How to Optimize Performance, Protect What You’ve Built, and Prosper in 2026 and Beyond

Tariffs, economic uncertainty, evolving tax legislation, and advances in technology are resulting in a more complex business environment, challenging you to reshape how you plan, operate, and grow.

Here’s the reality: Economic cycles may be inevitable. But readiness is a choice.

At Eide Bailly, we see three key challenges that prevent businesses from realizing their potential:

1. Lack of visibility into basic business performance.
2. Inability to adapt ever-changing regulations and cyber threats.
3. Planning that doesn’t connect today’s operations with tomorrow’s growth.

But there is an opportunity to move forward in a stronger, more strategic way. Focusing on optimal performance and protecting what you’ve built will help shape your business’s future with intention. Here’s how.

Optimize Performance

Knowledge is power. When you have a clear line of sight into the core business areas, you can make smarter, faster decisions that have an immediate impact.

Businesses should focus on areas they can control:

• Cash flow clarity: Know your true liquidity position. Analyze payables, receivables, and conversion cycles to improve working capital and respond quickly to disruption.
• Process efficiency: Invest in automation, reporting enhancements, and data integration to reduce delays and free up resources.
• Supply chain adaptability: Tariff policy shifts and geopolitical volatility can disrupt procurement and production. Build flexible sourcing and responsive logistics capabilities.

Case in Point: A construction client needed to modernize time entry without adding extra costs. With the help of a custom time-entry interface that integrated with their current Salesforce environment, they were able to get critical labor cost visibility without extra licensing fees.

What it Matters: 93% of business leaders believe the right data is critical to success. Without visibility, you can't make strong decisions.

The Role of Technology in Performance

Technology will play a stronger role than ever before. AI innovation is the number one goal of CEOs, according to IBM. And yet, Gartner predicts 60% of AI projects will be abandoned this year due to a lack of AI-ready data.

Value is impossible without first addressing your data. In fact, top AI struggles include:

• Lack of clarity on where to begin
• Concerns related to security and governance
• Challenges with data quality

Protect What You've Built

In an unpredictable world, fear of change is the greatest threat to your security. Treating risk management as another checklist item ultimately creates a weak security posture.

It all begins with being proactive. Consider your key risk indicators, which act as an early warning system. Establishing these indicators will help you proactively identify and address potential issues before they escalate.

Build Strong Defenses

Sixty-four percent of customers believe companies are reckless with their information. Consumer trust is increasingly fragile, and transparency is even more critical.

Risk management today requires continuous readiness:

• Risk assessments: Evaluate exposure across financial, operational, and cybersecurity dimensions. Model downturn scenarios.
• Compliance agility: Monitor regulatory shifts — especially around tax — that can significantly impact cost structures or reporting requirements.
• System modernization: Legacy platforms limit responsiveness. Yet 60% of businesses still spend over $2 million a year maintaining outdated systems.

Prosper into the Future

Regardless of what next looks like, concrete steps in the “now” can help you succeed long-term. Prioritizing strategic planning and innovation has even led to an average revenue growth of 10% or more per year.

Think about:

• Strategic investments: Look for smart acquisitions, technology upgrades, or new market entries that position you ahead of competitors.
• Revenue diversification: Explore new products, services, or customer segments to broaden your income streams.
• Future-focused finance: Enable your finance team to lead, not just report.

The reality is disruption isn't slowing down. We recommend:

• Reassessing operational blind spots that slow response times
• Stress-testing your business model under different cost or tax scenarios
• Identifying targeted investments that reduce risk or unlock new growth
• Elevating finance and risk leaders into strategic roles

Dive Deeper

• Healthcare: Strategy Is Patient Care: Connecting Decisions in Healthcare Operations 
• Construction: Building Agility and Resilience: Essential Strategies for Construction Leaders
• Manufacturing: How Manufacturers Can Expand in the Changing Marketplace

Proactive Planning is a Requirement

Even if you’re not ready to discuss an exit strategy, early planning is critical. A Gartner survey found that only 51% of board directors say there is a written plan for the current CEO’s succession.

Without this planning, unforeseen circumstances can back you into a corner – with business goals and company culture being left aside. In addition, early planning gives you greater flexibility for market changes, economic circumstances, and proactive, tax-efficient strategies.

What Businesses Often Overlook

Leaders today are navigating economic uncertainty, accelerating tech adoption, and heightened pressure for real-time visibility. And yet, many businesses overlook critical pieces that would help them adapt to today’s changing environment, like:

• Failing to modernize core systems before layering AI on top
• Underestimating the tax impact of cross-border growth border growth
• Treating risk assessment as a once-a-year exercise a year exercise
• Not integrating financial and operational planning
• Delaying succession conversations until forced

The Future is Here

In a world that’s moving faster, feeling louder, and growing more complex by the day, disruption has become a constant.

Now is the time to ask:

• Are we ready to respond to the next tax or tariff shift, without scrambling?
• Do we have the systems and talent in place to act on data in real time?
• Are we investing in what will move us forward, or just maintaining the status quo?

The businesses that thrive will be those that anticipate, not just react. Make sure your business is ready to perform, protect, and prosper — no matter what comes next.