June 15th, 2010
Stay the course and set some goals for your business. Have you ever talked to a business owner who seems to have a crystal clear picture of how their business is running and where they are going? Or quite possibly an owner that may be very unclear of the next steps his/her business will take.
More than likely the business owner who has a clear cut direction and the confidence they will attain the objectives is due to setting some clear business Goals. However, most owners go through an entire year without a real clear picture of the goals they have for their business and no clear directions.
When you have no goals for your business, how will you know if you are ahead or behind?
Think of goals as your daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/annual “game plan.”
Just begin by very simply writing down the vision you have for the business today and then what specific things will need to be accomplished to reach your vision? Keep your goals in categories so it will make it easier to determine who in your company will need to be assigned to individual tasks that will help you stay the course. Areas such as your Customer Service/Loyalty, Product/Service Development, Market Expansion, Operational Efficiencies and Revenue Growth/Profitability as it relates to Sales and Marketing. You may have other areas that are critical to your success, so be sure to include them!
Once you have some goals written down, set some time lines to each of them. Your time lines can be adjusted as you make progress, but it is important to keep the end in mind as you work towards your goals. It will help you stay the course. If it is annual goals you have established then break those into Quarterly and even Monthly so that you can measure your progress with regular reviews of your progress with your team. Now makes sure everyone on your team is informed of the goals for the business and understands their role to help accomplish them.
Set time for review of the goals with your team members and remember to set them according to what YOUR business requires. If you are in a highly changing business, you may want to set up reviews weekly or monthly. You may need more frequent meetings to keep everyone focused, motivated and accountable. More frequent reviews allows you to set small achievable goals that when accumulated account for the fulfillment of the larger ultimate goal set.
I have said it is important to share your goals with your team members, but it is equally important to share your goals with your business partners that can hold you accountable. Keep your goals in the spotlight and in the forefront of your business to increase everyone’s awareness of the goal(s) and the progress towards them.
Don’t forget to measure! This is a critical step. Keep it simple but start to document the progress on each goal – recording your progress as you go and make adjustments along the way. Share the results and celebrate milestones with your team members!
Cheers to your success!
