How To Set Smart Goals For Your Business

[Deleted member 13140]

What Is A Smart Goal?
SMART goals Are simply goals that are easily measured, Broken down into specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based.
notice how the first letters are words to spell smart.

Now
1. Specific:
A particular goal specifies what is to be accomplished, by whom, where, and when it is to be accomplished, as well as why it is to be accomplished.
Marketing my company in Toronto is a non-SMART goal.
SMART goal: Start a monthly networking club for women in Toronto focused on event planning, with a monthly attendance goal of 20 women and 2 women signing up for my "How to Plan Your Wedding Without Stress" program each month.


2. Measurable:
The aim should be measured in terms of both the eventual result and the milestones along the route. The measurement aids in determining whether you are on pace to meet your goal. It provides answers to the following questions: how much, how often, and how many?

3. Attainable
If you're going to create objectives, be sure they're attainable. It is more probable that you will achieve your objective if you feel you can do it. Setting unattainable objectives is a mistake because you are setting yourself up for failure right from the start. Allowing others to establish your goals is a bad idea.

4. Relevant
When setting goals they fall into long and short term. Understanding how these fit into your organizational or personal vision, mission and purpose is important.

5. Time Based
This guarantees that your objectives are time-bound. This may be a tremendous motivation and should not be seen negatively. If you want to run a marathon in a year, for example, you may attain this long-term goal by focusing on the system that will allow you to complete the marathon in a year. Going to the Running Room twice a week for three months, three times a week for six months, building up to a 12 marathon in six months, and so on.

 

[Kingsley]

I cant agree less with your point on setting a time bound, timing is everything in business and even in life general. When we are running a business we must try as much possible to always put a time bound or limit when setting our target or goals as this is what will help us to remain focused. One of the challenge we face in the course of running a business of our own has always been the problem with time management.

When we set goals and objective they should always be time bounds also set in place to achieve our goals at each step we take, this will make it easier for us to achieve our goals and it will make our job less cumbersome.

Again when dealing when setting goalswe must try as much as possible to set realistic goals that are achievable not things that are unrealistic and filled with no blueprint as to how to achieve them. I have friends that have always wanted to become like Dangote Africa's richest man, and I asked them to show me their road map, they had none. I told them to more realistic and stop the wishful thinking.

 

[Jasz]

A smart business strategic planning process starts with a clear understanding of your business goals. You can use this knowledge to help you create a smart strategic plan for the future.

At the beginning of any strategic planning process, it's important to establish a set of goals for your business. These goals should be realistic and measurable so that you can track their progress over time. The next step is to create a strategy that will move toward your goal and then develop plans to achieve them.

The first step in creating an effective strategic plan is to decide what it is you're trying to accomplish. Do you want to grow sales? Increase revenue? Improve customer satisfaction? Find new customers?

Once you have determined what your goal is, you need to determine how much money it will cost and how long it will take to get there. Ideally, each goal should have its own timeline so that staff members can see when each milestone is expected and can adjust accordingly.

Once your plan has been created, it's time for implementation! Your staff members will need feedback from clients and customers on how well they are doing in achieving each phase of their goals; they also need help with any obstacles along the way.

 

[Holicent]

At the beginning of the year, you need to set goals that will help your business grow over the next 12 months.

Make sure you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. If there are any major changes in the market that could affect your business, make sure you consider them before making any decisions.

Identify your biggest competitors and their strengths and weaknesses. This will give you an idea of how well-positioned your business is against them. You can also use this information to create strategies for reducing competition from them.

Set marketing goals for the year by identifying specific markets, demographics and media channels that you want to target with your marketing campaigns.

Map out a detailed plan for how you're going to get there – understand how much money it will cost and when it's going to happen.