Scenario Planning for Mid-Market Firms: A Practical Template
You do not need a planning department to prepare for three futures. A one-afternoon template for leadership teams.
By Maia Lafortezza, Founder and managing partner , 1 min read
You do not need a planning department to prepare for three futures. You need an afternoon and a few honest questions. You do not need a planning department to prepare for three futures. A one-afternoon template for leadership teams.
Choose the two uncertainties that matter most
Demand, input costs, interest rates or a key customer’s plans: pick the two that would change your strategy most and build four simple scenarios from their combinations. Keep each scenario to one page.
Decide your signposts in advance
For each scenario, agree which early indicators would tell you it is unfolding and which decisions you would take. Planning becomes useful when the trigger and the response are written down before they are needed.
How we apply this with clients
In client work this usually becomes one priority on the quarterly plan, with a named owner and a measure the leadership team reviews every month. Our strategy partners start with a short diagnostic of where the business is today, then agree the smallest change that will make a visible difference within ninety days.
Key takeaways
- Pick the two uncertainties with the biggest impact.
- Keep each scenario to one page.
- Agree signposts and responses in advance.
Want to apply this in your business? Book a discovery call with a Maia Lafortezza partner.
Maia Lafortezza
Maia Lafortezza founded the firm in 2019 after nearly two decades across corporate finance, strategy consulting and operations. She began her career in transaction advisory, led growth and operating-model projects for mid-market and family-owned companies, and then served as chief operating officer of a European industrial group through a period of rapid expansion. Today she leads the firm's strategy and leadership practices, advises founders and boards directly, and writes on operating models, decision rights and building companies that last. She works in English, Italian and French.
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