The sustainable business: Is the five-year business plan obsolete?

Today’s business leaders are firefighting crises daily, wrestling far-reaching regulatory change and watching global events upend carefully laid plans.

The notion of the three- or five-year business strategy can appear laughably optimistic. Why bother when it is difficult to see around tomorrow’s corner, let alone years ahead?

Yet, the real question isn’t whether long-term planning still matters. It’s how today’s business leaders balance the relentless demands of daily operations against the necessity of strategic ambition.

When inflation squeezes margins, growth slows, technology advances at breakneck speed, evolving people dynamics and geopolitical shocks arrive without warning, how does today’s CEO find the headspace to think beyond the next quarter, let alone three or five years ahead?

The answer, I believe, rests not in choosing between short and long-term thinking, but ensuring both are in place and rethinking how they work together.

Operational demands and business confidence

The challenges facing businesses today have multiplied exponentially. Domestically, we continue to navigate sluggish growth and a more expensive yet softening labour market.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) published its quarterly business confidence survey* on 9 October 2025, and it again makes for gloomy reading. Business confidence has reached a three-year low, with tax concerns top of mind as we wait for the Government’s November Budget.

It finds that half of the 1,000 businesses it surveys say the regulatory burden is creating ‘significant issues’, despite the Government promising to reduce that burden.

If that were not enough, unexpected geopolitical curveballs test business leaders further. Sudden and changing tariffs, restrictions on global mobility and increasing regulation demand attention.

Daily operational demands are not merely distracting; they can be catastrophic. A cyber security incident can close production schedules for months, or the departure of a key client or customer can dramatically change cashflow.

Any single event can consume weeks, if not months, of leadership bandwidth. It makes long-term strategic planning feel more like a luxury that cannot be afforded.

Except, it isn’t a luxury. It is, I would argue, essential, with agility.

A leadership framework that works

Firms that successfully navigate today’s chaotic environment share one common trait: strong leadership teams grounded in clarity, trust and flexibility.

That starts by establishing your ‘North Star’ – the vision, purpose and values that guide your business. Define this long-term vision with brutal clarity, and then translate that into three to five strategic priorities.

There are several established frameworks, such as the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework, that can help support this. Here, key results become specific and measurable milestones that demonstrate progress. They might, for example, include market share, sector penetration, customer retention rates, even thought leadership metrics.

This clarity separates strategy from operations, and with it ownership.

A COO (or equivalent) should run the day-to-day operations, the CFO your finances. A CPO should lead recruitment, development and retention of people, with a CMO/CGO driving growth. It will sound obvious, but if the CEO or business owner/leader is making every operational decision, you haven’t built a team – you’ve created a bottleneck.

This division of responsibility does not, however, mean silos. A senior leadership team is just that – a team. And as with all teams, structure matters. Regular strategy reviews, where progress is measured, are vital. Complement with operational reviews when execution challenges arise.

This rhythm ensures that strategic vision informs operational reality, with operational insights feeding back into strategic refinement.

Making it work

Here are four tactics that can make this work. 

1. Stay flexible

Whilst the five-year plan isn’t dead, the rigid five-year plan is. Build strategic buffers into budgets for emerging technology and talent. Focus on continuous improvement and embed adaptability into the culture of the business. When circumstances demand it – and they will – flex. But always with an eye to your ‘North Star’.

2. Embed long-term thinking into short-term decisions

Consider whether every significant decision passes one of two tests: does it deliver ROI and is aligned to long-term vision, strategy and purpose? Here, regular forecasting and scenario planning, facilitated by your accountants, can help. 

 3. Balance execution with exploration

Discipline is needed to deliver on and exceed customer expectations daily, but curiosity is needed to discover tomorrow’s opportunities. Create a protected space for experimentation, adopting a ‘fail fast, learn faster’ mentality, where calculated risks inform strategic evolution.

4. Strong governance

Tap into non-executive directors and external advisers, remembering they are not simply there to rubber-stamp your decisions. They work best when they are comfortable in challenging decisions and providing perspective. Independent voices at regular board meetings can help you stay on track.

Today, strategic planning embraces uncertainty. It embraces direction without prescribing every step. It commits to outcomes whilst maintaining flexibility.

The role of the CEO or business owner isn’t to work in the business; it is to work on the business. It is also knowing when to delegate and when to ask for help.

We often support our clients with reviewing their business plans, forecasting and contingency planning, as well as acting as a sounding board for leadership teams.

If your business is considering reviewing your business plan, strategy or vision and would benefit from some external advice or guidance in this area, our team would be happy to help, please get in touch.

*ICAEW’s Business Confidence Monitor