Grow In Volatility

Growth is never easy and 2026 is no different. Those who succeed this year prepared on two fronts: agile growth tactics and organic growth strategy. Agile firms who can quickly execute tactics are more likely to grow in 2026. Those who haven’t built agility in recent years are destined to repeat the lesson inflation taught us in 2022 because higher costs are coming and if you don’t act, they will erode your margins. Here are three scenarios for turning challenges into new growth opportunities.

Energy Crunch? Surcharges Now

Let’s start with the volatility in energy costs. Have you implemented fuel surcharges yet? We are experiencing a global event that’s well understood and creates a macro environment suitable for this tactic (as was the case with the sudden imposition of tariffs in 2025). While unpopular with your sales team, history suggests your customers will understand.

As an executive, you only have three options in situations like this; act early, act when costs are realized, act late. The time lag between your desire to act and your ability to act is agility: How agile are you? Here are three tactics worth taking immediately:

• Tie surcharges to a specific, named cost driver—in this case, fuel—so customers see the justification, not just the number.

• Build the invoicing capability so you can make this happen in days, not months. Agility is infrastructure, not intention.

• Establish a pricing response workflow your sales team can execute without coming back to leadership for every decision.

AI Onslaught? Diversify Revenue

Perhaps you are an SaaS executive fearing an AI-driven collapse of user-based licenses. Monolithic user models are clearly at risk. Derisking your revenue growth via alternative price models is a great strategy and we’ve helped countless companies accomplish this over the last 40 years. Need proof? Ask your CTO how your IT spend has shifted from seat licenses to add-ons and services.

SaaS companies who began that shift a decade ago are more resilient in the face of AI as they’ve already created multiple revenue streams they can move between. But if you’re not there yet, don’t worry. Starting the shift doesn’t require a full transformation. Just begin with one program:

• A connected service tier or performance guarantee on a single product line.

• A consumption-based model for your highest-volume SKU.

• An outcome-based contract with one key account willing to pilot it.

Customer Slowdown? Mine Your Data

Maybe you’re the CEO of a field services company and the market looks tough as consumer sentiment falls. That’s a good time to combine strategy and tactics by leaning into your customer base.

Maintaining and growing an installed base of revenue has been codified by SaaS companies over the last 25 years. The trick is translating those learnings to new businesses. Do you have customer churn-risk scoring, retention offers, cross/upsell triggers and cohort analytics? If you’re a SaaS company, of course you do. But a regional landscaping business? Maybe not now, but why not adapt some:

• Score your accounts by churn risk using purchase frequency, recency and service call patterns.

• Set up retention triggers—a proactive outreach or offer that fires before a customer goes quiet.

• Run a simple cohort analysis: Which customer segments are growing, which are shrinking and what’s different about them?

Be it global macro tactics, revenue model shifts or customer base management, at Simon-Kucher we’re excited for the organic growth opportunities of 2026. Volatility punishes the unprepared and rewards the ready. The question isn’t whether disruption is here—it’s whether you’ve built the capability to turn it to your advantage. If not, start now. We can help.