By Vlad Ehrsam
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your business is in the way you set your goals. To say “our goal is to increase sales” is too vague and ambiguous. You need to get down to specifics so that you have something tangible to act on. Only in this way can you accomplish your goals successfully and know when they have been achieved.
The fact of the matter is that goal setting is not as effective when done in ambiguous terms. Specific business goal setting requires that you follow certain steps to determine exactly what your goal is in measurable terms. Just saying you want to increase sales is not enough. It is too vague to really be an effective goal.
It involves establishing a quantifiable result, and defining it. So you know when you’ve achieved your targets. So you could set a specific goal of increasing your customer by 25% in the nest six months, for example. Or increase profits by 30% in the next twelve months. These goals are specific and provide a way to quantify and measure your results.
Make sure, however, that your specific goals are attainable. In your first year of business you might not be able to achieve 50 people per day. It may take a couple of years to get to a point where 10% sales increases over the year is a feasible goal. You should be able to set reasonable goals that you can hope to achieve.
Just as you need to make sure that your goal is reasonable, it should also be challenging. Constantly setting easy goals will not help you learn to work hard to overcome challenges. Make sure that your goal requires you to stretch a little bit. Then your next goal setting session can involve goals that are even more ambitious.
And now you need to plan how you’re going to meet your goal, and for this you need a series of mini-goals that build up to the final crescendo. The steps to the ladder to the top rung they boost your self-confidence and pump your morale with every rung. And they provide a highly effective way to land your target.
If you set an effective, specific business goal, you will have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and chances are your business will thrive. Most businesses collapse within the first five years which is why you should devise a five year plan which consists of a range of specific goals. Without a specific goal and plan, your business will be doomed to failure from the start.
Specific goal setting helps you to accomplish your goals and to succeed. But the key to achievement lies in writing them down, it makes your vision more real, more solid. And write out your plan, so you know exactly how much you’ve achieved, and what you need to do next. As a matter of fact, unwritten goals often remain pipe dreams, they are never met. So set it straightaway, put pen to paper, and off you go! Well on the path of success and achievement.
About the Author
Vlad Ehrsam writes exclusively for Full Info on Business, it’s one of the webs most up to date Business sites, why not sign up for the free Business newsletter.
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