Are you struggling to increase revenue or reduce employee turnover? Are you finding it challenging to keep different departments aligned on a common focus? These are common struggles in the workplace that require clear, concise business goals.
If you’re looking to grow or scale your small business, you’ll need to set better goals for your team members. Goals are designed to keep your team focused on a common objective. But if you aren’t following the right framework or consistently tracking your progress, you might not reach every achievement you want to accomplish.
Ready to set business goals that drive results? Here are eight tips to help you fine-tune you can use to set better business goals going into the new year.
1. Determine Your North Star
Before you start developing goals, you’ll need to determine your main objective for your business. Are you looking to increase revenue or boost profits? Do you want to increase the number of bookings or demos you book? Maybe you simply want to reduce employee turnover for the year.
The key metric you want to focus on is called a north star. Your north star is a single metric or KPI that your entire organization is focused on achieving. A north star will keep every department aligned, ensuring teams are working more efficiently. Once you have a north star objective, you can start developing different goals for each department.
2. Meet With Key Stakeholders
Once you determine your north star goal for your company, you’ll want to meet with key stakeholders to discuss strategies, goals, and resources. Stakeholders will provide key insight into the challenges and pain points for each department. They’ll also help ensure that all teams and departments are aligned with the north star objective.
Key stakeholders include department heads, leadership, and upper management. Consider scheduling quarterly meetings to work on setting business goals for each department, keeping everyone aligned with the same objectives.
3. Use the SMART Goal Framework
Goals should be well thought out, clear, and actionable. If your goals are too vague, it will be hard to measure success or develop effective strategies. The best way to ensure your goals are actionable is to use the SMART Goal Framework. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. With this framework, you can make a vague idea into an actionable and measurable goal for your team members.
For example, let’s say your goal is to increase revenue. Instead of simply saying “increase revenue,” you’ll want to say increase monthly sales revenue by 15%, from $300,000 to $345,000, before the end of Q4.
The SMART goal framework turns a simple idea into a more actionable and measurable goal that keeps your team members motivated and focused.
4. Create a Road Map
Once you set your business goals, you’ll want to create a goal roadmap. Think of your goal roadmap as an executable plan, with clear strategic objectives and responsibilities. This roadmap is an invaluable tool offering clear direction to all of your employees. To improve accountability, each task on the roadmap should be assigned to a team member.
5. Track Your Progress Regularly
Tracking progress is key to ensuring your team is on the path towards success. You’ll want to track progress regularly, using key performance indicators. Consider also scheduling a monthly meeting with key stakeholders to discuss the different challenges and roadblocks. Consistent communication and regular check-ins are key to ensuring all challenges are addressed.
6. Celebrate Every Milestone
Every milestone deserves a celebration. Celebrating every milestone will help boost morale and keep your team motivated. The small celebrations will also help you maintain momentum and increase motivation, encouraging everyone to keep pushing even during the slow season.
7. Be Realistic
While goals should be challenging, they should also be realistic. Unrealistic goals can cause unwanted stress in the workplace and discourage your employees. When setting goals, use data and trends from previous years to develop realistic objectives that will keep your team motivated.
8. Limit the Number of Goals
You’ll want to limit your company to two to three goals. This will ensure you have the resources and team members to focus on the different strategies necessary to achieve the goals you set for your team.
Small Business Goal Examples
Your small business goals should align with your north star objective and follow the SMART goal framework. There are many different types of goals you can set for your company. Here are some practical business goal examples for each department:
Revenue and Sales Focused
- Increase overall revenue by 10% within the next 12 months
- Hold a gross margin of 30% or higher this fiscal year
- Increase average order value from $60 to $75 by EOY
Employee Focused
- Decrease employee turnover to below 15% within the next 12 months
- Reduce project delays by 20% before EOY
Marketing Focused
- Improve email marketing open rates by 10% in the next three months
- Increase follower count on social media by 1,000 before
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