This blog post has been authored by Stand Out Online Member Elizabeth Ruth, ER Marketing Services
Are you having trouble setting goals that your business can achieve? Here are five ways that you can set your goal setting straight.
Let’s start off by saying this: setting good business goals is not as easy as it can be made out to be. It is very easy to set a goal that, while attainable, does not provide a great structure to complete it. On the flip side, rigid goal structures that don’t generate a large amount of success are also not that great.
Think about if your business goal is simply to make sales. That’s actually quite a weak goal: you might be making sales, but your profit might be abysmal.
Here are some tips to make sure that your business goals are both strong and achievable.
Set Specific And Adjustable Business Goals
This ties a lot into what was mentioned before. You want your goals to be specific, but not overly rigid. If your goals are too broad, you might be missing an opportunity within your niche. If they’re super specific, then you might miss an opportunity outside of the box.
You want your business goals to be specific enough to appeal to your niche, but also be flexible enough to attract new clients. Flexibility also means factoring in a contingency plan in the case that your goal goes completely sour.
It’s always good to factor in the possibility of the nightmare scenario for your goals. If you’re prepared for the worst, then the worst won’t be so bad.
Determine Your Goal’s Deliverables
Deliverables aren’t just your product and aren’t only something that sales needs to worry about.
All strong business goals should be able to provide some sort of deliverable. This could be a new marketing strategy, a new workflow being implemented, or even just weekly reporting.
Deliverables also allow you to strive for something other than the completion of the goal itself. They don’t necessarily have to be the thing achieved by completing the goal.
Think about them as being the highlights on the journey to complete the goal rather than the result, though your result should still be some form of a deliverable.
Set Manageable Deadlines
Sometimes you might have bitten off more than you can chew with your work. When setting your business goals, the best way for them to be achievable is to make sure that the deadline is manageable.
You might think that you can blast through a bunch of your work and have that project done in a week. However, during that week you might have to attend a surprise meeting, take a sick day, or have some other events happen that stalls your productivity.
When setting your business goals, make sure that there is at least some accommodation for procedural speedbumps. It always feels better when your checklist says on time instead of late.
Share Your Business Goals
You don’t necessarily need to tell the world what your business goals are, especially when it comes to proprietary things. It is, however, a good idea to fill in the rest of your team or business when you set a new one.
Sharing your goals opens up your work to the rest of your team and business. This gives them the benefit of awareness of your project and can open up avenues for them to give you a hand if needed.
Using a workflow manager like Asana can help the rest of your business see what others are working on and let them ping for help if needed.
Celebrate Completed Business Goals
If you’ve landed the big one, don’t be afraid to spread the good news about your completed business goal. This doesn’t have to be a party or a company dinner or anything, it can just be an email about your achievement.
Celebrating your team’s achievements can boost your confidence in your work, and it’s always good to show proof that your business goals are strong.
It’s also worth noting that if it was worth celebrating, you probably did something right with the business goal’s framework. You can use your success as a template for future goal setting to make sure that you get the same rewarding feeling in the future.
Conclusion
To wrap up here, we have a list of five tips to set strong and achievable business goals:
- Set specific and adjustable business goals
- Determine your goals deliverables
- Set manageable deadlines
- Share your business goals
- Celebrate completed business goals
This post was originally published on the ER Marketing Services blog https://ermarketingservices.com/5-tips-to-set-strong-and-achievable-business-goals/
Elizabeth is the Owner and Chief Copy Writer for ER Marketing Services. The agency empowers business owners to attract incredible clients, connect with their audience, and establish their industry authority. Elizabeth and her team specialize in designing marketing strategies and writing content for websites, blog posts, social media, and emails or newsletters.