GoalSettingMake things happen for your company with these 5 goal setting tips.

As a small business owner, your workload is daunting. You have your personal responsibilities, along with the responsibilities of your employees. To stay afloat you must set specific goals and checkpoints. Just like personal goals, business goals are created to keep your company focused on where you currently are, and where you want to be.

While we prepare for 2017, now is the best time for small business owners to reflect on the past year, and prepare for what you want to accomplish in the new year. Here is a collection of tips to maximize your success as you outline your new goals.

Define Strong Goals

Give your company the direction it seeks by setting strong, definitive goals. Make your goals specific and descriptive. There is power in visualization and that image of what you want to obtain will be a driving force in achieving that goal. Once you have defined your specific goal, specify why you are setting it. Is it to increase revenue or improve your customer experience? No matter the driving force behind this ambition, write out your reasoning as a reminder for when you need a goal booster.

Strategize an Action Plan

Once you have constructed your goals, an action plan to achieving those goals is necessary. Each step of the method should be written out in detail with checkpoints. This helps to give you and your employees shorter term goals to reach, and areas of the goal that can be worked on every day. In today’s digital age, there are a wide variety of technology tools to help you track your goals such as Goal-Buddy, Goal Enforcer, and GoalsOnTrack. These applications can help you to stay organized and keep your action plan on task.

Recognize Goals May Change

Life happens. There will be times when you will need to adjust your action plan. You are not alone in these quick thinking actions. According to Deloitte, 46% of companies review or revise goals throughout the year. When obstacles arise you will need to be flexible, but these unseen challenges do not change the end goal. These obstacles simply mean you have to take a different path to reach your original goal destination.

 Involve Your Team

Goal setting does not have to be solely individualized. You can set objectives for your individual team members, departments, or the whole company. Make sure you publicize these goals within your company so that the entire team is held accountable. Did you know that the Staples National Small Business Survey released that more than 80% of small business owners do not keep track of business goals? Enlist support from within your company and get your employees invested in your goals.

What Not to Do

When you are creating your business goals, keep in mind not to fall into these four pitfalls:

  • Do not give into your excuses: life will throw you curveballs but stick to your action plan and you will feel that much more accomplished when you reach your goal.
  • Do not think that if you do not reach your goal you are a failure: as long as you learn from your mistakes and set new goals to prevent making those mistakes again then you are still coming out on top.
  • Do not become overwhelmed with a long list of goals: you should focus on no more than three goals at a time to ensure that equal attention is given to each one.
  • Do not beat yourself up if you do not meet every deadline: recognize the good in what you have already accomplished and look ahead to work on meeting your next checkpoint.

We often associate goal setting with the New Year, but goal setting is not a one time occurrence. Markets change and sales fluctuate, so take advantage of every situation to create goals and adapt action plans. There is no better time than now to set new goals.

Sources: 

By: Rebecca Clausen