The start of the year is the perfect time to dust off last year’s business plan and set some new goals. While some owners love planning, others feel overwhelmed – how do you settle on a handful of priorities when so many moving parts make up a business? These tips can help you start brainstorming how your company can plan for greater success.
Redefine your brand
Is the elevator pitch you used a year ago – even six months ago – still accurate? Unless you’re crystal clear on who you are, whom you’re here to serve, and what you hope to achieve in the next one to three years, it’s hard to set meaningful goals. Take a look at your vision, mission statement and core values, and if they need tweaking to reflect where your business is today and where you want it to go, start there before setting long and short-term goals.
Big-picture planning
Entrepreneurs dream big – and they should, because thinking big leads to ground-breaking products and services. But to make big ideas like increasing market share or growing profits happen, you need to break them into smaller, specific goals and strategies tied to a budget and timeline. For instance, if the overarching objective is to grow profits by a set percentage by year’s end, smaller goals might include launching a marketing campaign to attract a target number of new prospects, or increasing sales by opening an online store by a specific date. The key is to define goals that are measurable and achievable.
Define smaller goals
Working through how you’ll achieve your larger objectives can be a fun group activity for your whole team. Discuss what you know about your customers, review your historical sales data and look over your up-to-date budget and forecasts. With everyone at the table and the relevant information at hand, you can develop strategies that align with your vision, assign deadlines and get buy-in on what everyone needs to do.
Final tips
Reflect on your personal goals as you think through your business goals – perhaps you’ve wanted to get into mentoring, improve your networking, or attend more conferences. Self-development is, in a sense, professional development, so include it. And remember that setting goals is only part of the equation: monitor your progress, note milestones and share achievements with your team regularly to keep everyone motivated and give yourself the chance to adjust in time for the best possible results.