By: Ken Austin
This article on Business Goal Setting should be of interest to any business person or entrepreneur since effective goal setting is as important to the success of any business as it is to success in life.
The year is now almost over. In a few months, you may be thinking of what you want to achieve for your company or business next year. But do you know how to go over setting your business goals in such a way that you wouldn’t be overwhelmed?
Your business goals or objectives should be SMART. This means that they should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.
Here are few simple things to remember before you go about the business of business goal setting.
1. Clarity of your business goal.
Remember that diamonds, more than their cut, are greater prized and treasured for their clarity. Diamonds with yellow, blue ang green hues are simply alluring. But 'alluring' is not what to do with your business goal. What the above statement means is that what you want and what you need is a business plan that is clear from the onset, in order for the internal factors of your business to run smoothly.
2. Come up with a goal that is doable and result oriented.
Remember the businesses right across your office and the one at your back? They have folded just a few years ago, with their officials facing imprisonment for fraud.
A hundred theories have been presented trying to explain why such situations happened, but, hey, if you base everything on rhetoric, then you really wouldn't get anywhere. Go for something that is tangible and concrete. Something you can actually experience and proudly present to everyone. You wouldn't want a shutdown of your own business, would you?
3. Put it into writing.
Decide where you company should be for the next year. Effective business goal setting needs to be detailed and put into writing. This will give you a concrete basis for further review in the future. It will also save you from having to grope your mind for the ideas you came up with during one 'eureka' moment.
4. Use active words.
Active words are not only for writers; they should also work perfectly with your business goal. Do not use passive words and passive sentences because these will give you the feeling of indirect responsibility. Do say: “My company will capture this particular market by the middle of next year”, and not: “This particular market will be captured by my company by the middle of next year”. Breathe action into your words to give life to your business goal.
5. Come up with smaller goals to complement your biggest one.
The smaller goal will help you achieve the ultimate goal of your business, by providing the step by step actions leading to the ultimate plan. By doing this, you will also see more clearly the initial errors inherent with an imperfect plan. In the process, you will know what actions are effective and what are not.
6. Employ people who share your dreams and ideas.
They may not share your concept on how to do things but if these people share your vision, they will at least give you alternative routes in reaching your goal. These alternative routes represent their own view with the world and their belief in doing things.
This process will give you the chance to improve your precepts or ideas.
And, of course, take a regular review of your plan or business goal. Do some revisions if needed, depending on the small changes that you encounter as the plan progresses. And should there be changes, big or small, accept them wholeheartedly. This is what effective business goal setting is all about.
