What do you need to accomplish this year to achieve your goals?
The easiest way to concentrate your efforts and stay on track is to set SMART business goals. SMART goals, in essence, are clearly defined attainable goals that are time-based and measurable.
Identifying your goals and breaking them down will help you gain clarity and focus on your work. It makes it easier to say “no” to things that can set you off course. Think about it; this will help you focus while simplifying your work.
When setting goals for your business, you should always be thinking of your long-term vision. Your vision should act as your north star, and when you’re setting goals, they should be in pursuit of that end destination.
Start by identifying 3-4 overarching goals for your business. Do you want to double your revenue? Are you looking to hire your first employee? Do you want to open another location?
Once you have those big rock items, go ahead and brainstorm the top 1-3 KPI’s that need to improve to hit your goal. What’s a KPI? A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable metric that you track, whether its revenue, profit, sales, margin, or inventory turn, to name a few. The KPI will tell you how effectively you’re achieving key business objectives.
Your goals need to be measurable
You can’t say your goal is to grow sales more. It’s hard to measure “more,” and the goal is vague. If you make a statement, “I want each salesperson to hit $1,000,000 in sales this year,” it becomes much easier to hold tension to this goal with a measurable number.
Once you have 1-3 important KPIs, break those numbers down is smaller, more achievable goals. So, instead of having an annual goal of $1,000,000 in sales—which can be overwhelming—you can break it down into smaller more digestible goals.
Here’s an example:
$1,000,000 – Annual Sales Goal
$250,000 – Quarterly Sales Goal
$83,333 – Monthly Sales Goal
$19,380 – Weekly Sales Goal (assuming 4.3 weeks/month)
$3,875 – Daily Sales Goal
$3,876 is much easier to stomach than $1,000,000. String 5 days of $3,876 together, and you hit your goal. Smaller victories help put you on a path to larger and longer-term success. As you ride the momentum and energy for hitting daily or weekly goals, you will feel more enthusiastic about pushing and fighting for your goals.
Apply this framework to your company and see how much simpler your big audacious goals feel. If you’re not sure where to start, you don’t have to go at it alone. Schedule a free two-hour session with our Cultivate Advisors to dig into your business to uncover bottlenecks and develop a roadmap based on where you are in your business and where you would like to be. With this roadmap, you’ll have a tangible plan you can implement to reach your long-term goals.
Brad Kreutz is an Advisor for small business owners with Cultivate. Brad has a passion for translating business goals into strategy. Pulling from more than 17 years of experience as a 4x co-founder/owner, Brad brings an outside perspective to help business owners overcome their challenges, create a scalable platform, and grow their business.
