Small Business Tips
If you're in business, it goes without saying that you want to be a success. But what is the definition of success? To decide that, you need to set yourself goals. But not just any goals. You need SMART goals.
Why should you use SMART goals?
It's not enough to declare that you want to increase your turnover or open two new branches. That's vague thinking. The truth is, the best goals in business are SMART goals.Clearly, SMART is an acronym. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
SMART goals are strategically designed to give any business project structure and support and to set out more clearly what you want to achieve – and by when.With SMART goals, you get to track your progress and stay motivated. Assessing your progress keeps you focused, helps you hit your deadlines, and creates a sense of excitement when you get nearer to hitting your targets. SMART goal-setting can also stop you feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of a project.Let's look more closely at each of those five elements.
What are SMART goals?
Firstly, let's clear up where the term began. SMART goals were born in 1981, when George T. Doran, a consultant for the Washington Water Power Company, published an article in the November issue of Management Review. "There's a SMART Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives" introduces SMART goals as a way of setting out criteria that improve the odds of achieving a goal.
Specific
What do you truly want to accomplish? Specifically. You might have written mission statements before. Well, this is the mission statement for your goal. To help formulate some answers here, think about your goal in terms of the six Ws:
- Who will you involve to help achieve the goal? A question that is especially important if you're getting a team involved.
- When do you want to complete the objective? More about this under ‘T', but it's prudent to have a broad timeframe.
- What are you trying to achieve? Be precise and detailed.
- What obstacles stand in your path? Identifying potential hazards can help you determine if your goal is feasible. As an example, if you aim to open a copywriting business, but you've never written copy before, maybe adjust your goal to "Learn how to write copy so I can start a copywriting business."
- Where will this happen? Not always applicable to everyone but if you specifically need things to happen in Edinburgh or New York, say so here.
- Why are you doing this? What's the purpose of the goal? If you're self-employed, the answer will probably be to drive the business forward. But try to make this a more-specific objective. For example, ‘to take 22 percent market share off Competitor X'.
Measurable
How will you measure progress against your goal? Making goals measurable ensures that they're more tangible and attainable. It gives you a way of evaluating progress. Will the project take a few weeks or more? Consider setting a few milestones along the way by thinking about what micro-tasks you or your team can complete at various points.
Achievable
How important is the goal to you? How can you make it happen? Do you need to develop new skills or embrace new technology? It's key not to get discouraged. Goals are designed to motivate you, to get you out of bed each day determined to move one step closer.
So what do you need to do to achieve the goal? Can you get there within your current skill set? Think about what needs to change to get you there.
Relevant
Relevance means focusing on your wider business goals. You might be launching a new product. So your goals should be in tune with the business' overall objectives. Your team might have a product that's ideal for the Chinese market, but if Far-East expansion isn't on the company's agenda, it's not a worthwhile goal.
Time-bound
You could say, "I'm going to increase productivity by 23 percent," which would be nice and specific. However, as a goal, it's useless without setting a specific timeframe in which you want things to happen. You'll put events off, you'll let things drift, and it won't seem to matter because you hadn't nailed anything down to a set timeframe.
Coming up with a realistic deliverable date is vital. You'll have to ask yourself precise questions about the timeframe you set and whether it's genuinely feasible. Work backwards and see if your various staging posts will work. Then add in a little wriggle room in case of unforeseen circumstances.If you decide your goal will take nine months to achieve, determine what you should have achieved by three months, or at the halfway point, or after six months. With time constraints in place, you'll have a sense of urgency.
How do you write SMART goals?
You should start by asking you and your team a bunch of questions, thereby defining your strategy. Hopefully, you'll end up with something that's attainable. Try to be realistic, but not too conservative. Writing SMART goals is a positive move – giving you something to strive for.
Don't be put off by this exercise. If you do it right, it should shed a lot of light on your business. Here, we've created two scenarios where you might write SMART goals. One's for a project, and the other is for boosting performance.
