How I changed my business in the past year was about staying focus on my Business, Blog, and Brand. Everyday brainstorming of something new and trendy I can accomplish for myself. Taking my business to the next level have its own set of draw backs and challenges but I am capable of pushing forward in my quest of greatness and achievements.
For any business to succeed, it needs a vision and mission.
- A vision is what you want to accomplish through your business.
- A mission defines how you are going to accomplish it
Set your business goals with the SMART technique
S-Specific (simple, sensible, significant)
M-Measurable (meaningful, motivating)
A-Attainable (agreed, achievable)
R-Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, resulted-based)
T-Time-bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive)
Specific- Is not that hard to examine what I want in my business. Just be specific and answer these six W’s questions.
-Who: Who is involved
-What: What do I want to accomplish?
-Where: Identify a location.
-When: Establish a time frame.
-Which: Identify requirements and constraints
-Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goals
- Want a 3,000 square foot building.
- In the building it will house my Boutique(new and resale women & children clothing, shoes, accessories, and much more)
- Thirdly, I want a mini café in the building where customers can come and buy a cup of coffee and donut an stay awhile and shop.
- Lastly, start getting my Blog and Business name out in the community and popular on all the social media outlets; So I can make a name for myself and start branding my merchandise, getting a perfume line, t-shirt line, etc.
- Within the next 3 years
Measurable– Establish concrete criteria for measuring process toward the attainment of each goal you set.
-When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
-Ask yourself these questions such as…
- How much?
- How many?
- How will I know when it is accomplished?
Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.
An attainable goal will usually answer questions such as:
- How can I accomplish this goal?
- How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial factors?
Example
You might need to ask yourself whether developing the skills required to become head of marketing is realistic, based on your existing experience and qualifications. For example, do you have the time to complete the required training effectively? Are the necessary resources available to you? Can you afford to do it?
Tip:
Beware setting goals that someone else has power over. For example, “Get that promotion!” depends on who else applies, and on the recruiter’s decision. But “Get the experience and training that I need to be considered for that promotion” is entirely down to you.
Realistic– To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.
A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
A relevant goal can answer “yes” to these questions:
- Does this seem worthwhile?
- Is this the right time?
- Does this match our other efforts/needs?
- Am I the right person to reach this goal?
- Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?
Example
You might want to gain the skills to become head of marketing within your organization, but is it the right time to undertake the required training, or work toward additional qualifications? Are you sure that you’re the right person for the head of marketing role? Have you considered your spouse’s goals? For example, if you want to start a family, would completing training in your free time make this more difficult?
Timely – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May 1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing.
When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.
Time-Bound-Every goal needs a target date, so that you have a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over your longer-term goals.
A time-bound goal will usually answer these questions:
- When?
- What can I do six months from now?
- What can I do six weeks from now?
- What can I do today?
Example
Gaining the skills to become head of marketing may require additional training or experience, as we mentioned earlier. How long will it take you to acquire these skills? Do you need further training, so that you’re eligible for certain exams or qualifications? It’s important to give yourself a realistic time frame for accomplishing the smaller goals that are necessary to achieving your final objective.
Here is a couple of question I want to ask you the entrepreneur at heart
- What are your goals for the next month? Set a few short term goals that you would like to accomplish within the next month. Try to be as specific as possible.
- What are your goals for the next 3 months? Theses are goals that go beyond the basic. Example: Reach 500 followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Also you can create free product by putting it in a newsletter for new subscribers or Facebook Ad, and so on. Lastly, you can send 5 newsletters to subscribers telling them about giveaway, events you maybe have, eBooks coming out, and so much more.
- What are your goals for the next 6 months? Set a few goals that focus more on the monetary aspect of your business and where you concentrate on sales and marketing of your products/service.
- What are your goals for the next year? Long-term goals and should define what your business should be at if you are doing the necessary work.
Now that you have a basic understanding of your business and the planning aspects of getting yourself organized and focus, What are you waiting on go out there and start putting your foot print in the business world.
