Researchers have found that smart goal setting for entrepreneurs is one of the best investments. People who set goals are, on average, likely to be more successful in more ways than people who don’t set goals.
As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to be smart about your sales goals. Smart is a well-known industry acronym for sales goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Remember, one of the biggest pitfalls in setting sales goals is not being specific enough.
SMART Goal Setting for Entrepreneurs
What is a Specific Goal?
This is the process of painting a mental picture of what your goal will look like. It requires precise descriptors. For example, if owning a new car is your goal, then a specific goal might be “I will have a Red 2020 Chevrolet Camaro with gray velour upholstery, air conditioning, airbags, and electronic windows. Then you can picture yourself driving around in that car.
Measurable (Adding KPIs)
If you can’t measure your goals, you won’t know if you can reach them or not. If you were saving money for a new red laptop for your business, how would you know your progress? You will need to be able to check how much money you have saved toward that goal.
Achievable (Stop Lying to Yourself)
You also want to be sure that your goals are reachable. Sometimes people think that the top achievers of this world set high goals and then work toward reaching them.
But in truth, the super-achievers of the world know that setting high goals can be a motivator. How, if you set goals that you feel in your heart of hearts is not attainable, this can demotivate you.
Maybe the car you can realistically afford right now is a 2015 Toyota Camry, but not a Range Rover. So adjust your goal. It isn’t written in cement or blood.
Relevance (Does It Matter)
The goal should be relevant to you personally. Maybe a Toyota Camry isn’t relevant to what you are doing right now. What you need is an Innoson Granite to carry products or supplies. Or perhaps transportation isn’t your problem. Perhaps you need office space or a new computer.
You won’t get committed to goals that aren’t important to you. So you will only put a half-hearted effort into achieving the goal and then blame yourself on the idea of setting goals. If you don’t reach the goal.
Time
Goals often need a timeline. Some of us wouldn’t get a darn thing done if it wasn’t for the deadlines in our lives. There are three additional points to remember when setting goals.
Bonus
The three P’s of goal setting requires that your goals should be framed positively. There is some energy to be had from negative plans. But as you heard from the story about Emeka and Femi, we get more energy from positivity.
Put your goals in written form. Writing down your goals increases your likelihood of reaching them. Finally, make your goals personal. When we are ready to commit to a plan ourselves, we are prepared to strive for it.
