“I’m ready to grow this business. It’s time to be bigger and better than we’ve ever been before!”
Growth. It’s one of the most commonly named goals among small business owners. It’s a lofty goal, and unless it is paired with specific aims and objectives, also a vague one.
What does growth mean for your business?
When you talk about growing your small business, what is your vision? What do you hope to achieve? What do you need to do to be ready? How will you measure you preparedness?
The answers to these questions will shape your plans and objectives. A clear vision of what growth looks like for your business, and why it’s valuable, will make the difference between success and failure, growth and recession.
To find the answers, think S.M.A.R.T.
Start with your goal, and then break it down into objectives that will help you to reach it. Be specific: growth itself as a goal is pretty vague. Streamlining processes and equipment is specific. Offering a new service is a specific objective, and so is creating a new strategic marketing plan to reach more of your target audience.
Make sure your goal is measurable – if you can’t measure it, how will you know when you’ve reached it?
And while you may not think you need this reminder, remember that your goal also needs to be attainable. Sometimes enthusiasm can blind us to the attainability of the goals we’re setting – or to the attainability of the timeline in which we’ve set them. But that won’t happen to you, right?
Lastly, be sure your goals and objectives are relevant and time-based. Are these objectives really going to help you reach your goal? And does the goal truly make sense for your business at this time, in the current market? What is your deadline for achieving this goal? As a wise man once said, “A goal without a deadline is just a dream.” And what good is any dream unless it comes true?
Create a Working Plan
Narrow your list of potential S.M.A.R.T. objectives to those with the best return-on-effort or ROI. Then, create a working plan to accomplish them. Put it down in writing to serve as a reminder as well as to reinforce your commitment to succeed. Some business managers even use social media to gain feedback and increase personal accountability. Just remember it’s a working plan, so revisit it at appropriate intervals to make it better/more relevant as needed.
Once you’ve set your objectives, it’s important to make them a part of your day. An easy way to start is by adding some of the tasks that support your objectives into your daily To Do list. For our recommendation on the latest apps to help you organize your To Do’s as well as your action plans, see last week’s post. Visit the Xerox Solutions for Small Business site and subscribe to our newsletter for more information on reaching your goals, including our tip sheet: Set Goals, Guarantee Results.
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