Episode 38 - Setting-up for FY26

Welcome to What's Broken in GTM and How to Fix It with Louis Fernandes and Simon Daniels. Each week, together with occasional guests, we explore the challenges that face go-to-market leaders in SaaS scale-up businesses and suggest solutions to common issues.

Louis and Simon tee-up this week’s conversation by reflecting on their experience of companies’ fiscal years starts. Most run January to December, according to Simon’s research, although there are notable exceptions! When is yours?

Regardless of whether or not your fiscal year starts in January, this week we take a look at how to get the year off to a good start. Here’s the TL;DL (“Too Long; Didn’t Listen) in case you don’t have time for the whole episode: You can finish the year well and still start the next one badly. Q4 isn't about landing the number, it's about creating strategic clarity, capability, and momentum that your team will carry into the new financial year. So great leaders don't wait for January to set direction, they use Q4 to build it.

Listen on to find out why closing the year is all about execution, while preparing for the next one is all about leadership, and the best revenue leaders don't separate the two. Q4 isn’t just a race to the finish line, it’s the leadership window that defines the first 12 weeks of the new financial year. While most organisations focus exclusively on closing the year, high-performing GTM leaders use the final weeks to reset strategy, rebuild clarity, re-energise teams, and set the early momentum for the next fiscal year.

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