2025 was not a year of collapse.
But it was a year of pressure.
For many business owners, it felt like every lever became harder to pull at the same time. Growth was possible, but not easy. Profit was achievable, but not guaranteed. Energy was available, but increasingly scarce.
What stood out most was not any single event. It was the combination of forces shaping how business now operates.
Looking back across the year, five clear trends emerged. Together, they explain why so many founders feel stretched and why 2026 will reward a very different style of leadership.
1. AI moved from curiosity to capability
In 2025, AI stopped being a novelty and started becoming infrastructure.
Early experimentation gave way to practical use:
⁍ drafting documents
⁍ preparing reports
⁍ supporting planning
⁍ improving decision quality
⁍ reducing admin load
What changed was not the technology itself, but expectations. AI is no longer about replacing people. It is about amplifying thinking, speeding execution and removing friction.
The leaders who struggled were those waiting for perfect clarity.
The leaders who progressed treated AI as a capability to be learned, not a tool to be mastered overnight.
What this means for 2026
AI will not create advantage on its own. Advantage will come from:
⁍ integrating AI into real workflows
⁍ using it to reduce noise and admin
⁍ supporting better decisions not faster mistakes
The question is no longer “Should we use AI?”
It is “Where does AI remove pressure from the business?”
2. The workforce crisis became a growth constraint
The workforce challenge did not improve in 2025. It changed shape.
Vacancies could often be filled, but capability gaps widened.
Good people were harder to find, harder to retain and slower to reach full productivity.
For many businesses, growth stalled not due to demand, but due to:
⁍ lack of skilled labour
⁍ high supervision loads
⁍ long onboarding lead times
⁍ burnout in key roles
This quietly capped growth potential.
What this means for 2026
Recruitment alone will not solve this.
The next phase requires:
⁍ process improvement
⁍ role redesign
⁍ automation and technology
⁍ off-shoring where appropriate
⁍ faster onboarding and time-to-competence
Growth will increasingly come from designing work differently, not adding more people.
3. Global politics added a permanent layer of uncertainty
2025 reinforced a hard truth. External stability can no longer be assumed.
Global conflict, trade disruption, elections and geopolitical tension flowed directly into:
⁍ supply chains
⁍ interest rates
⁍ currency volatility
⁍ customer confidence
Australian businesses felt this even when operating locally.
The result was hesitation. Many owners delayed decisions, waiting for clarity that never arrived.
What this means for 2026
Uncertainty is no longer a phase. It is the operating environment.
Strong businesses will:
⁍ plan in shorter cycles – Annual PLans cascading to 90 Day Actions
⁍ build optionality into decisions
⁍ protect cash and margin
⁍ strengthen scenario planning
⁍ reduce reliance on single points of failure
Confidence in 2026 will come from adaptability, not prediction.
4. Finance tightened and discipline mattered again
Money was still available in 2025, but it was more expensive and less forgiving.
Banks, investors and lenders focused more heavily on:
⁍ cash flow
⁍ asset backing
⁍ structure
⁍ systems
⁍ governance
⁍ execution discipline
Businesses with loose controls or unclear plans found finance harder to access or more restrictive.
What this means for 2026
Capital will favour:
⁍ clarity over optimism
⁍ discipline over ambition
⁍ systems over heroics
Founders will need:
⁍ better planning cadence
⁍ clearer priorities
⁍ stronger reporting
⁍ tighter execution
The era of “we’ll fix it later” is over.
5. Business complexity tipped many founders into fatigue
This was one of the quietest but most telling trends of 2025.
Business did not just get harder.
It got more complex.
⁍ More compliance.
⁍ More systems.
⁍ More people issues.
⁍ More decisions.
⁍ More noise.
Many Owners reached a point where:
⁍ busyness became the job
⁍ stress became normalised
⁍ clarity disappeared
⁍ motivation dropped
Some stepped back.
Some sold.
Some opted out mentally while staying in the role.
What this means for 2026
Sustainable success will require:
⁍ simplification
⁍ focus
⁍ boundaries
⁍ better use of systems
⁍ stronger leadership rhythm
Owners who redesign how they operate will thrive.
Those who keep absorbing complexity personally will burn out.
6. Stress increased and busyness replaced productivity
By the end of 2025, one pattern was unmistakable.
Many leaders were working harder but feeling less effective.
⁍ Calendars were full.
⁍ Inbox volume was relentless.
⁍ Meetings multiplied.
⁍ Yet strategic progress slowed.
Busyness became a proxy for value.
What this means for 2026
The advantage will shift to leaders who:
⁍ prioritise fewer things
⁍ design better weeks
⁍ reduce low-value activity
⁍ protect thinking time
⁍ focus on output, not activity
⁍ more balance and less stress
Productivity will be about focus, discipline and control, not effort.
So what does this mean overall for 2026?
The combined message of 2025 is clear.
The next phase of business will reward leaders who:
⁍ design better systems
⁍ simplify complexity
⁍ leverage technology wisely
⁍ rethink workforce models
⁍ plan deliberately – Annual and 90 Day cascades
⁍ protect their own capacity
2026 will not reward:
⁍ brute force
⁍ endless hustle
⁍ reactive decision-making
⁍ or leadership by exhaustion
It will reward clarity, discipline and focused execution.
Final reflection
2025 reminded us of something many leaders already sensed.
Working harder is no longer the answer.
Adding more is no longer sustainable.
Complexity is no longer optional.
The leaders who succeed in 2026 will not do more.
They will do less, better.
They will redesign how work gets done, how decisions are made and how energy is used.
That is not pessimism.
It is progress.
There are lots of resources on the Shifft website (www.shifft.com.au) like blogs, videos, webinars, templates, courses, books and journals to help you build a better business in 2026. Take some time over the break, or early in the New Year, to build your plan and set up for success.
Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
Russ
