It’s officially the new year! With the holiday season over and a full year of possibilities ahead, this is prime to act on the goals that you have for your small business. To efficiently and effectively act on these goals, you should have a clear plan.
Creating a written plan allows for you and your team to dive deeper on the things you want to accomplish. Doing this with your team (if you have one) also makes sure that everyone is on the same page and is prepared to do their part to achieve your set goals. It’s easy to talk about creating a plan and setting goals but actually doing it can be another story.
Paul J. Meyer, businessman, author and founder of Success Motivation International, describes the characteristics of SMART goals in his 2003 book, “Attitude Is Everything: If You Want to Succeed Above and Beyond.” We’ll expand on his definitions and share what you should keep in mind when setting SMART business goals below. Let’s dive in!
1. Be Specific
Being vague in your business goals can lead to difficulty planning ways to achieve them. Your goal should be clearly stated and specific.
For example, avoid statements like “be more efficient” because this could apply to any aspect of your business. Instead try, “streamline the editing process” and replace the word “editing” with another word that applies to your business.
2. Must Be Measurable
This is where setting specific goals play a large role. You must be able to measure what you’re striving for. If your metrics aren’t right then you likely won’t see results.
A good example of this would be having the goal of writing a 500-page mystery novel and the measurement being to finish writing in 5 months. Your measurement will improve your timeline.
3. Attainability
Small business owners dream big and that’s what sets you apart! With this in mind, set goals that are realistic and attainable.
Let’s say you own a local clothing shop that sells, on average, 300 t-shirts in a month. Setting a goal of selling 1,000 t-shirts per month is a bit far-fetched. When setting an attainable goal, you also must consider outside and real-world factors.
4. Relevancy
Your goals should always reflect back on your business and what it provides. It will do no good to set a goal that does not apply to how you conduct business.
A great way to test the relevancy of a proposed goal is to ask yourself if your business will directly benefit from achieving them.
5. Time Sensitive
Sticking with the idea that the goals being set are on a yearly basis, having a detailed timeline is important.
This is useful in the way that you and your team will be motivated to meet deadlines and stay on track to achieve your set goals.
6. Action Plan
While it’s not officially a part of the popular SMART acronym, having an action plan is just as important. Creating a plan of action will increase the chances of success in achieving your goals.
This will also give you a detailed strategy ahead of time versus having to come up with a strategy on the spot.
Conclusion
Following these tips when setting your small business goals will only give you a better chance at success. The common theme throughout goal setting is being clear and leaving no room for confusion. Confirming that your team understands the goals that are set makes the journey to achieving them that much smoother. It will also boost morale.
If you’re looking for assistance setting your small business goals for the new year, look to the experts at BG Digital Group and give us a call today!
