Business Secret #2
Create Short and Long Term Realistic Goals and Adhere to a Specific Date by Which to Achieve Them

by Edison R. Guzman
A&E Advertising and Web Design

This business secret is perhaps the most overlooked, because it is so simple in nature.

Below is an excerpt from one of my books, “Customer Attraction Secrets“.

After speaking with hundreds of business owners in the past few years, I can say for certain that one of the biggest problems business owners face today is the fact that they don’t have clearly defined goals.

Whenever I ask a business owner to tell me their goals, they look at me as if I had two heads, and reply with answers such as “My goal is to grow my business”. I also get, “I want to make more money”, Or, “I want to attract more customers”.

This tells me that they haven’t quite grasped the meaning of having a goal. Today you will learn how to properly set a goal. Not just how to set your goals, but how to go about achieving them as well. This goal setting formula will work for you whether you are currently in business, or in the process of starting your business. As a matter of fact, learning this before starting a business will define the success of your business.

So let’s first define what having a goal means.

According to the World English Dictionary, in sports, a goal is the target area, the space or opening into which a ball or puck must go to score points in a game such as football or hockey.

In every day life, according to the dictionary, a goal is something that somebody wants to achieve. Since we’re talking about every day life, let’s stick to this definition.

Now that we’ve defined a goal, let’s get clear on which types of goals can help you succeed, in comparison to the goals that can hurt you.

In sports, the best athletes are those who hit their target with the most precision, more often. In business, it’s the same.

This means that hitting your target often is important, right?

Now let me ask you something…which target are you trying to hit? Do you even have a target?

Most business owners will not know how to answer that question. Most answers I get are generic and in most cases make no sense. For instance, I recently interviewed a business owner who had been in business for over 12 years. His answer to this question was, “My target is to earn enough to pay my bills and meet payroll for my crew.”

Can you tell what’s wrong with his statement? It’s too generic. In other words, how much is enough? Is it $100,000 per month? Or is it $100,000 per year? Is the amount before or after taxes? Does the amount cover room for business growth, pay raises, etc? 

Here’s the thing; unless you know a specific amount, it will be very difficult to know when you’ve arrived. In addition, it makes it much more difficult for the mind to gage how close you are to success.

Now, I’m not talking about your target market. I’m going to discuss how to find your perfect target market in a future post, but for now, let’s stick to hitting your target consistently. In this case, your target is the amount of revenue you want to produce.

Not only revenue, but how many new customers you’d like to gain each week. Or, how many new employees you’d like to have. Or, how many locations you’d like to open in the future. How many pairs of shoes you’d like to sell; how many pounds of water-purifying chemicals you’d like to move. How many flower arrangements you want to create and deliver. You get the point.

It’s important to know what your target is. In this case…your goal.

The next step is equally important. You need to ensure that the target you’ve created is an attainable target.

In other words, if you’ve constantly earned $100,000 a year in revenue, and you create a new goal of creating $1,000,000 within the same year, you may have a challenge attaining that goal.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but unless you have a great plan of action in place, with great financing and a great team to implement it, you may have a great challenge attaining this goal.

So it’s important to have a believable and attainable goal.

Once you know your target and you truly believe it’s attainable because you have a well though out plan to make it can happen, the next thing you must do is have a specific date of completion.

You must be able to know when it’s time to shift gears so that you can achieve your goals. This means that you must have a specific time, date, month and year outlining when your goal will be met.

What do I mean by that? What I mean is that you can have a target of one million dollars, and a plan to meet that goal, but if you don’t know by when the goal should be completed, you can be stuck with the same goal for a very long time.

Now here’s the thing…If you want to increase revenues to one million dollars per year, but you don’t give yourself a deadline, each year that goes by, and you don’t make the million dollars, you’ll fool yourself into continuing to believe that you can accomplish that goal. Three years later, your revenues may have increased, but you’ll still be working towards the elusive million dollars per year goal. This is the same with a start-up business.

Well, I want to ensure that you set your goals and accomplish them. This means that I’m going to give you an exercise that will help you set and accomplish your goals.

What I’d like you to do is write down the goals you’d like to achieve in a notepad or on your word processor.

Examples of goals are as follows: I’d like to have company revenues of $257,000 dollars. I’d like to increase staff by 3 employees. I’d like to reduce staff by 3 employees. I’d like to own a laptop and a desk top computer. I’d like to buy a new car.

However, don’t write them with the tense “I’d like to…” please write the phrase “I have…” The mind is a funny place and using the proper words will increase your chances at success. Stating that you’d like to have it within 5 years is not as powerful as believing that you have actually attained it by the end of the term of the goal. This believe will be rein-forced with the proper plan we will implement as you go along.

Next, write down why it is important for you to achieve these goals. What benefits you will get out of accomplishing these goals.

Your goals can be business or personal. They can be financial, educational oriented, spiritual, or any type of goal you desire.

Rules for your goals:

Give it the 30, 3, 6, 1, 3, 5 test.

In other words, look at your 30 day goal. Is it moving you toward or away from your 5 year goal? Will accomplishing your 30 day, short term goal help achieve your long term, 5 year goal. If not, will it help your 3 month goal, or 1 year goal? If it’s not helping you achieve your goals, you need to re-evaluate them.

Keep in mind that each goal should build on your next goal in order to achieve your ultimate goals. Take a few minutes to write down your goals, so that you’ll know what you’re striving for.

What I’d like you to do is write down a goal your ultimate goal: _________________________________

Explain why you need to accomplish this goal.  _________________________________________

What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? __________________________________

Write down a goal you’d like to achieve within 5 years: ___________________________________

Explain why you need to accomplish this goal. __________________________________________

What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? __________________________________

Write down a goal you’d like to achieve within 3 years: ___________________________________
           
Explain why you need to accomplish this goal. __________________________________________

What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? __________________________________

Write down a goal you’d like to achieve within 1 year: ___________________________________
           
Explain why you need to accomplish this goal. __________________________________________
           
What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? __________________________________

Write down a goal you’d like to achieve within 6 months: _________________________________

Explain why you need to accomplish this goal. __________________________________________
           
What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? __________________________________

Write down a goal you’d like to achieve within 3 months: _________________________________

Explain why you need to accomplish this goal. __________________________________________

What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? ___________________________________

Write down a goal you’d like to achieve within 30 days: ___________________________________

Explain why you need to accomplish this goal. ___________________________________________

What action steps will you take to accomplish this goal? ___________________________________

The reason you should break it down to 30 days, 3 & 6 months, 1, 3 and 5 years is because it makes it easier to achieve your long term goals.  When you systematically achieve smaller goals, the end result becomes more attainable.

Make sure that you review your goals often. This will ensure that you are on the right track to business success.