Setting goals for small business owners…only 3-5% of people in the world earn considerable wealth. There’s one thing they do that sets them apart—they’re the same 3-5% who have written goals.
Written goals for small business is a game-changer. Many business owners don’t realize the power of written goals. Committing goals to paper and reviewing them regularly gives you a 95% higher chance of achieving your desired outcomes.
It’s crazy to think that a majority of business owners don’t have goals, let alone written goals. It doesn’t cost anything. It doesn’t (and shouldn’t) take a lot of time. When asked, most business owners viewed it as “a high priority,” yet, they don’t have written goals. There are 2 good reasons why they don’t…
- They don’t know how and
- They don’t set aside the time. And who can blame us? As business owners there’s always way more to get done every day than we’ll ever be able to do.
Here’s a simple summary from the top thinkers that can help you set a few quick and simple goals:
- Root them in your personal value system. If you own the business, your personal goals and values are, and should be, intertwined with the goals you have for your company. After all, the reason you have company goals ultimately, is to achieve your personal goals. Even though they’re business goals, they should connect to your passions and personal values. Another benefit of aligning personal and business goals is that they’ll resonate with others, customers and employees, who share them.
- They should start with your 10-30 years goals (If you’re 60 years old, maybe you have 15 year business goals; if you’re 40 years old, you’ll want 30 year goals), then be chunked down to your 5-year goal, then your 1-year goals, then your goals for this quarter, and finally your goals for this week. You want to constantly see your long-term goals while insuring that what you’re planning to work on today is a high-payoff activity designed to move you closer to your long-term goal. An added benefit—you’ll be surprised how much confidence you have when you know that what you’re working on today is also moving you one step closer to where you want to be in 20 years.
- Goals, no matter their time horizon should be SMART: Specific, Measurable in terms of dollars and quantities, Achievable, Relevant or Realistic, and Time-Bound. Here’s a good little 2½ minute video on the basics of setting SMART goals for small business.
- Break company-wide goals down between functions. If one of your goals is to increase profits by 10% by the end of year 3, you might give the sales department a goal to increase calls by 15% and the operations department a goal to increase output or reduce errors by a certain percentage.
Finally, here’s a way to set a specific date for some goal-setting. Pull yourself out of your business for a day and join me as I take you through our globally-proven goal setting process.
Register for my next quarterly Growth Plan Business Planning Workshop. We’ll complete your 1-page Strategic Plan and then spell out your 12-month, quarterly, and weekly goals…and all on only 2 sheets of paper.
Thur., June 25, 2015, 9 – 4 pm
Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Airport, 8910 Hatfield Dr., Indianapolis 46231
You’ll walk away with:
- A clear picture of where you want your business to be in 10-30 years, a 3-5 year plan, a 90-day plan, & a ready-to-implement action plan to get you there
- Your 12-month goals broken into bite-size quarterly goals, monthly milestones, & weekly actions
- Strategies to build your profits right away
- A network of like-minded business owners
$247 at the door, $187 in advance, and FREE for business coaching clients. Early Bird Special for $97… until Mon., June 22.
Setting goals for small business is the highest payoff activity you can spend your time on for long term success.
