Setting Goals For Your Business – Why It Is Important and Ways To Do It

You might be surprised by just how many people launch businesses everyday without having any specific goals in mind they intend to meet.

Most definitely they have a very clear vision, often a very passionate one, but they’re essentially like that ship without radar – not knowing where they’re heading or how they’d even reach the destination. 

Whether you have a 30-employee company or an empire of one, your business success depends heavily on your ability to set and achieve goals. And in this blog we will talk about what is a business goal, why exactly the right goals are so important and how to set and achieve your business goals. 

So let’s get started. 

What are business goals and why are they important?

Business goals are aims, objectives and results that a business anticipates and strives for accomplishing over a given length of time. And setting goals is the first step to getting what you want from your business.

Goals are the north-star of a business. While representing the company’s larger purpose, they work to establish the ultimate target that the employees work toward. They give your work a sense of purpose and help you channel your limited time and energy on what’s important.

You can set business goals for your company in general as well as for particular departments, employees, managers and/or customers. And setting these goals are important for several reasons, because:

• Having clear, well-defined goals can help your business attain the desirable outcomes 
• They provide you with a set of criteria to measure success
• Keep all employees motivated and on the same page as to what the goals of the company are
• Give employees a clear understanding of how decision-making reaches and impacts company’s goals
• Help you create a clear path for your company and ensure it’s headed in the right direction

Types of business goal

Goals can be separated into four major categories: 

1. Time-based goals: Long-term goals and short-term goals. 
2. Performance-based goals: Clearly defined, easy to measure or evaluate, short-term objectives set for specific duties or tasks. 
3. Quantitative vs. qualitative goals: The first is the measurable aspect of goals and qualitative goals can only be observed (maybe by a manager) and cannot be measured.
4. Outcome vs. process-oriented goals: The result you’re aiming for vs the processes that will lead to the desired outcome if you follow them repeatedly.

How to set goals for your business

A smart CEO understands how valuable and crucial it is to set the right goals to navigate a business in the right direction. They understand that every business is unique, it has a body and set of minds. However, figuring out exactly what that right direction is—and the map to get there—isn’t the easiest task.

Before you start setting goals, you need to figure out what you really want. Once you’ve come up with a list of goals that you want to achieve, you should include each step necessary for success. To help, you can use a framework called SMART and refine your goals. 

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SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. Each element of the SMART framework works together to create a goal that is carefully planned, clear and trackable. Here is how each of these elements can assist you to define your business goals:

S = Specific

Be well defined, clear, and unambiguous. In order for your business goal to be effective, it needs to be specific, because vague goals are hard to attain. 

Your goals need to be as clear and specific as possible with what you want to achieve. They should be very precise with no room for misinterpretation. The more narrow your goal, the easier it’ll be for you to understand the steps necessary to achieve it.

Goals that are specific have a significantly greater chance of being accomplished. To make a goal specific, the five “W” questions: who, what, where, when, and why. 

M = Measurable

A goal must have criteria for measuring progress. Specificity is a solid start, but quantifying your goals – that is, making sure they’re measurable, makes it easier to track progress 

To make this SMART objective more impactful, you need to incorporate measurable, trackable benchmarks. And setting milestones for those along the way will give you the opportunity to re-evaluate and course-correct as needed. 

Also read: Integrate Facebook Pixel With Google Tag Manager For Ideal Tracking

A = Achievable

Idle dreams are often confused with goals. And this is the point in the process when you give yourself a reality check.

Your business goals should be attainable — not outlandish or unrealistic. Setting goals you can reasonably accomplish within a certain timeframe will help keep you motivated and focused. Ask yourself: is your objective something your team can reasonably accomplish?

R = Relevant

Here’s where you need to think about the big picture. The goal should contribute to your broader, overarching goals. And you need to create goals with intention. If a goal doesn’t contribute toward your broader objectives, or holds no potentials / impact in future, you might rethink it. 

When setting goals for your business, consider whether or not they are relevant. Each of your goals should align with your values and larger, long-term goals. Ask yourself how exactly the goal is important for  your business? Why are you setting the goal that you’re setting and how achieving it will contribute toward your long-term goals.

T = Time-based

It’s very important that the goals have a defined start and end date. An end-date can help provide motivation and help you prioritize. To properly measure success, you and your team need to be on the same page about when a goal has been reached.

If you haven’t achieved your goal in that timeframe, take time to consider why. Check if your timeframe has been unrealistic, if you ran into unexpected roadblocks or whether your goal has been unachievable.

Here is an example of leadership SMART goals to illustrate how you can lead a team to success.

Objective: Improve Team Results

Weak Goal Example: I’m going to help my team land more sales

SMART Goal Example: 

Specific: I’m going to help my team qualify sales leads better, so they only spend their time selling to people who are likely to purchase.

Measurable: The goal is to increase the team’s sales by 5%.

Achievable: We’ve identified the top reason our leads don’t purchase: they don’t fully match our target market. If we can ensure everyone we call matches our target market, our sales will likely increase.

Relevant: Our core aim is to grow company sales by more than 20% this year.

Time-bound: We aim to increase sales by 5% within 3 months before re-evaluating our strategy.

SMART Goal Example Summary:  I will lead my team to improve our qualification process so that the team only calls high qualified leads that are likely to purchase. We aim to increase sales by 5% within 3 months.

Also read: How to Generate Leads Through a Blog

Guide for setting long-term & short-term goals

We can not stress enough the importance of time-frame in setting goals for your business. Following are some tips you can consider while setting your long and short term goals.

How to set short-term business goals:

1. Identify your company’s short-term business goals for a set period of time. Ex-” Increase product prices by 3% over the next three months.”
2. Break down each goal into actionable business objectives. Ex- “Posting three times a week on social media.’”
3. Ensure your objectives are measurable. Ex- “Post on Instagram three times a week and Facebook two times a week for eight weeks.”
4. Assign goal-related tasks to employees. Ex- “Assign a particular goal to an employee or a team of employees who will see the objective through to completion.”
5. Measure progress regularly. Ex-  “By increasing the social media posts to three times a week as part of a business goal, measure any increased customer/potential customer interaction you receive as a result.”

How to set long-term business goals: 

1. Establish the goals you want to accomplish over the next 10 years. Ex- Increase the total income of your company by 60% over the next 10 years.
2. Prioritize your long-term business goals. Ex- Develop and launch three new products.
3. Break down each long-term goal into short-term objectives. Ex- Open three new office locations throughout the United States.
4. Track your company’s long-term goals regularly. Ex- Increase sales by 30% over next three years and keep that in check.

How to set goals that you can accomplish

Setting and developing goals are critical for business’s success. However it does you no good to make these goals – only to end up with a list that’s not acted upon. The whole point of setting goals is after all to achieve them. That’s why while setting your business goals remember to- 

• Plan your goals
• Prioritize your goals
• Track your goals (consider managing goals using software)
• Adjust your goals
• Become accountable for your goals 
• And of course, enjoy your goal accomplishment

“You have to know what you’re going for, and do it with your eyes wide open,” says Francisco Dao, founder and president of The Killer Pitch. And there’s no other way for your business to ensure that without setting the goals. It is a must if you want to make your business the best it can be. 

Establishing business goals involves a fair amount of introspection into what makes your business tick, and what you want its future to be. By setting your business goals – the right type of goals, mapping out project plans and making your aspirations detailed and measurable, your business can hit any target.