When The Economy Feels Flat, Business Growth Strategy Can’t Be

Tony Alexander’s Tony’s View on 9^th October highlights our national economic reality: activity is patchy, demand is soft, skilled talent will tighten sooner than people expect, and investment intent has dipped despite easier money. In short, the brake is off, but the engine hasn’t revved … yet… roll on 2026.

Reading Tony’s piece made me pause and reflect our own client data. Having just completed quarterly strategic reviews and planning workshops across multiple sectors, the contrast was striking. Most of the businesses we work with are either right on track with their FY26 expectations or well ahead. Conversations are about business growth – regional and international expansion, AI initiatives, and hiring more high-calibre people to realise ambitious visions. It’s proof that even in a sluggish economy, clarity of direction and disciplined business coaching make the difference.

This Is Where Outcome-Based Business Growth Strategy Earns Its Keep

The companies holding their nerve aren’t winging it. They make a small number of measurable promises – to their customers and to themselves and organise the business to keep them. That’s outcome-based strategy in practice: define the result, design the system, deliver and prove the impact.

It shows up as fewer initiatives and clearer sequences; in sales conversations as value metrics over feature lists; and in operations as repeatable rhythms that survive bad weeks and busy seasons. It is not a one-off annual or quarterly planning day – it’s a weekly ‘proof-of-work’: the disciplined cycle of reviewing what moved, what didn’t, and what needs to shift to stay on course. Every week becomes a live test of execution, alignment, and accountability – the cadence that keeps strategy real.

Freedom By Design – Not by Accident

My philosophy on this is simple – growth should create freedom, not fatigue. Too many leaders build success that traps them: longer hours, constant firefighting, and dependency on their presence to keep things moving. Freedom By Design is the antidote – it’s a discipline built through clarity, rhythm, and measurable systems that protect energy and multiply results. Strategy that actually gets done. Business Coaching that sticks in real life. Systems that make good behaviour easy. When pressure rises (and Tony’s commentary suggests it will for a while), this is the difference between surviving and compounding.

What Strong Performers Are Doing Differently Right Now

• Sharpening a Vivid Vision – a clear and compelling picture of what the business will look and feel like in three years, as popularised by Cameron Herold. It’s more than a strategy document; it’s a three-year shared story that unites people around purpose and possibility. From there, they map a 12-month Business Roadmap that keeps focus high-level but actionable, turning ambition into a sequence of quarterly commitments everyone can own.
• Shifting from feature-selling to outcome-led promises – moving conversations from what we do to what it achieves. Instead of promoting features or fixating on price, they articulate measurable results – faster delivery times, reduced defects, higher retention, improved margins – and track those on simple customer scorecards. It’s a mindset shift that changes how teams sell, deliver, and celebrate value.
• Building leadership depth through consistent coaching rhythms – embedding weekly conversations that prioritise curiosity over control. Leaders learn to ask better questions, reinforce ownership, and measure progress by execution behaviour, not activity. Over time, this creates a culture of accountability where growth feels steady, not forced.
• Investing in systems that reduce reliance on heroes – replacing ad-hoc effort with structure that makes good work predictable. Smart systems, supported by AI and automation, remove repetitive friction and refocus energy on innovation, strategy, and people – the work that truly moves the business forward.

What’s Possible (Quietly) With This Approach

Across the last five years our portfolio has averaged 181% turnover growth and 332% profit growth, with net profit margins lifting from 7% to 14% – performance that typically sits two to three times above NZ mid-market norms. More importantly, clients with three-plus years of disciplined cadence (the ongoing rhythm of business strategy execution, leadership coaching, and delivery accountability), sustain 25 – 35% net profit margins and operate with genuine leadership autonomy, not dependency. Goal execution rates exceed 85%, and revenue per FTE consistently sits within the top 10 % of NZ mid-market businesses- a sign that systems and strategic sprints together are doing the heavy lifting. ROI on coaching, measured as profit lift versus fees, tracks 10-12x. None of this is showy; it’s the quiet compound effect of clarity, coaching, and cadence applied week after week.

Why This Matters in a Weak-Demand Cycle

Tony notes that 63% of non-farm firms cite a shortage of customers, and price intentions are edging up even as confidence wobbles – a classic margin-squeeze setup. In that environment, the right move isn’t to spray discounts or launch 12 new initiatives; it’s to narrow focus to the few promises that defend margin and expand capacity when demand returns. Leaders who rehearse those muscles now (ownership, prioritisation, delivery, proof) will be first to catch the 2026 upswing – and won’t be scrambling for skilled talent because they designed for it early.

How To Start (Or Reset) Without Adding Noise

• Create your Vivid Vision – take time to reflect on where you’re going with the business and what that means to you personally. What’s the legacy you want to leave?
• Design your Annual Business Roadmap – capture what anchors your business: your BHAG, purpose, values, and ideal clients. Define what sets you apart, articulate your brand promise, and identify the financial and non-financial goals that make the first year of your Vivid Vision real. This is where great leadership coaching meets practical business coaching – translating clarity into action. It’s also where an experienced business and leadership coach helps turn ideas into measurable progress, keeping strategy grounded in results that last.
• Set clear outcome metrics for each sprint – define what success looks like in measurable terms for each quarter of year and make those results visible. The goal is focus and follow-through, not more reporting.
• Run a weekly leadership huddle – your check in on strategic goals. Keep it short, strict, and anchored in data. Ask three questions: ‘What moved forward? What blocked and why? What’s next?’ These simple rhythms build accountability and momentum.
• Coach for ownership, not compliance – help your leaders and teams think for themselves. Replace instructions with curiosity: ‘What options do you see? What would make the biggest impact? What will you commit to this week?’ Progress, not perfection, is the aim when the rhythm is right.

A Final Thought for Leaders Who Feel the Weight Right Now

The economy may be slow to respond but your organisation doesn’t have to be. Freedom By Design is built in ordinary weeks – through designed strategy, steady business and leadership coaching, and systems that turn promises into proof. If you paused the noise and doubled down on outcome-based strategy for 90 days, what would become easier, more profitable, and more human in your business?