026 | Business Planning, Planning Season
A practical guide to seven strategic planning models — and how to know which one fits where your firm is right now. Every few years, a planning framework catches fire in the AEC industry. Firms adopt it because a peer firm swears by it, or because someone came back...
by Suzanne King | Jun 22, 2026 | Business Planning, Planning Season
Before the off-site, the goals, and the spreadsheets…Here is what to gather first September feels like the planning month. October is when the off-sites happen, and the goals get set. November is when the documents get finalized. But the firms that show up to...
by Suzanne King | Jan 30, 2026 | Business Planning, Market Research, Planning Season, Strategic Growth, Vision and Strategy
January has a funny way of sobering us up. In the fall, you planned. You workshopped. You debated priorities. You built the business plan, nodded confidently, and kicked things off on January 1 with fresh notebooks and big energy. And now it is late January. The...
