If you’re anything like most small business owners, you don’t need more to do, you just need the right things to act on.
Profit doesn’t come from working hard alone. It comes from clear numbers, better decisions, tighter systems, and pricing that actually reflects the value you deliver. And the best part? You don’t need a total business overhaul to make 2026 your most profitable year yet. Only a focused plan.
Let’s get this out of the way: high revenue doesn’t automatically mean a healthy business. You can turn over £300k and feel poor if:
So the first step to increase profitability in 2026 is to stop measuring success by turnover alone and start tracking the numbers that actually matter.
Pull the last 6–12 months of figures and answer:
If you don’t know these answers, don’t worry (that’s common). But make it your mission to know them in January, because profit growth starts with visibility.
Create a simple monthly dashboard first: revenue, gross profit, net profit, cash balance, debtor days, tax pot balance. Keep it boring. Boring is profitable.
Pricing is the most powerful lever you have. And it’s usually the fastest route to increase profitability. A price change impacts every sale you make moving forward.
Where are you effectively donating time?
If you’re consistently delivering more than you’re paid for, you don’t have a workload problem, you have an offer design problem.
A simple 3-tier structure is a profitability cheat code:
This does two things:
If raising prices across the board feels scary, start with new enquiries. You’ll quickly learn what the market accepts, and often, it’s higher than you think.
If everyone says yes immediately, you’re still pricing too low.
This is a line you don’t cross. Example:
Profit guardrails are what help you increase profitability without burning out.
Cost-cutting isn’t glamorous. But it’s effective (especially when you cut the right things).
The goal isn’t to run your business on three softwares and manual stress. It’s to remove waste and reinvest into what actually drives profit.
Go through your last 90 days of expenses and label each item:
Common cost leaks:
You can often reduce costs by:
Every £200 per month saved is £2,400 a year in additional profit, and that’s before tax.
A business can be profitable on paper and still feel like it’s struggling. That usually comes down to cashflow timing.
To increase profitability, you need to protect cash, because cash is what gives you the breathing room to make smart decisions rather than desperate ones.
You don’t need anything fancy. A simple spreadsheet works:
Update weekly. You’ll spot problems early and avoid panic.
If you want a quicker route to smoother cashflow:
A business that gets paid faster can:
Here’s a hard truth: messy delivery kills profit.
If projects regularly overrun, if you’re constantly redoing work, or if your team relies on your brain for everything, margins disappear.
Start with the 5 processes that create the most chaos:
Document them once. Then refine.
Profit increases when you deliver the same outcome in less time.
Ways to do that:
If you’re selling services, time is your inventory. Protect it.
A very overlooked way to increase profitability is to plan your tax position throughout the year rather than react at the end.
Work with your accountant to:
Let’s make this tangible. If you want 2026 to be your most profitable year yet, don’t set vague goals like “increase revenue” or “work less”.
Set a plan that is clear and measurable.
Consistency beats intensity every time.
Making 2026 your most profitable year yet isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter with your numbers and treating profit like a priority.
If you focus on:
…you’ll increase profitability without needing a massive increase in workload.
And that’s the goal: a business that pays you well, supports your lifestyle, and feels stable as it grows.