Before you think about setting goals for 2014, you need to look back on 2013. What did 2013 look like? Perhaps not as bad as 2008, but was it as good as you expected? Where did your business succeed and where did it struggle? What mistakes do you not want to repeat? It is important for you to be realistic and honest with yourself. If you can’t identify where you failed, how can you improve?
Goal setting is vital to the success of every business. Goals can be long term and short term. Ideally, I think it is important to have goals for one year, five years and ten years. Once these goals are set, you must review them to determine if you are on target to achieve them. Sometimes goals have to be adjusted. This does not mean failure. Setting goals and working toward them can help you keep your passion alive. You need to be excited about what you are looking to accomplish over the next year. If you can’t get excited about your business, how do you expect anyone else to? These goals must motivate you!
“How to Set Achievable Goals for Your Business,” by Marilee Sprenger uses the acronym SMART to define what characteristics goals should have. Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Realistic. Time.
Be SPECIFIC in setting your goals. ‘I want to be more successful in 2014” or “I want to make more money” are not specific goals. How can you measure this? If you want to increase sales, use a goal that states you want to increase sales by 10%.
You must be able to MEASURE your success in achieving a goal. Assuming you have your sales statistics from 2013, you will be able to track the increase of your sales. This can be done on a monthly basis. It is important to include your staff in defining your goals. Everyone needs to know what he or she is working towards.
The goals must be ACHIEVABLE. Part of creating better business goals is focusing on things that are in your control. Your staff must know the goals are achievable. If the goals are impossible to achieve, the staff will know that and it will lessen their enthusiasm to work towards them. You must focus on yourself as well, and make sure you stay motivated and confident.
This goes hand and hand with achievable goals. The goals must be REALISTIC. “A realistic goal is one that your staff has the resources to realize. If your staff has the skills it needs to increase sales, you have plenty of customers in your sales area and you have the time to get the job done, the goal is realistic.”
TIME needs to be included in your goal setting. You need to have a deadline. If there is no deadline, that makes the goal vague. Sprenger provides examples, “I want to lose ten pounds” is a goal. “I want to lose ten pounds by March 1st” provides a deadline. Having a deadline also provides the motivation.
Equally important to creating the goals, you should also have a plan on how to implement the goals in the coming year. You need to take time away from your business, sit down, clear your mind and start this project. It will not take long once you get started. This will keep you above your competition and put your business on a successful path. The good old days no longer apply. This is a new time and requires you to do some new thinking.
Happy New Year!
