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New Year – New Business Goals

04 Jan New Year – New Business Goals

Posted at 17:36h in FITTEAM Business, FITTEAM Lifestyle by

New Year – New Goals

Every new year we hear about all the personal goals and resolutions that people make, but very seldomly do we talk business. How do people set goals for their business in the new year and why is it important? How do leaders and business owners plan to help their team grow while at the same time working on their own personal development? Below we take a look into how and why business and leaders set goals in the new year.

WHY YOU SHOULD SET A GOAL:

“Goal setting is one of the most important activities you can do in your small business, regardless of how old your business is, where you are located, how profitable it is, or what you sell. Goals help you stay focused and they can prevent your business from becoming stagnant. Your business goals keep you moving forward and set the stage for ongoing success.” (1) In theory the goals you set become reality, so your goals are the most important step in creating your plan of action.

HOW TO SET A GOAL:

It often seems easy to set goals for your business and your team but are your goals achievable, manageable, does your team agree that these goals will take your business to the next level? First you must ask yourself, is the success of my business dependent on my team? If you answered yes, then it is critical to make sure your team is also involved in the goal setting process. By having your team become a part of the process they too will hold accountability and be more determined to achieve the goals that are set. Once you have determined who will be part of the goal setting process it is time to set your SMART goals. SMART goals are, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time sensitive. We break these down below.

  1. Make sure your goals are specific. Don’t just say “increase profits” say “increase profits by 7%” this will allow you do evaluate that this is true tangible goal which will in turn make the action plan easier.
  2. Make sure your goals are clear, quantifiable and measurable.
  3. Commit to your goals and make sure they are attainable. If you have never ran, you would never set the goal of running a marathon in month so make sure you don’t do this for your business. Take a look at what you have done in the past and ways you know how you can grow and improve. There may be failures and set-back along the way, but it is important to stay focused and continue to push through and stay committed to the end goal.
  4. Make sure your goal is relevant to where you see your business going in the long run. If you own a car wash business your goal should not be to develop a graphic design business. Be sure to write down your goal and share it loud and proud. This will create accountability which will lead to motivation while at the same time putting checks and balances in place to make sure your goal in relevant.
  5. Time – set a hard deadline. Setting a deadline will hold you accountable as well as help you develop a clear plan of action.

Last make sure you celebrate your wins along the way. These small celebrations can help the moral and keep the momentum going.

HOW TO REACH A GOAL:

As a leader of either your own business or a team, planning how you reach a goal is necessary. When making this plan it is important to consider the goal and then work backwards. For example, “if it’s your goal to make $10,000 a month in your business within six months, create mini-goals of how much you’ll earn at the end of one month (i.e. $2,000/mo) and three months (i.e. $5,000 per month). You’ll know you’re on or off track when one and three months comes, and you’ve hit or missed your mini-goal (1)”. Understanding how to get to your goal is half the battle. The next is determining how to reach these milestones and make sure you are on track to meet your goal. Let’s take the example above, how do you create an income, is it through sales? If so, how do you increase sales? Look back at your data, is it through marketing is it through sales, events and/or calls? Whatever it may be make a plan to increase the action that you know produces results. Once you know what will help you achieve your goal create a strategy. What actions will you take every day to work toward the bigger goal? Is it posting on social media every day, is it calling a past customer every day? Whatever your strategy is, write it down and put it in your schedule so you will follow through.

HOW TO HELP YOUR TEAM REACH GOALS:

If you are lucky enough to work with a team that can assist in achieving the overall goals, there are a couple things you can do to help them and yourself along the way. Be an example and lead by example. Your team will turn to you for direction and often mimic the effort you put in so by doing your best at all times as an example will help encourage your team to do the same.  Make sure you communicate. Explain to your team the strategy, who can be accountable and track progress along the way so that everyone stays involved and up to speed. Stay grounded, just because your leading don’t let this responsibility change how you work or communicate, give credit where credit is due and take the opportunity to learn from those around you. Make sure you help manage time and help everyone stay on track. Lastly be mindful of the feelings of your team. This means being mindful of your feedback and the feedback they give you while becoming aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your team so you can focus on the strengths and increase productivity. Creating a great team can be key in reaching not only your business goals but your businesses overall success.

 

Here at FITTEAM we believe our team members are family and encourage and support everyone’s goals. If you are interested about learning more about the opportunity FITTEAM presents or the personal development that comes through joining FITTEAM, CLICK HERE. We wish you the best 2021!

 

 

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