SMART Goals for Your Business
By Debbie Gregory.
Starting and running a successful business takes a lot of personal fortitude and discipline. Whether you are a solo-entrepreneur or you have a large team at your back, your ultimate success will come down to whether or not you can set and achieve your goals.
A great way to put together and stay focused on achieving your goals is using the SMART goal setting technique. SMART is an acronym that stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive.
- Specific – Exactly what you want to achieve.
- Measurable – How you plan to measure your goal.
- Achievable – Is your goal realistic?
- Relevant – How does your goal relate to your business?
- Time-sensitive – When do you want to achieve your goal?
With this information in-hand you have a very clear plan of action. However, there are still challenges that can arise and can lead to failure in reaching your goals and having a successful business. The main roadblocks to SMART business success include:
1.) You don’t commit.
You cannot sit around hoping that your dreams will fall into your lap. You MUST create a deliberate and concrete plan for your success and stick to it.
2.) You don’t factor in problems.
Regardless of how well you plan, problems will arise. Try to be flexible and factor in obstacles that may derail you for a bit. Your plan may even need to be revised from time to time due to unforeseen problems, as you move toward your goal. The important thing is to be flexible and adjust to current circumstances.
3.) Your goals aren’t realistic.
You need to make sure that you have set reasonable, realistic, and manageable goals. You cannot change everything all at once. It is nice to dream big but try to tackle the dream one small piece at a time.
4.) You are afraid to fail.
Failure is an important tool to learn and failure provides you information on how to refine your strategy and move forward in obtaining your goals. Your missteps will provide you strength to overcome obstacles. Try to see failure as a stepping stone rather than an end. It is said that failure provides you the proper perspective for success
5.) Your plan is vague.
Your plan must be as specific as possible. It helps you to focus on the individual parts and helps you identify the next steps you need to take.
Developing a SMART plan is an excellent way to help you foster discipline and focus on your goals with strategies and tactics to achieve them. Never allow yourself to become derailed by outrageous dreams, roadblocks, fear of failure, or fear of commitment.
