Have you achieved what you set out to do with your business? Has your business grown according to your plan? Did you even have a plan when you started? It is not unusual to see many business owners start up without a plan for the where and how they want their business to go. Most people simply believe that with hard work and determination alone, their business will succeed.
The ugly truth (as evidenced by the many "out of business" signs) is that this is rarely the case. You work from sun up to sun down, and still don't see a profit or maybe have a "profit" on paper but have yet to start paying yourself a salary. After time, you could end up resenting the business of your dreams and question if this is where you really want to be. You want your business to work for you, not vice versa.
There are four important steps to help make lasting changes in the way you operate your business:
1) Have S.M.A.R.T. goals. Most peoples' "goals" are so vaguely defined that they're really just dreams. S.M.A.R.T. goals are:
Specific: your goals should be specific
Measureable: your goals should be measurable
Achieveable: your goals should be realistically achievable
Relevant: your goals should be relevant to helping your business succeed
Tell someone: verbalize your goals to someone else, the more the better.
Examples:
"I want to be the top shoe seller in the county" is vague and hard to measure, whereas "I want my business to earn $375,000.00 in gross revenue within nine months" is both specific and measurable"
"I want everyone to come to my store!" is a great and positive attitude but obviously unrealistic and really not that relevant if what you sell if high fashion shoes for women. A more achievable and relevant goal would be "I want to earn the exclusive business of 5 top stylists in San Francisco."
2) Have a system for regularly measuring your progress against those measurable goals. This way you can keep on track and readjust accordingly.
3) Find an accountability partner. This is where the "Tell" portion of your "SMART" goals comes in. When you verbalize your goals to an employee, a colleague, a business coach or even a friend or family member, this person can help follow up with you, see if you are on track. Furthermore, no one like to say they are going to do something, and then never follow through. If you know someone is keeping tabs on you, you are more likely to work harder to meet what it is you said you would do. This is one of the most important steps in goal setting. It's like the scale at a weight loss group meeting. Find someone you can trust and who will hold you accountable
4) Make a business and marketing plan. Once you have your S.M.A.R.T. goals, how are you going to get there? What do you need to do and how are you going to do it? Before you even spend the first dollar to start your business (or this weekend if you are already in business), sit down and develop a business plan. This should reflect your goals, establish how your will measure your progress and most importantly, all the steps you will need to make to reach those goals.
By following these steps you will be able to put your business in perspective, understand where it is you want to go, how your are going to get there. By doing this at least once a year, you will be able to track your journey, see what has worked, what hasn't worked, revise and readjust both your goals and your plan to achieve them.
