Business Goal Setting: Smart Goals Examples for Small Business Owners

Setting goals for your small business conjures up thoughts of structure, planning, focused thinking and effort. For the creative types in business, this can make you feel like you are being boxed in. For the overworked small business owner, it can make you feel overwhelmed and the reason why you avoid setting goals for your business. Yet, goal setting is critical for small business success because it keeps you from making costly mistakes. When you know the exact steps you need to take for each stage of your business, you spend less time on unnecessary activities and become profitable more quickly.

Using a smart goals framework helps you know if you are going in the right direction with your business. It gives you peace-of-mind when you know what to do and when to do it. How to set business goals using smart goals examples will give you a smart goals template to follow. Just follow the guidelines and answer the questions to fill-in-the-blank. Whether you are a new business or a seasoned business, use the following guidelines to set and achieve your goals:

• BUSINESS GOAL SETTING GUIDELINE #1 - Be specific for your stage of business. Exactly what business goals do you want to achieve? Do you want to improve your marketing? Do you want to increase your conversion ratios? Do you want to improve your relationships with customers and referral partners? Do you want to improve your positioning in the market place? Do you want to increase your sales? A smart goals example of being specific is to define what business goals you want by answering the 5 W's and the 1 H; who, what, where, when, why and how.

• BUSINESS GOAL SETTING GUIDELINE #2 - Make it measurable. When you have defined your business goals, make sure that you include measurable factors. What is a measurement? Basically a goal is measurable when you have defined how you will know you have accomplished that goal. A good smart goals example of a tangible measurement would be to use your previous quarter measurable statistics and increase that by 3-5%. For intangible goals such as improving customer relationships, measure the number of testimonials you had last quarter and increase that by 3-5%.

• BUSINESS GOAL SETTING GUIDELINE #3 - Take action every day. What actions can you take to move you toward accomplishing your business goals? Taking the smart goals example of improving your relationship with customers, what action will move you toward that goal? If communication is poor, you might choose to understand the needs of your customers by creating an informal anonymous survey that they can complete. The next actionable item that you could take is having a customer appreciation day with discounts and special offers.

• BUSINESS GOAL SETTING GUIDELINE #4 - Be realistic so that you stay motivated. Make sure that your business goals are realistic. If your current conversion ratio is 1%, avoid setting a goal to increase that by 10% the next quarter. That is not a realistic goal. You might change the goal to 3%. Keeping goals realistic improves your chances of achieving them. When you achieve your business goals, it improves your confidence and self-esteem as a small business owner.

• BUSINESS GOAL SETTING GUIDELINE #5 - Time bound your goals with a beginning and goal completion date. By giving them a specific date, time or month, you improve your chance of completing each of your business goals. You can use a calendar to track your goal or use a whiteboard. Keep the goal in the forefront of your mind. You can set long-term goals but always create quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily goals to keep you focused on your business success.

Business goal setting is easier when you follow the above smart goals examples. Celebrate at the end of each day. Keep a success journal to document your daily business achievements. Always remember that what you focus on expands! If you focus on your goals that were not achieved, you will continue to get more of that. Instead, focus on the wins in your business, big or small, be flexible and be grateful. Through the products, programs and services you provide through your business, you are increasing your impact and income; one step at a time.

Stop guessing and start impacting! If you are wasting too much time or money starting or building your small business because you don't know what step to take next, check-out my book on Amazon called 90 Frugal Steps to Starting a Business. Author, trainer and speaker Louise Anne Maurice simplifies success and demystifies motivation so that small business owners are productive and profitable. Connect with Louise Anne Maurice on Google+.

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