A 90-day growth plan is a short document that answers one question: what will we do, over the next three months, to win more profitable customers? It fits on a few pages, names three to five priorities and ties each action to an owner, a date and an indicator.
This guide shows you how to build it yourself, in five steps. The examples are worked out in numbers so you can redo the calculations with your own data. It is the same logic we follow in our growth strategy service.
Step 1: establish your baseline numbers
The short answer: you need to know four numbers before deciding anything. Without them, every marketing choice is a guess.
- Average sale value. Your total sales over 12 months, divided by the number of sales.
- Your gross margin. What remains after direct costs (materials, direct labour, subcontracting), as a percentage.
- Repeat-purchase frequency. How many times, on average, a customer buys from you in a year.
- Where customers come from. Word of mouth, Google, social media, partners, existing customers.
An example
Take a business-services company in Saint-Laurent. It made $600,000 in sales last year from 300 sales, an average sale of $2,000. Its gross margin is 45%, so each sale leaves $900. Its customers buy on average 1.5 times a year.
The annual value of a customer is therefore $900 × 1.5 = $1,350 of margin. If a customer stays three years, they are worth about $4,050. That is the ceiling on what you could, in theory, spend to win one. In practice, aim much lower: an acquisition cost around a third of first-year margin leaves room for error.
Step 2: find where the growth is
Growth comes from one of three levers: more customers, bigger sales, or more frequent purchases. The plan should pick whichever costs least to pull.
| Lever | Question to ask | Example action |
|---|---|---|
| More customers | Where did our strongest customers find us? | Strengthen the channel that already works |
| Bigger sales | What do customers ask for that we don't offer? | Add an option or a package |
| More frequent purchases | Why don't customers come back more often? | Seasonal reminder, service agreement |
Back to the example. Raising repeat-purchase frequency from 1.5 to 1.8 a year, with the same customers, adds 0.3 × $900 = $270 of margin per customer per year. Across 200 active customers, that is $54,000 of extra margin, without spending a dollar on advertising. This kind of calculation often reshuffles the priorities.
Step 3: choose three to five priorities
List every idea, then score each on two criteria: likely effect on margin and effort required. Keep the ones with high effect and reasonable effort.
Here are typical priorities for a Montréal business:
- Rework the message in French. If your site or ads were conceived in English, a rewrite in Québec French often changes the conversion rate. Our guide on the Charter and your marketing also explains the public rules worth knowing.
- Fix the Google listing. Categories, services, French description, real photos: a few hours of work for a visible effect.
- Set up enquiry tracking. A simple spreadsheet logging every call, text or email, where it came from and how it turned out.
- Create a seasonal reminder. A message to existing customers ahead of the busy season.
- Adjust prices. A 5% increase on a 45% margin raises margin per sale by about 11%, provided you don't lose customers.
That last calculation deserves a closer look: on a $2,000 sale, 5% more is $100, all of which is added to the $900 of margin. $100 ÷ $900 ≈ 11%.
Step 4: build the calendar
A 90-day plan naturally breaks into three months, with one intention per month.
| Month | Intention | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Repair and measure | Enquiry tracking, Google listing, priority service pages |
| Month 2 | Launch | Reworked French message, customer reminder, limited ad test |
| Month 3 | Adjust | Cut what isn't working, reinforce what is |
Every action gets an owner, a date and an indicator. If nobody owns it, the action doesn't exist.
Allowing for Montréal's calendar
Many Montréal sectors have marked seasons. Residential services often follow the rhythm of heating and cooling, back-to-school and snow removal; retailers live by the holidays and the construction holiday in July. Place your actions before the peaks, not during them.
Step 5: choose the indicators and check-ins
One indicator per action, and three or four for the plan as a whole. The most useful ones for a small business:
- enquiries received per week, by channel;
- quote-to-contract conversion rate;
- average sale value;
- cost per enquiry for each paid channel.
Plan two check-ins, at 30 and 60 days. At each one, ask three questions: what is moving, what is stuck, what do we stop. The courage to stop an action that isn't working is often what separates a good plan from a forgotten one.
The most common mistakes
- Too many priorities. Ten actions in parallel means zero actions finished.
- Goals without numbers. "Be more visible" isn't a goal; "20 enquiries a month through Google" is.
- Forgetting language. In Montréal, a plan that doesn't provide for French in every communication action is incomplete.
- Not measuring from the start. Without enquiry tracking in month 1, you can't judge anything in month 3.
- Never revising. A 90-day plan ends with a review and the start of the next plan.
A one-page template for your plan
Once the five steps are done, the whole plan should fit on a single page. Here is a simple format to copy:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Baseline | Average sale, margin, repeat frequency, main sources of customers |
| Goal | One number for the 90 days, such as enquiries per month or margin added |
| Priorities | Three to five actions, each with an owner and a date |
| Indicators | One per action, plus the overall goal |
| Check-ins | Dates for the 30- and 60-day reviews |
Pin it where the team can see it. A plan that is visible every day gets carried out far more often than one stored in a shared folder.
And then?
At the end of the 90 days, take stock: what produced margin, and at what cost? Keep what works and build the next plan from the waiting list. If you'd like an outside view to help you decide, see our pricing or write to us through the Contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Why 90 days rather than a year?
Because 90 days is long enough to see results and short enough to stay focused. An annual plan often gets lost by the second month. You can run four 90-day plans back to back in a year.
How many priorities should I keep?
Three to five. Beyond that, the team spreads its energy and nothing really moves. Other ideas go on a waiting list for the next plan.
What if I don't have precise numbers?
Start with honest estimates and label them as such. A reasonable estimate beats nothing, and the plan can include measuring properly from the first month.
Do I need a consultant to make this plan?
No. This guide is designed so you can do it yourself. An outside view mostly helps in choosing between priorities and asking the uncomfortable questions.