Setting achievable business goals is one of the most written about subjects in all of business literature. And there is a good reason for that. The well known exchange quote above from Alice in Wonderland between Alice and the Cat from the classic story by Lewis Carroll highlights the importance of having clear, precise and achievable goals for any successful endeavor, including your business. Without a clear direction to work towards, a business can quickly become scattered, inefficient, and unproductive.
So, what exactly do we mean by “business goals”?
Goals are the things you want to achieve with your business – they’re the destination you’re working towards and the results you want to achieve.
But not all goals are created equal. For goals to be effective, they must be clear, precise, and achievable. This means that they should be specific, measurable, and relevant to your business. This gives your business direction and purpose, which can help you make the most of your time and resources.
In the following sections, we’ll dive deeper into what it means to have clear and precise goals and provide you with practical tips for setting and achieving them in your own business.
Why Setting Achievable Business Goals are Important
Setting clear, precise, and achievable business goals is essential for a few key reasons:
- It gives your business a clear direction and purpose
- It helps you prioritize tasks and make better decisions
- It allows you to measure progress and adjust your approach if needed
- It motivates and focuses your team on the important tasks
Although that is 4 simple sentences, the impact of getting it right is quite extraordinary. Let’s explore this in more detail.
Clear Business Goals
In the world of business, a clear and precise goal is one of the most important foundations for success. A clear goal is one that is specific and unambiguous, providing a clear picture of what you want to achieve, why it’s important, and what steps are needed to get there.
For example, a clear goal for a small business might be to increase sales revenue by 10% in the next quarter by implementing a new marketing campaign. By setting this clear goal, the business can focus their efforts and resources on the specific steps needed to achieve it, such as researching and developing the marketing campaign, launching it, and tracking its results.
Without a clear goal, a business might find itself working towards a vague or general objective, such as “grow the business” or “increase profits,” which can be overwhelming and difficult to achieve. But by setting a clear goal that is specific and measurable, businesses can break down their objectives into manageable steps and stay focused on what they need to do to achieve success.
Precise Business Goals
When it comes to setting goals for your business, precision is key. A precise goal is one that is well-defined and has a measurable outcome.
For example, a precise goal for a business might be to generate 100 new leads per month through targeted social media advertising. By setting this precise goal, the business can break down the steps needed to achieve it – including identifying the target audience, creating compelling ads, setting a budget, and tracking the results.
Without a precise goal, a business might find it difficult to stay on track and measure their progress. But by setting a goal that is specific, measurable, and broken down into smaller milestones, businesses can focus their efforts and resources on achieving their objectives.
Achievable Business Goals
When setting goals for your business, it’s important to strike a balance between ambition and practicality. An achievable goal is one that is challenging, yet realistic, taking into account the resources, time, and skills available to your business, as well as any external factors that may impact your ability to achieve the goal.
For example, an achievable goal for a business might be to increase website traffic by 20% in the next 6 months through SEO optimization and content marketing. By setting an achievable goal, the business can focus their efforts on optimizing their website, creating engaging content, and measuring the results, all while keeping in mind their available resources, such as budget and time.
Without an achievable goal, a business might set unrealistic or unattainable objectives, leading to frustration and demotivation. But by setting a goal that is challenging yet achievable, businesses can stretch their capabilities while staying motivated to achieve success. In the following sections, we’ll explore more about what makes a goal achievable and provide you with practical tips for setting and achieving your own achievable goals.
Tips for Setting Achievable Business Goals
Setting clear, precise, and achievable goals is essential, but it takes practice to get it right. Here are a few steps that you can follow to set effective goals for your business:
Involve your team
Involve your team in the goal-setting process to ensure buy-in and alignment. Gather input from employees across all levels of the organization and consider their ideas and concerns when setting goals. This will help to ensure that everyone is committed to achieving the goals and working towards them in a unified way.
Use the SMART criteria
Use the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to ensure that your goals are effective. Make sure that each goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your business, and has a defined timeline for completion. This will help to keep your goals on track and ensure that everyone is working towards the same objectives.
Set both short-term and long-term business goals
Set both short-term and long-term goals to provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation. Short-term goals provide quick wins and help to build momentum, while long-term goals give your business a clear sense of direction and purpose.
Track progress regularly
Track progress regularly and adjust goals as needed based on data and feedback. Use data and feedback to monitor progress towards your goals, make adjustments as necessary, and stay focused on achieving success.
Are our Business Goals SMART?
SMART is one of many goal setting methods and has proven to be very popular and successful.
Consider the business goals currently set for your business or team. Copy this table and then write your current goals in the left most column. Then, for each goal, critically consider if it meets the criteria in the other columns and only add a tick mark if you can confidently state that your goals meets this.
| Goal / Objective | Specific | Measurable | Achievable | Relevant | Smart |
| Goal 1 | |||||
| Goal 2 | |||||
| Goal 3 |
If your business goals do not meet all the criteria then your first step should be to add the missing detail, otherwise you may end up somewhere you’re not aiming for.
Examples of SMART goals
Business Goal
Increase online sales by 15% in the next quarter by implementing a new email marketing campaign that targets our top 100 customers.
Business Goal
Improve customer satisfaction rating by 10% in the next 6 months by responding to customer inquiries and concerns within 24 hours.
Business Goal
Reduce operating costs by 5% in the next year by implementing an energy-efficient lighting system
Business Goal
Increase employee productivity by 10% in the next quarter by implementing a new employee training program
Business Goal
Launch a new product line by Q4 of this year by conducting market research, developing a prototype, and creating a marketing campaign
Conclusion
Clear, precise and achievable business goals and targets are really important. Whether you want to take over the world or just improve customer retention by 5%, your ability to hit that goal is directly related to how well you have defined it – so that you can effectively plan how to achieve it.
In the next Pillar article we help you get your whole team behind your business goal.
