2026 planning -- where we're putting our energy and why

We have been doing annual planning in November and December for the past three years. The logic is that if we plan in December and January is a "new year" restart moment, we waste three weeks of good-weather working time on process instead of output. Planning in November means January can begin in motion.

This year's planning process took about three weeks spread across six sessions. Here is where we landed, and the reasoning behind each choice.

Where we are putting energy in 2026

Scheduloo. The product is past early validation. We have paying users. The feedback is actionable. The decision now is whether to invest aggressively in growth or maintain the current pace of cautious iteration. We have decided to invest more, specifically in one dedicated person working on Scheduloo full-time for the first half of 2026. This means constraining the agency headcount growth we might otherwise pursue. That is a deliberate trade-off.

Productised services. The SEO audit product we built in Q1 2025 has been a consistent revenue contributor and a better sales conversation tool than we expected. We are going to build two more productised offerings in the first half of 2026: a website performance audit and a Google Ads account health check. Same format as the SEO audit, fixed scope, fixed price, five-day delivery.

This journal. Keeping it going and making it a more consistent part of our external presence. We write honestly here about what we are actually doing, including the parts that do not work, and that honesty has brought in the kind of clients we want to work with. More of that.

What we are choosing not to do

We are not opening a Mumbai office or any other city office. The idea comes up periodically. We have clients in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi. But remote-first has worked for us, and the overhead of a second office would consume energy we would rather put into the two priorities above.

We are not expanding our social media management services. We do some of it now for clients who specifically request it as part of a broader engagement. But it is not something we have built operational depth in, and the margins are thin relative to the time investment. Moving away from it rather than toward it.

We are not trying to grow the team by more than two people in 2026. Growth for its own sake creates management overhead that slows down the things that actually matter. The right team size is the one that can deliver the work we have committed to with quality and without burning out.

The one uncertainty I am holding

AI is changing client expectations and changing what the work is. The rate of that change is faster than in any prior year, and I am not confident about what it looks like by the end of 2026. We are watching it carefully, experimenting where it helps, and trying not to let uncertainty about the future become an excuse for not making clear choices in the present.

The choices above are as clear as I can make them right now. We will revisit in June and adjust if the world looks materially different.