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Setting achievable goals is one of the key skills necessary for managing a business. However, as leaders try to envision their future, they can often stumble in determining what goals are achievable within a given time frame. They can also go wrong by being too vague or too easy.
No matter their industry or offerings, all companies need realistic goals to fuel business growth and success. By setting goals, organizations can allocate resources appropriately and get team members on the same page about priorities. Established businesses may have long track records to guide them on realistic goals, while startups must employ more guesswork.
We’ll explore how to set specific, challenging, and achievable business goals to help organizations map their blueprint for success.
Achievable business goals are targets an organization sets for a specific period, such as a quarter or year. They’re realistic, not vague or hopeful expectations. When setting achievable goals for your business, it’s crucial to make them specific and challenging.
Many organizations use frameworks to help them set detailed, precise business objectives.
A popular business goal-setting framework is SMART Goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. The SMART Goals framework aims to help organizations stay on target with systematic goal achievement.
For example, say your business wants to expand its operations. It’s unhelpful to set a goal of “make more money” or “have 10 times as many clients this year.” Both goals are too vague. Additionally, the first goal is too easy because making $1 more could count, while the second goal is difficult and overreaching. All three factors – being too vague, easy, or difficult – decrease the likelihood you’ll follow through as planned.
The SMART Goals framework urges you to consider your goal as an action plan. Be as specific as possible about what you will do, when it will happen, and how you’ll work toward it. Motivate yourself by aiming for achievements that are challenging but feel possible.
For example:
Widely cited research on goal setting and task performance states that 90 percent of the time, setting specific, challenging goals leads to higher success rates.
Tech-based goal-tracking tools include reminders, performance analytics, and integrated dashboards to help make tracking goals easier and more efficient.
Depending on the organization type and its objectives, other goal-setting frameworks may be a better fit, including:
To help achieve sales goals, create a sales plan dedicated to selling your offering to your target market and use emotional intelligence to build customer relationships.
When you own a business, it’s tempting to compare yourself to other entrepreneurs and small business owners and think you should be doing the same things. For example:
There’s nothing wrong with any of these goals if you really do want to do any of these things, such as start a podcast, franchise your business, or pitch your business idea to investors. However, if you’re pursuing goals just because that’s what you see other business owners do, you’ll quickly lose motivation and get discouraged.
Instead, focus on what you want for your own business goals and career goals. Choose goals you feel passionate about and genuinely want to achieve instead of trying to check boxes you don’t care about.
Many businesses use structured methods to help them determine the right business goals to pursue. SWOT analyses and Porter’s Five Forces are examples.
As they move forward, businesses must measure their performance relative to their goals. Many businesses utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) and data reporting.
Business goals fail for myriad reasons. The goal itself might be the problem, or there may be issues with the people pursuing them, tenacious competitors, market trends, among many other factors. However, when a company plans precisely and methodically, it’s likely better prepared to understand what went wrong and adjust accordingly.
When a business goal fails, consider the following actions:
To help your team work together more effectively, foster a culture of teamwork, get everyone on the same page with priorities, and value everyone’s input.
Setting achievable goals doesn’t guarantee business success, but it’s almost impossible to succeed without them. SMBs make many small business decisions every day. Having clear, attainable goals keeps entrepreneurs moving in the right direction and lets them know when they’ve gone off course.
Katharine Paljug contributed to the reporting and writing in this article.