Importance of Setting Clear Achievable Goals
Love or hate them, goals are crucial to bring your business to the next level.
In all stages of your business setting and reaching goals is important, you could be a maker signing up for your first market or an creative small business owner that is tackling how to expand wholesale, no matter where you are in your business timeline goals will always be critical. In this blog post, we’ll explore why setting goals for your business is essential and provide a step-by-step guide on how to go about setting those goals.
Need help defining or executing your goals? Let’s chat, I would love to help!
What are goals:
Goals are an aspiration you are determined to reach, they can be specific and/or high level. Goals can be split up into short-term and long-term goals.
Short-term goal:
These have a timeline with them, they could be a week up to a year.
They are usually created from breaking down the longer-term goals in order to make the long-term goal more realistic.
Long-term goal:
These can also be time bound, but are usually more than a year.
They can be used as your vision for the future. They don’t spell out how you will get there (that’s what the short-term goals are for) but they will keep you on the path to success.
Goal Example:
Say I have a long term goal of visiting all 63 National Parks in the next 5 years, here are some of the short term goals I would set:
By December, figure out what parks I can drive to and which ones I’ll need to fly to.
Visit all the National Parks within 200 miles of me in the next 3 months.
Camp at all the National Parks in Washington.
Go to at least one Visitor Center in Arizona and Utah.
Why set goals:
Direction and Focus: Setting goals gives your business a clear sense of direction. It defines what you want to achieve, which, in turn, helps to focus your efforts and resources on what truly matters. Without goals, you can get caught up in day to day and operate without a compass.
Motivation and Accountability: Goals provide motivation for you. When you have a target or due date to reach you strive to hit that, and with that keep yourself accountable to what you have committed to.
Measurable Progress: Goals provide a framework for measuring progress. They allow you to track your business's growth and success over time. This data-driven approach can help you make informed decisions and adjustments to your strategy.
Resource Allocation: Clear goals help you allocate resources effectively. When you have a defined objective, you can allocate your budget, time, and efforts in a way sets you up best to succeed.
Adaptability: Goals also enable your business to be agile and adapt to changing circumstances. When you have set goals, you can modify them in response to market changes, emerging opportunities, or unforeseen challenges. A goal isn’t a commitment set in store, more that it’s something to move towards, so if your target changes so can your goal.
How to set goals:
Start with a Vision: Begin by defining your business's long-term vision. What is the ultimate destination you want your buisness to reach? Where do you want to see your craft go? This vision will help you establish your high level goals.
Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) Goals: Ensure that your goals are SMART. This means they should be:
Specific (clear and well-defined): a goal should be easily understood, there isn’t any room for interpretation.
Measurable (quantifiable): you want to be able to clearly understand if you hit the goal or not. Adding measurements to the goal makes this possible.
Achievable (realistic): goals should be something to stretch you to the next level but shouldn’t be impossible. The goal is to hit them!
Relevant (aligned with your vision): your goal should make sense for your business.
Time-bound (with a deadline): goals don’t go on forever, otherwise they can get stale. Set a specific time you want to reach the goal by.
Prioritize Your Goals: Not all goals are of equal importance. Prioritize your goals based on their relevance to your vision and the potential impact they have. Focus on a few key objectives at a time to avoid spreading your resources too thin.
Break Down Long-term Goals into Short-term Milestones: Long-term goals can be daunting. Break them down into smaller, manageable milestones. This step-by-step approach makes your journey more achievable and keeps motivation high.
Monitor and Measure Progress: Set time to regularly check in on your goals and how you are tracking towards them. Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on the insights gained from your progress reports.
Celebrate Achievements: When you achieve a goal or milestone, celebrate it! You worked hard to meet it.
Learn from Failures: Not all goals will be met, and that's okay. Failure can provide valuable lessons. Analyze what went wrong and use this knowledge to refine your future goals and strategies.
In summary, setting and achieving goals is the cornerstone of your business success. It provides direction, motivation, and a clear path to growth. By following the steps outlined above and making goal-setting a fundamental part of your strategy, you'll be well on your way to realizing your vision and reaping the rewards of your hard work and dedication.
Want help with your goals? Get in touch to start collaborating.
