Barbara Hibbart
Now is around the time of year that you’re planning the year ahead. Have you made New Year resolutions – which are often set up to fail? Or have you created sound business goals that will help you develop your business throughout 2021 and beyond? It’s never too late to do it.
Take 3 small steps to success:
- Identify what you want to achieve
- Turn it into a SMARTIE goal
- Start working on your goals
What is SMARTIE?
S – Specific
Make your goal specific – then it becomes tangible and is more likely to succeed.
Rather than ‘make more money’ use ‘increase turnover by 10%’
M – Measurable
When goals are measurable you’ll know when you’ve achieved them. Also, if you don’t meet the goal you’ll know how close to achieving the goal you are.
Rather than ‘increase turnover by 10%’ extend it to ‘increase turnover by 10% by 30th June 2021’.
A – Achievable
Make sure that you believe your goal is achievable. Think carefully about what is achievable within your market sector, in the current economic climate and based on the previous history of your business. Be ambitious and stretch yourself, however avoid setting yourself up to fail!
R – Realistic
How realistic is your goal for you and your business? If your goal is to increase production by 50% within 6 months is it realistic to be able to buy and install the equipment you may need to achieve this. Is it realistic to expect a significant increase in output during a peak holiday time when employees may be on holiday?
T – Timed
Use timescales to identify when a project will start and also when it will be completed by.
‘Increase productivity’ could become ‘From 1st January 2021 productivity on 500g milk chocolate bars will increase by 5% a month to 30th June 2021.
I – Inspire
Goals need to inspire you if they are to succeed. If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got! Goals need to encourage you to try something different – new working methods, collaboration with other organisations and team working.
E – Energising
Goals need to be written in such a way that they energise both you and the people you work with ‘to go the extra mile’!
Examples of SMARTIE goals
‘I want to lose weight’ rewritten as a SMARTIE goal might become:
‘By 29th September 2021 I will have lost 2 stone and will comfortably fit into my size 12 wedding dress’.
‘I want to market my business’ rewritten as a SMARTIE goal might become:
‘My 2021 business marketing plan includes launching my new business website by 1st January, posting on LinkedIn every Tuesday throughout the year and sending out a monthly newsletter to my customer base, starting in January 2021.’
Traps to avoid when setting goals
- Don’t be over-ambitious when setting your goals
- Don’t forget, big goals may need a range of sub-goals in order to succeed
- Don’t become overwhelmed – consider spreading your goals throughout the year rather than launching them all at the beginning of January
A SMARTIE goal is a successful goal! I would love to help you achieve your goals and have a successful 2021. Lets have a chat to see how I can help!
Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash
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