7 steps to achieve your small business goals from your new year's resolutions (and boost your business opportunities)
Small business new year’s resolutions are flawed from the beginning… and this is why you need small business goals. New year’s resolutions are wishful thinking. And wishful thinking it’s great because it shows your intentions. It’s the first necessary step… and I applaud you…
But it isn’t not enough unfortunately!
With this blog post, you’ll discover how to convert wishful thinking into small business goals you’ll achieve. You’ll discover:
Full disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission from.
Don’t forget to pin this image!
New year’s resolutions are difficult to sustain.
Why?
It’s like deciding you want to walk on a rope over the Grand Canyon without a security net, or any preparation. How to start? What happens if panic paralyses you when you’re right in the middle? What do you do when you get at the other end?
Let me be fair with new year’s resolutions. New year’s resolutions many times are things you desire to do or achieve.
You should feel super good about them.
So we’ve established that the desire itself it’s an essential building block to achieve more, but it isn’t going to get you there by itself.
It’s not enough to say you want to do it… even with the toughest of characters
There are two types of new years resolutions:
Brand new projects
A new routine, a new habit
Habits involve behavioural change, which frankly is the toughest to achieve! So watch out! There are many times overlooked.
And if you think that changing your habits has nothing to do with your online biz, think again!
There are many new things that as an online entrepreneur you’ll need to try and implement. You might want to change the way you operate. Even, if I take a simple example, you might (and should!) want to start using Pinterest to accelerate your audience and biz growth… That in itself will take you to get into new habits (pinning, creating content, and so on). So yes, habits are not just for your personal life!
One way or another, if you think that it all starts with allocating time to your new year’s resolutions will get you there, think again!
Commitment doesn’t start when you allocate time.
Later on you’ll discover the 7 critical success factors to transform your new year’s resolutions into achievable goals and new habits. But first let’s set the important foundations!
Small business goals provide a framework to prioritise your time and investments to get you closer to your business ambitions. You’ll manage sooooo much better conflicting tasks.
They will also ensure that your team and partners can be aligned to your goals and work towards a common purpose.
Your decision making will be simplified as you will have clarity of the criteria to consider.
You’ll understand the activities and areas that matter the most to your business success and focus on those more and more.
You might be a solopreneur or you may have already expanded your biz to have a small team… Wherever you’re at in your business growth stage, the following type of business goals will make a significant difference to your achievements at the end of the year.
Think like the CEO you are and think in terms of the following areas for your small business goals:
Strategic / executive small business goals
Marketing, sales & communication small business goals
Products small business goals
Financials small business goals
Operations small business goals
Customer service small business goals
People / team small business goals
Sustainability small business goals
Yeah!!! Those are all the hats that you carry throughout the day! Impressive!
That’s why sometimes you feel you’re doing sooooooo many jobs… because in fact you are!
Create an annual business plan
Let yourself brainstorm and be bold
Create a SWOT analysis (SWOT: Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats)
Define your strategic ambitions. For example:
Grow your business
Increase your market share
Open a 2nd location
Define strategic change you need
Create SMART PRO goals to make the strategic ambitions happen.
Update your business plan quarterly
Assess your progress and adapt as needed
Stop doing what’s not working quickly enough
Allocate time weekly to strategise
Invest in networking
Increase your contacts
Consider joining a professional organisation
Develop your brand
Update your sales & marketing plan (or create one if you haven’t got one!)
Re-assess your audience and small business customer avatar
Boost your online marketing presence (or market your small business online if you aren’t yet)
Use Pinterest!!
Increase your website traffic and page ranking in Google searches
Use social media to connect to your audience
Start a business blog
Analyse your competitors and decide next steps
Create a plan to promote regularly
Consider creating a new product or expanding your product range
Review your portfolio and decide whether you should stop or bundle products
Review your products prices and assess price elasticity
Improve your small business financial health
Increasing profitability
Reduce your small business costs
Improve cash flow
Find financing opportunities
Get organised and document your processes
Transform your operations: increase your small business productivity
Simplify how you operate your business to increase performance
Reduce burnout
Address what’s not working
Look for automation opportunities
Try new tools
Regularly assess and mitigate your risk: Reduce your business risks
Purchase business insurance
Connect with your customers
Review your customer service processes
Identify customer experience improvements
Don’t try to do it all yourself: Learn to delegate
Consider outsourcing or building a team (you can start with someone part time).
When ready, hire your first employee
Hold weekly team meetings to align priorities and milestones
Develop a performance-management system
Treat your team as you would like to be treated
Define how you will recognise your team
Say “thank you”
Define on your team retention
Don’t micromanage, lead!
Develop the ability to be a good listener (to your customers and team)
Develop a business culture and values
Avoid burnout
Schedule a breaks and holidays
Maintain a healthy work / life balance
Don’t forget your self development:
Learn new skills
Be a better communicator
Understand your strengths and what others can do better (delegate)
Become more eco-friendly, like going paperless
Give back to the community
Become a mentor to someone else
Clean up your place of business
As you see, some of the above are basic goals and some are big picture goals, some relate to strategies and values, some are down to the financial numbers you want to achieve.
Always keep in mind that some are:
Long-term small business goals
Short-term small business goals
Patience is key to understand that certain business goals will take longer to achieve thank others!
That’s where the 7 success factors are super important.
SMART goals are goals that you define to be:
S: specific enough so that you can clearly see what you achieve
M: measurable, so that you have a way to assess whether making progress towards achieving your small business goals
A: achievable, because ambitions that are impossible dreams will only result in disappointment.
R: relevant, to ensure that they will make a difference to get you closer to your ambitions and purpose.
T: time-bounded, which will drive a timeline and help you set priorities. There is no point in defining a goal without saying when you’ll get there.
You can learn more about SMART goals and my super special framework, the SMART PRO goals in this blog, Setting Goals For Success With A Complete System To Make Them Happen Without Overwhelm.
Ok, ok… here is a sneak peak of the SMART PRO element!
P: personal: Goals need to resonate with you at a personal level. If they are too clinical, you don’t feel attached to them.
R: results-driven: Goals need to show “what is in it for you” by achieving them.
O: outstanding: Goals need to achieve something special, be stretching enough to be REALLY meaningful when you achieve them to get you close to your dreams.
To get examples and how to apply, check out the full blog!
Get ready for these 7 steps! They will make or break your ability to reach your small business goals!
By stopping things you were doing before, this is where you’re really giving priority to your small business goals.
For example: Would you put more water on a glass already full? Not really. Make space before you add more in.
So before deciding on doing new things, new projects, stop doing other things.
For projects, set a deadline. Make it a priority and give yourself a deadline.
For habits, set recurring tasks in your calendar or project management tool and make it simple to do.
Example: gym, walk
Keep it SIMPLE to be ACHIEVABLE!
Example: Walking every day close to home instead of going far.
For projects: Set milestones so you see your progress (milestones are progress checking stages for you).
Example: Driving from the West to East coast of the USA by car, you would set yourself stages. If your goal was to reach New York, your destination, within 10 days, for instance, but by day 9 you’re still in Las Vegas… you know it is almost impossible to be in New York by day 10 to achieve your goal. That were milestones help you monitor progress to your goals.
For habits: Measure consistency
Count and write it down to visualise that you’re following your new habit (ticks in a paper calendar for instance)
Use an accountability jar. Check my blog How To Be Productive Working From Home Series - The #1 Thing You Need To Be Productive to know more about this great technique!
Use an app on your phone ( Asana is great)
Create some external pressure: an accountability buddy for example
It’s even better if you achieving your goal is meaningful to them. They have a stake into getting you to the finish line:
Do something nice with them (e.g.: Spend time with your kids)
Announce it (e.g. announce an Instagram live if you are scare going live, like me, so you have committed and do it!)
Beyond all of this you still need…
Treat yourself daily to something you love but is simple (not a huge thing!).
Only you knows what that thing is. It can be taking a break, having a coffee, going for a walk, listening to music.
The key of the daily recognition is for it to be repetitive, daily! It trains your brain to continue with the new habit, as you associated with something positive.
Example: This is similar to the treats you give to dogs when training them or, alsi very similar to saying “Good boy” “Good girl” when kids do what we are teaching them to do in terms of behaviour.
Reward yourself when you do what you say you’ll do, specially if it’s a new habit you’re in the process of establishing!
This is hugely important! At the end, if you do it, set yourself a real, meaningful treat (the carrot).
And…. a real downside (so you lose something you really care about) if you don’t (the stick!).
This is you creating a carrot and stick situation:
Example: Do something really special with your kids, go on a short break, buy something you really want to have.
Things rarely go according to plan… Things pop up… Other priorities come along!
Have a contingency!
Think in advance how to plan for adversity. Define a Plan B, a second road to get to destination, to achieve your small business goals.
Example: You do it with travel insurance, but we rarely do it in business.
What you want is to predefine (high level) how to go back on track if you something happens that derails you from reaching your goals.
You can also watch my Instagram Live session where I explain these 7 critical success factor to your small business goals.
Check it out here. Don’t forget to follow, comment and like on Instagram!
Many small business are overwhelmed by the amount of things they need to they need to do on a day-to-day basis and literally rarely take the time to be strategic and define their small business goals.
Some define some goals but thinking how to make them happen, what it’s really going to help them make them a reality is a step to far… not because they’re bad at businesses… they’re just consumed by the daily demands… which you know, there are many!
You’ve done the most important!
You’ve recognised that this is strategic to your business success, hence why you’re reading this blog!
So congratulate yourself! You’re thinking and acting as the CEO you are!
Now it’s time to take action!
And before you go… get your small business marketing flying this year, grow your audience and your biz with Pinterest. Don’t forget to get my FREE pdf where I reveal to you my 14 secrets that 10x my email list for free:
What next?
As always… take action! This is a strategic blog post to make an impact to your biz results this year!
Don’t forget to comment and tell me:
It is an absolute privilege to know that you read and find value in my blog!
A HUGE thank you for being here with me until the end.
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Hi! I’m Isabel
For years and years I have created and produced content, in particular visual content. You can find me very often with my cameras and tripod out and about!
My passion: to help you with your online presence and drive business growth through my blog and visuals collections (marketing templates, styled photos & video).
Ah, I have also worked for 24+ in the corporate world, leading quite a mix: transformation, marketing, coaching, sales, productivity, programme management, investments and product management.
I love sharing all these skills with you in my blog.
I am also founder of Agavea Properties, our family holiday rental business. My husband and I lead it with the passion with one goal in mind: serving our customers to create a memorable holiday experience for them.
So there you have it, that’s me! Ah... I almost forgot, my happy place is by the sea.
Thanks for being here with me!