As we begin the new year, it’s important for your business to start off on the right foot. Reviewing accomplishments and struggles you have had in the past year will help in being successful in the coming year. Once you have reviewed how your business did last year, you can now begin setting goals that are attainable and achievable. You can have long-term goals, but let’s focus on goals for the upcoming year.
As a business owner, you should be familiar with SMART goals. Goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. This is an effective process, and the SMART approach will help you create more specific, achievable targets for your business and measure your progress towards them. Below, we’ll show you a couple of examples using the SMART approach:
I want to create brand awareness for my business.
-Specific: I will spend $1,000 on my marketing with James Litho.
-Measurable: I will reach out to James Litho to start on the banner for my store.
-Attainable: I will work on the design for the banner first, then start on the window stickers.
-Relevant: Spending money on marketing will help my business gain brand awareness.
-Time-based: My current marketing plan will be completed in 2 months.
I want to create a magazine.
-Specific: I will create a magazine on healthy food recipes and print 1,000 copies.
-Measurable: I will write 10 recipes a week, and finish once I have 100 recipes.
-Attainable: I will work on the design of the magazine first, and once that is completed I will begin inputting all of the recipes.
-Relevant: Creating this magazine will create awareness of healthy eating and myself as a nutritionist.
-Time-based: My magazine will be completed and ready to print in 5 months.
Based on the examples above, some goals can be easier than others. We recommend that you meet regularly with your team to measure progress by using a system to track and analyze your efforts. This could be using a spreadsheet to measure metrics monthly, or having a weekly check-in. Anything that will help your team discuss goals and brainstorm ideas is a great next step.
Once you start making headway on your SMART goals, be sure to celebrate any milestones and achievements! You’ve made it this far, that is definitely something worth celebrating. You’ve invested time and energy, even a simple treat can push you and your team to continue moving forward. As you begin to grow and reach your goals, keep James Litho in mind. Anything you need, we got you covered! You can give us a call with any questions at (909) 390-2452.