Goals are one thing I love to talk about and as we are closing in on the end of the year- not to mention the end of a DECADE!- I have been thinking even more about what my goals are for the upcoming year and beyond. The fact that the upcoming year is 2020 just screams the concept of bringing focus to what we are planning to do.
2020 is Almost Here
We often focus more on them around this time of year and come January 1st we’ll be calling them “Resolutions.” I personally like the word “goals” more because they imply a series of things to be done to make them happen.
Left to our own devices we can sometimes pick really gigantic goals that seem like a good idea when we are thinking about them, but they might not be very practical or even achievable. Conversely, there might be times when we get a little lazy and pick goals that are not a stretch for us at all. The best goals lie somewhere in between.
Here are some steps to help you tame the overwhelm.
- Know what you want the end to look like. Say a year from now: what do you want your business to look like? What is the difference between that and what you are now?
- Think about the possible ways to make that happen. Does it mean adding a new line of merchandise or a new service you could offer? Does it mean finding a new revenue stream? Choose one that will be your goal for the 1st quarter of 2020. Write down everything you can think of because we will revisit this later.
- Now break that goal down into manageable tasks. Start at the end of the 1st quarter and work backwards with what it will take to achieve your goal by the end of the quarter. Celebrate the milestones along the way as you continue to work to make it happen.
- Once you have your plans in place, go back to step 2 and choose what your goal will be for the 2nd quarter and start the process all over again.
By choosing one major goal for each quarter you can make it easy to effect change while you are still running your business.
One last thing, make sure that you can measure the results and adjust if you find something not working quite the way you wanted.
#goals
#smallbusiness
#yearendreview