Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello Community!

What are your thoughts today on the hot topic of goal setting?  I am finding it difficult to set my business goals in writing with timeframes, because I`m afraid to dissapoint myself.  Falling short is not something that I am used to, and I know some of you can relate.

Although I tend to be a "list" person and good at planning ahead, setting timeframes on my goals seems painful.  But I also realize it is necessary!  HELP! 

What are your thoughts, experiences and advice?  If you respond, please indicate what sort of industry you are in and/or what goal categories you feel are important (i.e., financial, sales, new customer numbers, project completion dates, etc.) if possible.

Thanks in advance for all of your coming responses... I appreciate the discussion! 

Falling short is not something I`m used to, either. Falling well short... now that`s a different story.
Anyhoo. I guess everyone`s different, but I like to have broad, wild audacious mental goals. And then I like to divide these goals into small steps that I can work on and work toward. I always throw in some plan B`s, C`s, etc. too.
It`s important that those small steps rely on me... not anyone else... and here`s why.
I once knew a guy who told me he wanted to be a professional musician. He went to school for it. And studied. And performed. And practiced.
The next time I saw him, a few years or so later, he quit music completely, so I asked why. He said it was too hard to really "succeed" in music. After hearing his explanation and thinking about it, this guy didn`t want to be a musician. He wanted to be a rock star. The first goal is easy. The second requires the cooperation of millions of other people and a reliance on untold terms and conditions that aren`t in your hands. And, once that became apparent, he was daunted.
That`s why I think your goals should be grounded on what you can do.

I`d highly recommend The Strangest Secret By Earl NightinGale.

I`ve listened to this about 100 times.  He really drives home the point.  If you don`t write down your goals you`re kidding yourself.  It took me a few years to figure this out...

Now, here`s the funny thing. After you miss a goal once (and you *should* miss them or they`re too easy), you`ll feel OK about it.

Goals help you prioritize what`s important vs. what`s urgent. Without them you`ll give all your time to the urgent unimportant things in life...

- Bryan

Krista,

Don`t feel like the Lone Ranger when it comes to setting business goals (or personal goals for that matter). I have found most businesses, small and large, have difficulty doing this important task. But give yourself credit for knowing you need to and trying and asking for assistance.

To answer your questions: I`m a marketeer, writer, consultant, coach, planner - enough - specializing in communication and helping businesses convey messages - internally and externally. I work with a lot of clients in the automotive aftermarket but have clients all over the spectrum. All business goals are important - but the bottom line is R-E=P ... Revenue - Expenses = Profits.

There`s no easy way to say this. You have to get over the idea of "disappointing" yourself. I don`t have any trick to offer up for this task - just put it out of your mind.

I know a little about Arbonne. I know you have some goals set for you by your sponsor - the person above you in the network. Are you having trouble setting business goals in your Crystal business or Arbonne? I suspect the Crystal business.

Not knowing where you are in this business, it would be hard to offer up specifics. But you need to set some sales goals and expense budgets for sure. You mention others like new customers, completion dates, etc - these are important, too. Normally, I would suggest quarterly goals. You may be new enough to set weekly goals or daily goals. Set `em low at first so you reach and succeed. Everything related to your business can have a goal ... and probably should. Sounds to me as if you know what to do - maybe setting lower, reachable goals will help get you over the hump.

Two sport stars come to mind. Pete Maravich and Tiger Woods. Maravich was an awesome basketball player and need I say anything about Tiger. Both had dads who knew how to create winners. They set goals that their kids could hit. Maravich learned how to dunk because his dad set the basket low enough so everytime he dunked - from a tot to high school - he made the basket. As he grew taller, his dad raised the basket. Pete never knew nothing but "whoosh".

Tiger`s dad did the same thing. He had Tiger putt first from right at the hole.As he got older, bigger and better, he moved back further - just far enough for a challenge. Make that distance, move back further. Over and over, further and futher ... increasing the goal.

These kids grew up learning only one thing - making their goals. To them, winning was easy - it was all they knew. It is behavior. It is definiteness of purpose. It is setting obtainable goals. Pete is dead now but Tiger still employes the goal setting techniques he started learning as a small child. It works.

Set some obtainable goals. Meet them. Set them higher. Repeat the process. You will succeed.

R@

Thanks everyone - these are all great comments and good things for me to think about!

And Richard, I am actually struggling with my Arbonne written goals.  That is the business that I`m most focusing on at this point.  There are suggested goals that exist, and management levels to be obtained, but I like poster #2`s ("theswaynester") comment about focusing on what I can do and am responsible for.  It`s difficult to depend on other people in achieving your own goals...   And I will remember to not set my goals to low either, as Bryan said.  Or at least to increase them bit by bit!

I spent the last 6 years as a Project Manager for major Fortune 500 clients. The most important people to executing goals is the Project Manager. As the owner of a small business, you need to remember that you wear multiple hats, one of them being a Project Manager. If you watch the show the Apprentice, you can see the importance of having a project that is well planned out. Usually the best executed project wins on the Apprentice and in real life, and I have found that project plans help keep your goals realistic.

One thing to note, goal dates can change! Project plans are a living document. Your main goal is to get things done on time and under budget. What you learn from setting goals is that if something in your project takes longer to do, next time give yourself more time. I went from taking 3 months to creating a website for fortune 500 clients to 2 weeks producing the same functionality years later. Being a project manager I have complete project plans memorized to the point where I don`t really need to write down projects anymore which comes from years of experience. The only reason I do, is so that the people I work with can see my vision and goals on paper so we are all on the same page. Setting goal dates helps you and the people you work with know the REAL status of your business.

Your first goal setting is the time for you to learn the real ins and outs of your business. As time goes on, setting goals gets easier because you will know what you are capable of achieving in certain time limits.