"You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight." – Jim Rohn
Did you know that most start-up businesses fail within their first 5 years? According to experts, a large reason behind this is the fact that many business owners fail to plan.
Without adequate planning, it’s easy to lose direction and become overwhelmed by the day to day running of the company.
That’s why setting goals is extremely important.
Here, we’ll look at some reasons why goal planning is crucial in business.
Goals are the building blocks to your success
Business goals help you to propel the business forward, helping it to succeed. No matter which part of the business you’re looking to improve, the right goals can really help you to take your business to the next level.
Without goals, you won’t know which parts of the business to focus on in order to get the results you’re looking for. So, you’ll likely end up stuck in a rut, not really achieving anything of significance unless you have realistic, measurable goals.
They enable you to monitor your progress
In order to succeed in business, it’s crucial to monitor your progress. Which parts of the business are doing well, and which could use a little improvement?
Unless you have a clear idea of where your efforts should be focused, it’s easy to waste your time, money and energy on the wrong tasks. So, setting goals and then reviewing them, helps you to see how far the business has come and the key areas which require additional focus.
Think of your marketing strategy as a good example here. When you’re spending money trying to attract new customers, you need to know you’re not wasting your efforts. So, setting goals and then reviewing them will help you to see which marketing strategies are working, and which ones you should tweak or let go of completely.
Goals help to boost motivation
Remember that excitement and motivation you felt when you first started the business? It’s what pushed you to launch the company and get it off to a great start. However, it’s natural for that motivation and initial excitement to fade after a few months. That’s where goals can prove extremely useful.
Setting goals which can be easily achieved, helps to keep your motivation intact. As you tick off the goals, you’ll feel a renewed motivation to push forward and achieve the next one. Without motivation, it’s practically impossible to succeed in business.
Keeping your employees happy
Another reason that goals are important to businesses, is because they help to keep employees happy. While unrealistic goals can damage employee morale and motivation, effective ones can help to increase productivity and communication.
It also provides clarity, ensuring your employees know exactly what they are working towards. You’ll also find setting goals helps to ensure you’re hiring the right employees. If you know where the business is going, you’ll find it easier to hire the right talent to help you get there.
Holding you accountable
Business goals also help to hold you accountable. You could have a vague goal in your head that you are working towards, but unless you write it down and monitor it, you’re unlikely to reach it.
When left to our own devices, we’re often not as productive or as motivated as we could be. So, having clear goals helps to keep our focus and mind on the tasks required to push the business forward.
These are just some of the reasons why setting goals in business is crucial to your success. The thing to remember is that goal setting isn’t just a one-off thing. You need to continue to set goals once you’ve achieved those initial ones. That is how you ensure your business doesn’t just keep running, but that it thrives.
5 Types of Business Goals You Must Focus On
Now that you know the importance of goals in business, it’s time to learn more about the different types. If you truly want to succeed, you can’t just set any old goal for the business; it must be relevant, realistic and in line with what you’re hoping to achieve.
So, what different types of goals can you set in business? Below, we’ll look at 5 of the most common types of business goals to consider.
1. Income/Profit goals
By far, one of the most common goals all businesses have, is to increase their profits. There are a lot of different financial goals you can set for your company, and each of them focus on ultimately boosting your bottom line.
While the most common income-based business, goals focus on earning a set amount in a set period, you could also use them to cut costs. Some great examples of alternative income/profit goals include shopping around for cheaper suppliers, investing in automated software and outsourcing tasks to reduce in-house costs.
2. Customer service goals
No business can survive without excellent customer service. Due to the sheer amount of competition businesses now face, it’s crucial to ensure you are providing exceptional customer service. If you aren’t, your customers won’t think twice about heading over to the competition.
So, you could set numerous goals to help improve your customer service. Making a commitment to improve response times, to add different types of communication options, or to provide compensation of some kind to unhappy customers, are all great examples of customer service goals you could work towards.
3. Product/Service goals
To be successful, you’re going to need to make sure your products and services are foolproof. It’s not just your existing products you’ll want to focus on, either.
Product development is a key aspect of a successful business. If you want to keep your customers coming back, you’re going to need to give them something to come back for. That means, consistently working on new products and services your customers are sure to love and need.
Some examples of product and service goals include improving existing products, employing innovative employees to develop new products, and expanding your range of services.
4. Productivity and Motivation goals
If you want to boost every aspect of your business, productivity and motivation goals can help. These can relate to both yourself, and your employees.
The more productive you and your workers are, the more successful the business is going to be. There are a lot of ways to boost productivity and motivation in the workplace. For example, you might want to set goals to improve the working environment. The nicer the work environment, the more productive and happier your employees are going to be.
Providing exclusive perks, enhancing the work environment, and offering further training to your employees are all great examples of productivity and motivation goals.
5. Expansion goals
Once your business is doing relatively well, you can start to focus on expansion goals. That is, figuring out ways to push the business forward and grow either nationally, or maybe even internationally.
These types of goals typically require the most work. While technology has made it easier to expand, there are still a lot of challenges you’ll need to overcome. Some examples of business expansion goals include researching a new target market, investing in new business premises, and introducing international shipping.
As you can see, there are many types of business goals you can focus on. If you want to help your business to really succeed, you’re going to need to focus on several types of goals. However, it’s important to start out with the most important types of goals first, so you don’t get too overwhelmed.
FROM SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR, ALEX GENADINIK
- 4 Hours
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