Avoid a Journey to Nowhere: Set Your Business Goals Today

You already know how important it is to set goals for yourself, both personally and professionally, right? Rather than moving aimlessly through life, goals give us a sense of purpose. They guide us in a certain direction, motivating us to stay the course so we can one day achieve the dreams and objectives that are meaningful to us.

While goals are useful in many areas of our lives, they are arguably crucial when it comes to running a business. It’s imperative that business owners set aside the time to create goals for their company that are ambitious yet achievable. This post will discuss the framework for this type of goal setting.

What are we waiting for? Let’s get started!

What Are Business Goals? How Often Should I Set Them?

Defined in the dictionary as a desired target or aim that is the result of hard work, effort, and ambition, business goals are generally classified as performance, financial, or a mix of both. (Note, however, that no matter which category your goal falls into, the performance and financial aspects of it will likely be interconnected.)

Business goals should be SMART and can be short-, mid-, or long-term in nature. This just depends on the size of your business and what you’re trying to achieve. But it is advisable to set annual goals if you want to build a profitable business (don’t we all?) and then break them down into quarterly strategies and monthly/daily actions. This way you’ll end up with shorter-term action steps that will help you accomplish your annual goals.

Let’s say you have decided to set your sights on performance. You might establish the goal of gaining 10 new monthly clients by March of the following year. In this case, while there is no financial goal attached to this objective, it will still naturally impact your company’s monthly sales. An example of a financial goal, on the other hand, might be to generate $225K in sales within the next 12 months. As you can see, this target specifies a monetary amount (unlike the aforementioned performance goal).

How Exactly Do I Do This? What Are The Steps?

Let’s walk through an example of setting a financial goal. Say you decide that your annual goal is to make $50K by the end of next year. First, break this big goal down into smaller, easier-to-manage quarterly strategies. To come up with these, you might be tempted to assume that you’ll make the same amount in sales every quarter. But, in fact, you need to consider the seasonality of your business. If you know, for instance, that your sales tend to pick up in November and December, you should account for this in your quarterly sales projections and targets.

The next step is to design your marketing strategy with these projections in mind so you can meet each of your quarterly objectives. For example, since you anticipate higher sales during the fourth quarter, you might focus more of your time on closing deals during those months and then concentrate on publicity and marketing during slower months.

At this point, you’ll want to break down your quarterly strategies into monthly and daily action steps (also known as tactics). Remember: to achieve your annual business goal, you’ll need to develop quarterly strategies. To carry out these strategies, you’ll need actionable and specific tactics.

Don’t feel overwhelmed! If you follow these steps, you’ll soon be on your way to accomplishing your business goals. Consistency and commitment are key to seeing results. There are tools available if you need additional help in setting and achieving your goals. Here at AJOY, our favorite goal-setting service is Silver Lining Action Plan (SLAP).

A Final Word From Tuesday Brooks Founder of AJOY

While it might be easy to dismiss or overlook the idea of setting business goals and objectives, it’s, in fact, essential because otherwise you’re on a journey to nowhere! Poor strategies (or having none at all) are a major cause of failed businesses (to read more about creating a business plan so your business achieves success, check out this post, How to Develop a Business Plan (And Why You Need To). If you’re not putting goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics in place, then you’re not going anywhere and will likely just go in circles. As the business owner, it’s up to you to decide what you want to achieve and then go after it with passion and determination while also staying dedicated to the ongoing planning process. Trust us, you’ll definitely see a difference in what you accomplish!