When you’re coming up with goals for your business, it’s important to take the time to really identify the full scope of those goals in order to see a true impact on your business!
In other words – you need to make your goals SMART! No, it doesn’t mean they need to be clever or well-thought-through (although those are important as well), we mean SMART as in:
- Specific – You don’t just want to set a generalized goal like “grow the business”. That’s not only very subjective but also extremely hard to keep track of. Instead, you should get clear on what part of the business you want to improve upon and why.
- Measurable – Instead of just saying “I want to sell more”, you should define how much you actually want to sell. If you’re not sure what you want to aim for, looking at benchmarks in your industry or from past years of your business should help you decide.
- Attainable – While it’s great to dream big, you want to make sure your goals are within reach (considering your team size and budget, amongst others). Again, benchmarking is great for this, since it gives you something to compare your goals to.
- Relevant – Your goals should also make sense to you and your business, not just be based on outside information. For example, if all your competitors are looking to get their business in front of new customers, but you find that you’ve been losing customers out the back door, maybe your customer experience should take priority over brand awareness.
- Timely – Lastly, you want to have a deadline associated with your goals, in order to keep everyone focused and accountable. Without this, you’ll run the risk of being stuck working towards your goal…forever.
