There are over 28 million small businesses in the United States. Of these 28 million businesses, nearly half will fail within the first five years of their inception. Instead of being just another failure statistic, you need to take control of your company’s destiny. One of the best ways to get back on the right track heading into the New Year is setting goals. Having a clear vision of where you want to take your company is important and can help you avoid veering off course. Are you not sure about what types of goals you need to set for your business in the New Year? Check out our goal setting tips below.

Make Sure Your Goals Are Achievable

Setting lofty long-term business goals are acceptable, but you want to be more realistic with the short-term goals you set. Assessing what type of business goals you can realistically meet can help you come up with the right path for your company to follow in the New Year. If you set goals that are simply unattainable within a short period of time, then you are setting yourself and your team up for a big letdown. For instance, setting a goal to increase your company’s level of productivity is achievable in a short amount of time. Increasing your level of customer service is also an achievable goal you can set and actually complete in a relatively short amount of time.

 

Put Time Limits on Your Goals

Setting goals that have no focus on time can lead to a lot of procrastination. Putting a date on the goals you want to achieve will give you and your team the motivation need. If you are planning on launching a new service or product in the New Year, you need to attach a must-launch date to it. If you know the cut-off for when you want to achieve this goal, you will be less apt to procrastinate. Having this light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to business goals can be very motivational and can help you and your team on track.

 

Know The Motivation Behind Your Goals

When setting goals for the New Year, be sure to find out what your motivations are for wanting to accomplish these tasks. Having a good reason for wanting to do things like growing your business or expand the products and services you offer can help to get you through some tough times. If money or the acquisition of material goods is the only motivation you have to accomplish business goals, you will usually find yourself coming up short. Not only do you need to find out what your motivations are, you also need to talk with your employees about what motivates them. With this information, you will be able to keep everyone motivated even when accomplishing a particular business goal seems impossible.

 

Creating Milestones is Essential

Tracking the progress you are making towards your business goals is important. The best way to do this is by creating a series of different milestones. With these milestones, you can show your employees the progress that is being made. You can create weekly, monthly or even quarterly goals for your business. Getting some input from your employees is a great way to find out what type of milestones will be motivating to them as they work towards the goals that have been set.

 

An Effective Plan is the Cornerstone of Accomplishing Business Goals

For business owners who are passionate about meeting the goals they have set, developing a plan of action is important. The plan that you devise is like a roadmap you can use to navigate the goals you have created. When coming up with goals, you need to think about what steps you need to take to get them accomplished. With a detailed plan and the help of your employees, accomplishing your goals will be simplified.

 

Always Leave Room For Adjustments

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when creating goals for your business is failing to leave room for flexibility. As any business owner will tell you, a lot of things can change in the course of a year. Being prepared for these changes and leaving some wiggle room in your goal plan to compensate for these changes can benefit you greatly. If you think every aspect of your goal plan is going to pan out like you have envisioned, you are in for a rude awakening. Rolling with the changes will allow you to get to your end goal.

 

A Positive Mindset Goes a Long Way

Keeping a positive frame of mind is the key to having small business success. If you set goals and are immediately negative about your chances of achieving them, then it is only a matter of time before you will yourself to fail. While there will be times when achieving your goals seems like an insurmountable task, you will need to stay focused and positive.

 

For years, the team at American Wear has been passionate about service small businesses. Our goal is to provide the businesses we serve with quality uniforms, mats and restroom supplies for a low price.