- Be specific: unspecific goals will create the problem of losing track of where your business is going.
- Create a business plan: it is a great way to outline goals as well as calculate finances and tools that will help accomplish those goals.
- Set both short-term goals and long-term goals: turning dreams into business goals, as we should, is very easy…but shorter, more technical goals can help better track your success.
- Stay committed: an obvious point, but think of lifestyle changes that will help you commit to the goals that you have made.
- Make goals public: Make your business and goals associated with it as public as possible. If you only share with friends and family, then so be it. This will help motivate you to complete goals — keep your business on track, but it will also hold you accountable.
- Be realistic: It’s ok to dream, but set achievable goals for a given time frame.
- Set relevant goals: If a goal ends up providing little or nothing to the growth of the business, then why continue to pursue it. A relevant goal would be, for example: outsourcing some of things that may be overwhelming your productivity.
- Create an action plan for each goal: “I’d like to own my own store some day”, is not enough. Have a goal-by-goal plan to complete broader goals like this: make the goal actionable.
- Keep everything in line when working on a new goal: Reaching goals means business and lifestyle changes, so assess that your finances and other forms of security are still tightly in place throughout the process.
- Take a step back to analyze the progress: Take what you’ve learned onto the next goal. As an example, if you’re trying to market your business better, what marketing strategies have worked? Which haven’t work?
Have you defined your business goals for the coming year? Please share below in the comment section.