Goal Setting Is The Secret To Business Success … Period!
How setting goals can transform your business
Are you tired of spending your time on activities that keep you busy… but don’t lead to more leads or sales?
Then you need to set goals that truly move the needle in your business.
Stick around because we’re going to show you why goal setting is a must-have in your business if you want to reach greater levels of success.
I know how to run my business, why do I need to set goals?
You may be thinking that goal-setting is only for people striving for promotions or trying to lose weight. You might be convinced that you’re running your business just fine, thank you very much.
And maybe you are.
But what if your time, energy and attention were not being put to the best use, and you’re leaving money on the table because of it?
Even worse, what if your employees have no clue what they’re striving for, so they do the bare minimum every day, knowing they’ll still get their paycheck at the end of the month.
We have no doubt that re-evaluating your goals or starting to set goals in the first place can positively affect your business and your bottom line.
How goals can drive your business forward
This excerpt from Alice in Wonderland demonstrates the value of having a clear and focused direction in your business (and your life!):
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
Alice: “I don’t much care where.”
The Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.”
Without a goal to shoot towards, chances are you’ll be going through the motions day in and day out, without any conscious effort to do better.
Sure, some companies like to set “sales targets” but those are lofty numbers, not clear and precise steps to achieve those targets.
Goal setting is a structured process of setting plans in place to reach a beneficial outcome.
It’s not “wishing” and “hoping” for better days to come.
How goal-setting works
Goal setting is more than just writing a number on the board. If it were that easy, all you’d have to do is write R1 million or $1 million on your vision board and call it a day.
We wish it were that easy!
Yes, it’s important to know what your ultimate destination, goal, target, number or achievement is.
But what really moves the needle is how well you execute all the steps in between.
Effective goal-setting requires that you take time to consider many options and circumstances and plan strategically to get through them.
It’s taking the time to consider:
- Is the goal achievable?
- How many staff members are required?
- What is a reasonable timeline?
- What are potential problems and how do we resolve them?
- If we hit the goal, then what?
- What if we miss the goal? What will it mean for the business?
- Do we need to consult with experts outside of our organization (eg: marketers)?
- How will we course-correct along the way?
- And more
SMART goals
We’re sure you’ve heard of SMART goals by now, but let’s do a quick overview in case you’ve forgotten.
Using the SMART acronym, you can design goals that are:
Here’s a quick example of a goal that is NOT smart: “ I want to make more money. “
Er, when? How? Selling what?
And here is another version of the goal to make more money:
“ My business will make an extra R20K in June 2020. My team and I will achieve this by selling some or both of our online course (R1000 ea) and high-value mastermind (R5000 ea). I will do paid advertising, emails to my list and organic posts. I will also host Facebook Lives and an online webinar. My sales team will follow up with leads daily. “
Let’s see if this goal passes the test.
-> Specific? Yes, R20K is specific
-> Measurable? Yes, the money will be invoiced for or in the bank
-> Achievable? Yes, we’ve made R10K sales before, but this month we want to put more effort in and make more sales.
-> Realistic? Yes, it’s totally doable.
-> Time-bound? Totally. June is our deadline.
We give this goal the SMART stamp of approval.
Quick Tip
When setting their SMART goals, some people get confused between the “achievable” and “realistic” steps, because they seem quite similar.
But there is a subtle difference between the two.
To figure out if you’ve managed to nail what achievable means, simply ask of your goal: “Is it humanly possible? Can it be done?”
For example, maybe you decide you want to run a marathon this year.
Is it physically possible to train to run a marathon? Well, unless you are otherwise physically unable to run, the chances are it is possible (achievable) to train to run a marathon.
Realistic means asking: “Is it feasible bearing in mind all the other factors?”.
So in our example, while it is possible to train to run a marathon, it is unrealistic to decide to run a marathon a month before the race date, if you have never run long distance before.
You would need more time to train.
Once you shift your deadline to a race taking place much later in the year (this also affects the T of SMART), you can reassess if your goal now meets the requirement of “realistic”.
The takeaway of why you need to set goals
Setting strategic goals for your life and your business is no doubt an important part of striving for success.
Once you have goals to work towards, you’ll find that your energy and enthusiasm multiplies.
You’ll be picturing the reward of reaching that goal, and how it will positively impact everything in your business.
An added bonus is that it will motivate your staff to work harder and more diligently. In fact, including an incentive (not necessarily financial) can be a great way to keep your staff driven to succeed.
Originally published at https://blog.bigdomino.co.za on May 25, 2020.
