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Working From Home:
Goal Setting for Home Business Owners
Here’s a
question that a reader to my weekly newsletter, Small Business Success, put
to me. It certainly got me thinking about how equally important goal setting
is for home based businesses as with any other. Here’s the question and my
response
“What blend of
long, mid, short term goals do recommend for small home based business
owners?”
Firstly off
all you have recognised one of the two many keys to running a successful
business, whether it is home based or office/shop based, and those are:
-
You have to
have clear goals or targets. Without a very focus vision you won’t get any
where
-
Whilst you
can have independent short, medium and long term goals, for them to be
totally effective they have to be interlinked and flow or blend together.
So what is the
perfect blend? I would say it’s as basic as making sure that all three goals
work to the same end. It’s no good having a short or medium term goal which
in no way links or helps achieve your ultimate long term goal. It’s all
about ensuring that everything you do on a day-to-day basis adds value or
takes you one step further to the achievement of your long term goal.
Many people
have a problem with goal setting. It’s always referred to as the foundation
of any successful life and business. It may be a well repeated mantra but
that’s because … it’s true!
Short, medium
and long term goals are not just for personal aims or large businesses; they
can and are useful for small home-based businesses as well. To get the blend
right here are the steps to take.
Step One
Understand and
list out what outcomes or goals you can set and achieve, such as:
-
a specific
sales target
-
a profit
figure
-
the number
of products you want to sell in a given year
-
where you
want to ultimately operate from – a new executive ‘office’ in your home or
a ‘real office’!
-
to sell up
and retire early
-
a specific
number of employees
-
and anything
else which would give you a sense of achievement
Step Two
Once you have
your definitive list the next step is to decide which is your long term
goal; which is the goal you would most like to see achieved in say 5 years
time. Think and choose carefully. It has to be the goal which motivates you
on those dark and miserable days when nothing is going right! It has to be
tempting enough to break through the barriers which are regularly put in
front of you.
Step Three
Now you are
off. The next stage is to map out how you are going to get there. What
actions do you have to take along the way to get you to your goal? What will
you have to change within your business or home? How many new customers
would you have to attract? What new marketing ideas could you try? What new
products could you introduce? What new skills will you need to acquire
yourself or bring in to the business?
There and a
host of other questions are the ones you could ask yourself based around the
key question, which is ‘What would I have to do to achieve my 5 year goal?’
Step Four
Once you have
the answers to all the questions relevant to your business that you can
think of then these are then your short and medium goals! All that remains
for you to do is categorise which is short and which is medium and off you
go.
Whilst you can
have short, medium and long term goals which are totally independent of each
other, unless they are blended together, focused on achieving that big,
final outcome, it just doesn’t work.
So what’s the
blend?
33% - short
term
33% - medium
term
33% - long
term
1% - hard
work!
© Robert
Warlow
Small Business
Success
http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz
Small Business
Success is a resource dedicated to helping small business owners be more
successful. If you are looking for a regular flow of ideas and tips then
subscribe to the Small Business Success a free newsletter, which
provides you with quick tips, ideas and articles.
For more information
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