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By Henry Brown

Goals provide your business with a clear and focused path for you to follow towards your aspirations.

Setting goals for your business is the only way that it will see future success. Your goals have to be properly established and tracked, and people within your business need to be held accountable for their activities. As you follow the goals that you have created, you will know what steps to take and therefore, make every task intentional and impactful. If you don’t have goals, you will be working on your business based on assumptions, and you will find it grows very slowly, or not at all.

Regardless of how big or small your business goals are, they are important. You should endeavor to have a big goal, that is made up of smaller goals, so you can work your way up to success. Goals are pivotal for any business that wants to grow and be successful. Not only will it help you move forward, but it will also help you create long-term and sustainable growth that will keep your business going for years to come.

Business goals should be the first thing you do when starting a business, and a task you review and update each year. Whenever you meet a goal, you should set a new, higher one.

To help you get started, here are some top tips on how your business can set impactful goals.

#1 Identify your goals 

You should start by identifying exactly what it is that you want your business to achieve. Make a note of all the ideas that come to mind when you ask yourself this question. When writing these down, you should think about whether they are worth the time, effort, and money that you will need to put into them. You should also consider which ones are going to push your business forward in a positive way. Think about short-term goals and the bigger picture.

It can be helpful to conduct a SWOT analysis of your business. This will help you to determine which of your goals you should prioritize, as it will identify what parts of your business need the most improvement. You may also wish to complete competitor analysis, so you can see what other businesses are doing well, what improvements they could make, and what gaps are in the market.

#2 Make your goals specific and realistic

Now you have a rough idea of what you want your business to achieve, you should spend some time visualizing what this looks like and describing them in detail on paper. When you are clear and concise with your goals, it will be much easier for others to understand them and for you to take the right action to meet them. Make sure you give as much detail as possible, down to the percentage, point, or time.

As you write out the specific details of your goals, you should also think about when you will be able to achieve them. You can map these out into a timeline, so you have a guide of goals that follow each other. This exercise aims to make sure they all help each other. So by hitting one goal, you are closer to hitting the next.

Some specific goals you might include are the number of sales, or the number of customers in your business by the end of a quarter, and a year. Long-term goals should include what you want your revenue to look like.

As well as goals that you want to achieve, you may also consider goals that include reducing things, such as expenses and waste. These will also help your business achieve its overall aims.

Make sure every goal you note down is something realistic, that you believe your business will be able to achieve. To do this, you should assign a time limit to them all. You will also need to review your business to make sure you have all the correct tools and processes in place. For example, if you run a manufacturing business and you want to make sure your equipment is efficient, you will need to invest in the proper software that will monitor the performance of your machines.

#3 Make a commitment

You must commit to reaching your goals. It’s no good just writing them down and then forgetting about them. You need to make sure you fully understand what you need to do to achieve them. You should also communicate them to your team, and make sure they all know their responsibilities. Regularly check in with your team and your goals, so you can measure your progress and make sure you are always heading in the right direction and you can change tactics where needed.

Setting goals is vital for the success of any small business. Follow these top tips to set proper business goals.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.