Goal Setting – 5 Reasons To Set Goals In Your Business And 5 Ways To Stick To Them

​It might seem obvious but it bears repeating; business owners who stick to their goals are more likely to succeed. Simple, right?But as we all know (and proven by research by the University Of Scranton) many of us who set goals don’t actually achieve them – 92% according to the research mentioned above!Which could lead anyone reading to think “well why on earth should I bother setting goals then?”We’ll tell you why!

  1. Your business will achieve more
  2. You’ll achieve it faster
  3. Your business will be on the right path from the get go
  4. You can keep your teams or agencies up to date and on the same page
  5. For all of the reasons above – it just makes good business sense!

So now that we know why we should set goals in business, the first thing to understand is the science behind goal setting.But importantly, we need to set the right kind of goals.For example – setting a goal of ‘making more money’ is the wrong kind of goal. Why? It’s too vague! There’s nothing specific in this goal to actually work towards.Instead of ‘making more money’’, a better goal would look more like this:

So now that we know why we should set goals in business, the first thing to understand is the science behind goal setting.But importantly, we need to set the right kind of goals.For example – setting a goal of ‘making more money’ is the wrong kind of goal. Why? It’s too vague! There’s nothing specific in this goal to actually work towards.Instead of ‘making more money’’, a better goal would look more like this:

Increase profit by 5% within the next six months.

It’s specific, not general, as well as measurable. It’s not just ‘more money’, it’s a 5% increase in profit. ‘Making more money’ has no time limit, no constraints – whereas ‘within the next six months’ is a measurable time frame within which to work. On top of this it is both achievable (although 5% could mean very different things to different businesses, for this example we will assume it’s possible), and realistic; it’s results based. Finally, ‘making more money’ has no time limit, no constraints – whereas ‘within the next six months’ is a time frame within which to work.These are what are known as SMART Goals:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic
  • Time bound

Setting SMART Goals (also known as SMART Objectives) are the very first tip we give when talking to people about how to stick to their goals. The second is to write them down – keeping them somewhere you can see them often. This could be the fridge, the bathroom mirror, or one idea we were sent through recently suggested creating a Canva image for your phone’s screen saver with your goals listed so that you see them every time you open your phone.Our third tip is about making your goals part of a regular habit. We could write a whole book on the transformative power of habits (if we ever found the time!) but for now, we can summarise what the book would say with just this; HABITS WORK.Turn action into habit by making it a regular repetitive thing you do each day, week, month, quarter and year to review. This will take more conscious effort to begin with but once it’s a habit you’ll do it for life.Our fourth tip is all about accountability – something regular readers will know we’re passionate about. Joining an accountability group will help you to accomplish what you can’t do on your own. It’s a way to ensure that your business thrives, that you hit all of your personal and professional goals, and importantly – so you don’t burn out!This is a key part of the Better Business Network and something we truly believe in. You can read more about the Better Business Network here.Finally, get coaching. As a business owner / leader it can be very easy to think that having made it this far on your own, that you don’t need advice – but this is not something we’d ever agree on. Advice and coaching is so incredibly important to any successful business – and successful people! Tennis players wouldn’t go into a tournament without coaching so why do business owners try and do everything alone? Coaching helps you to get to the answers quicker and coaches ask questions you might not have thought about. The Better Business Network’s top membership tier includes monthly coaching calls as part of the package – which is a bargain at ÂŁ195 + VAT a month!To get going with setting your goals, download this workbook. We get deep on how to set your goals and by the end of it you’ll have clearly defined goals for the next 30, 60 and 90 days.