Setting Goals And Objectives For Your Business

Setting goals and objectives for your business the right way is vital if you want to be successful. If you don’t know what you’re working towards, you’re just doing a lot of stuff hoping it will pay off. Getting clear on where you want to get to and how you’re going to get there (in time) will really help you take your business to the next level. Maybe you already have a (vague) idea of what your goals are, but today we’re going to make them crystal clear and write them down. It’s time to take control!

The Big Picture

In order to set good goals and objectives for your business, you have to think about the big picture. What things do you want to accomplish most as an entrepreneur. Think about why you want to achieve these things. What will reaching that goal bring to your (professional) life? Are you sure you really want it or do you feel you’re supposed to want it? Figure out what the most important goals are for your business.

Examples of our own big business goals:

• We want to have our own office for Life’s Work Lab so we can work with other entrepreneurs under the same roof and help each other grow in business.
• In 2020 we want to hit 80k euro in revenue so we can make a fulltime income from Life’s Work Lab.
• We want to make passive income in addition to our work with clients so we have more free time to focus on other important things as well.

When you figure out the big goals, we can start to break them down into smaller objectives so your goals will become achievable.

Be SMART about setting goals and objectives for your business

The most important “rule” for setting goals is they have to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound). It basically means going from “I want to have my own business” to “I want to have my own e-commerce business up and running by December 1st, 2019”

Using the SMART method helps you set more powerful and achievable goals. It makes it a lot easier to stick with your goal because you know what you want exactly and when you want it done. Being vague about your goals like “I want to be happy” doesn’t really get you anywhere in my experience and will only end up frustrating you because you have this goal, but no plan to achieve it. By making your goals SMART, you limit the chance of being frustrated by your own goals and have a clear target to work towards.

Break Your Goals Down Into Actionable Steps

Now that you have a clear vision of your bigger business goals, you want to break them down into actionable steps. For example, if you want to make a certain amount of money from your business, break them down into smaller goals like “I want to sign three new clients every month” or “I want to make 25 product sales every month”.

When you have your smaller goals, you can break them down even further into objectives. If you want to make those 25 sales, what steps do you need to take for that? Maybe you need to post about your product on social media daily or you need to go to an event to sell it directly to your target customer. Repeat this process for every goal you have.

By making your goals smaller and actionable, you will improve your chances of sticking with it and actually achieving it because you won’t feel overwhelmed as much. You know where you want to go and how you are going to get there. Now all you have to do is do it!

Prioritizing Your Goals And Objectives

When you know all your goals and have them written down, you need to prioritize them so you know where to start. Focusing on too many things at once never made anyone more productive…

Which goals are the most important or most urgent for you? Which steps need to be taken first before you can take another? Do you need to prepare for certain things? Make a to-do list so you can start every day with a clear idea of what you need to do to reach your goals in your set time period.

Get Started Right Away!

What can you do today to take one step towards one of your goals? Why wait, right? Taking the first step is always the hardest, so better get it out of the way quickly. You could be actively working towards your goals today and be that much closer to achieving what you set out to do. All you have to do is keep it up and you’ll get there soon enough.

Stay Motivated

However, for those times it all just doesn’t seem to work and you want to give up, it’s good to have (visual) reminders of why you started. So write down why you want to achieve your goals and what your life would look like if you achieved them and maybe even create a vision board to visualize it.

I hope these tips for setting goals and objectives for your business were useful for you and you can get started reaching yours! What are some of your business goals? Let us know in the comments.

Cheers,

Maud