When I ask business owners about their business goals the response I get is usually pretty vague – I want to grow my business.
Well of course you do, but by how much and what does that mean to you personally?
When running a business for a while it’s easy to get complacent and just drift along day to day. You can get away with this, if you want to operate as a lifestyle business. However, if you are serious about growing a successful, scalable business it really helps to define business goals that are linked personally to you.
In this article I’ve outlined the ways that business goals have help me become successful.
DRIVE
Our brains are tuned to run on auto-pilot where possible, it’s easy. We LOVE easy! In order to fulfil our full potential though we have to find consistent willpower to overcome that tendency and keep pushing our business forward.
Identifying goals that really connect with you personally, will remind you that the early morning starts, the difficult client, learning something new or even staffing issues can all be overcome and will not deter you from your end goals.
I never liked running (so I told myself) but I signed up to do a 5km for 50 day challenge to help improve my health. I really wanted to achieve it so that I could feel fitter, healthier and generally better about myself – so I prioritised it every single day. If I didn’t have the challenge there is no way I would have ran so much.
ACCOUNTABILITY
When you first start a business, one of the first things we get excited about is being our own boss! No one to answer to any more… 6 months down the line, we quickly learn that sometimes you need that accountability to get the job finished and over the line!
In my running challenge I use social media to share my progress so that I can hold myself accountable, in business I use my team and/or other aspiring business owners. Without it, I find it’s easy for me to ‘fall off the wagon’ and put it off for another day. We need to choose to put ourselves and our business first.
The day I tell everyone my new goal is always scary as it’s the point at which I make the commitment – up until that point it’s like I can back out! Who do you know that would help hold you accountable?
PRIORITIES
Every day we need to make decisions when running a business – it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the daily operations that we can take our eye off the ball when it comes to the bigger picture. . Having goals in place ensures that we prioritise tasks that will make our business more successful in the long-term, allowing us to lead the life we want to lead
It’s not easy running a business – we need to make sure we get what we need from it and that it doesn’t become the ball and chain preventing us from living our life to its fullest.
EXCITEMENT
There’s a real buzz of excitement when you first start a business that often gets you through the first year to 18 months, but around that time, you may start to feel your motivation dip. You have validated your idea, but now what?
Goals can help give us something to aim for. Whether it’s increased profit that will enable you to buy a new car or a luxury family holiday to Disney world or 5 star ratings that help you become a market leader, which in turn attracts new customers. The excitement for these goals can inspire us to put more energy back into our business, encouraging us to challenge our business models and deliver on our sales & marketing plans.
EASIER DECISION MAKING
It can be difficult making decisions in business, choosing where to invest money or spend time. Having goals in place will make these decisions easier as you can directly query whether the investment will get you closer to your goals or not.
In the running challenge I realised I want to run a sub 9 minute mile – which for me is quite a feat! This meant that I started choosing flatter routes for the days I wanted to really challenge myself on speed, and it helped me to ignore my head when it wanted to stop and walk!
BUSINESS GOALS – Are they worth it?
If you haven’t already, get a blank piece of paper out and write down a list of all the things you’d like to achieve in life, now consider how your business can help you achieve them.
I find goals help keep us to keep one eye on the bigger picture at all times. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the daily operations and lose sight of what you want to achieve. If you are feeling a bit lost, these goals will help you find the hunger you are needing to drive you forward.
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