You know what they say, “A goal without a plan is just a wish”. In order to make your intention or dream a reality is to write it down and work on it every day. There might be a few reasons why you want to start a business, it could be because of extra income, starting a new life or simply fulfilling a wish to become an entrepreneur. So, writing your goal helps you focus on what to prioritize. This line holds to be true, especially in setting up your business goals this 2019.
A business goal ensures that you will remember your path especially as the journey becomes a bit complicated. And trust us, there will be a lot of instances wherein there will be a lot of opportunities, changes, and downfalls in starting a business, thus, it will be very helpful if you have a definite goal as you begin your journey.
If you feel overwhelmed on what to include in the list, fret not, here are some guidelines to help you get started:
Know your Why
So why are you setting goals? Don’t set goals just because all businesses are setting goals. Know your why. Why do you want to reach 10,000 followers? Maybe higher traffic will increase your sales and it means more money and growing business. Why do you want to start a business? Why do you want to start this particular business?
Set SMART Goals
You probably heard the SMART goals and you’re maybe wondering why it is often recommended. The reason is that you’re more likely to achieve your goals if it is specific and you can easily track if you’re achieving it or not. To be precise, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. For example, you want to increase your social media audience:
“Reach or get 10,000 Facebook/Instagram followers within 6 months by posting daily, engage more with my audience and use Facebook Ad”. Now, let’s apply the SMART principle:
Specific. Determine what, who, when, why, and how. Don’t be super vague.
Measurable. How do you measure your goals? By being specific you can determine when you achieve your goal. In the given example, when you reach 10,000 followers meaning you already attain what you set.
Attainable. Be realistic. What’s the possibility that you can achieve it? Let’s say you already have more than 5,000 followers, there’s a great chance that you’ll reach 10,000. However, if you just open your business online recently and got 10-20 followers so far, you might wanna consider extending your deadline or your number.
Relevant. Think about your why. Is your goal in line with that? Does your goal describe your vision?
Timely. Goals should have a timeline. This will force yourself to take action or else you won’t make it to your deadline. Just like submitting your projects during your school days; failing to submit your projects on time will result in fail grades.
Begin with the big picture
The common question is “how do you see yourself or your business 5 years from now? Every business is different, so you will be the one to determine your goals or what you want to achieve in the next 5 years. If 5 years is a little too much for you, you can start in your first year, whatever is comfortable for you and you think that you can work on. Here are some ideas:
Income Goals. If you have certain numbers that you want to make this year.
Number of Sales. Instead of money, maybe you want to focus on the number of clients you
Social Media. Growing your online audience might be your priority.
Website. Increasing your conversion would be a great achievement too.
Set mini goals
Break your big goals into smaller one. If you have a goal to achieve at the end of the year, break it into monthly, weekly, or daily goal. So you want to reach 10,000 followers within6 months, break that down into 1,600k+ followers per month, 400 per week, or 57+ per day.
Track your goals
You should know if you are making a progress. Check your goals regularly. That’s why we ask you to break down your goals into smaller one so that you can easily track it. Did you achieve 57+ followers this day? Did you post this whole week? Were you able to answer all the inquiries that you got? Social Media especially Facebook has insights where you can check your page statistics. You can also create a spreadsheet to monitor your goals.
Remember your why
Let’s admit it, there are times that we get tired and want to give up. If you get tired, take a rest but don’t quit. Remember why you are doing this. Think about your main goal. Be inspired by your vision.
We hope that this will help you set your business goals this 2019. Let us know in the comment what your goals are and let’s talk about it. Again, if you need help to jump-start your business, we are all ears, do not hesitate to get in touch with us!
