Day 4: Define Your Business Goals + {Free Worksheet}

Now that you have a basic idea of the business you are planning to launch, it is time to get the specifics in order.  Today’s post is all about writing down your business goals and getting a clearer picture of what you want from your business.  I urge you to write it all down because it makes things more concrete and establishes the purpose of your business.  Before we get to goal-setting, there are two things you need to define first that will ease the goal setting process.

Vision and Mission

For any business to succeed, it needs a vision and a mission.  A vision is what you want to accomplish through your business.  A mission defines how you are going to accomplish it.  In essence, a mission is the cause and a vision is the effect.  We’ll take for example, Clothed In Scarlet’s vision & mission statements.

Vision: To equip women spiritually and financially.  {That is what we want to accomplish through this website.}

Mission: To provide practical knowledge and tools to help women harness their talents and make a living with it.  {It defines how we are going to make our vision a reality.}

I spent quite some time in prayer and discussion with God while working on His vision for this website.  I encourage you to confer with God, seek His guidance and then formulate your own vision & mission statements.  Make them simple and easy to remember, because they will keep you on track for years to come.

Set your Business Goals

A goal properly set is halfway reached. – Zig Ziglar

In life, we don’t get very far if we don’t know where we’re headed.  When you get into your car, you have a destination in mind – if you don’t, you’ll end up someplace else, clueless and lost. 🙂

Similarly, in business, it is essential that you define your goals first before you go about launching your business.  You might have heard about SMART goals.  For those who haven’t, SMART refers to setting goals that are:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Time-bound

For example, a lady who wants to start an online clothing store for newborns might set the following SMART goals:

1. Launch website and social media channels within 1 month.
2. Create 20 unique designs and stock the store within 3 months.
3. Achieve $1000 in sales within 6 months.

Each of the goals above are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and had a definite time frame.

With your mission statement in mind, start creating your own set of SMART goals for your business.  I advise you to set both short-term and long-term goals that will provide a road map for your business’ future.

What are your goals for the next 1 month?

Set a few short term goals that you would like to accomplish within the next one month.  Try to be as specific as possible.  Here are a few examples:

• Launch website.
• Set up social media channels – Facebook & Twitter.
• Plan content for the next 2 months.

What are your goals for the next 3 months?

These are goals that go beyond the basics of setting up your website and will give you more traction in getting your business off the ground.  A few examples are:

• Reach 100 followers on Facebook & Twitter.
• Create free product for newsletter subscribers.
• Send 3 newsletters to subscribers (one every month).

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 product/service.  Here are a few examples:

• Do 1 promotion with free products and discount coupons.
• Connect with 5 influential people online to get the word of the business out.
• Reach $500 in sales.

What are your goals for the next one year?

This is a long-term goal and gives you a glimpse of what you want your business to be one year from today.  A few examples are:

• Reach 1000 followers on Facebook & Twitter.
• Launch 5 new products.
• Achieve a profit of $5000.

What are your legacy goals?

This is also a long-term goal and should define what legacy your want to leave through your business.  In essence, how do you want to change the world for the better?  You could:

• Sponsor a child.
• Support an orphanage in your city.
• Giveaway free products/services to people in the lower income bracket.

With these questions in mind, set apart a few hours to list down the goals you have for your business.

Free Goal Planning Worksheet

We have created a worksheet for you to write down the vision and mission statements for your business as well as your goals.  I encourage you to print it out, fill it up and keep it in a prominent place to remind you of your business focus.

Click here to download your free goal planning worksheet.

Click here to catch up on all the posts in this series.