Small business owners can spend so much time meeting their day-to-day and weekly demands that they don’t stop to think about the longer term, their business goals, and what they hope to accomplish months or even years from now.
It’s important to take the time to set goals for your small business that go beyond the next deadline, the next week, or the following month.
Do you have a business plan or one that should be updated? As part of our effort to help all businesses in the Traverse City area succeed, we offer this guide to creating a growth plan for your business.
Your Goals Should Be “SMART”
Many businesses of all sizes use the SMART goal system to help them set objectives and measure their accomplishments. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Let’s break this down into each term:
Specific
Saying you’d like to acquire more customers, sell more goods or services, or launch a new product are all good business objectives, but they’re a little vague. Your goals should be as specific as possible, such as increasing sales by a particular amount or acquiring a certain number of new customers.
Measurable
Think about what you’d like to achieve and how you can gauge your progress. Your goals should be able to answer questions such as how much, how often, how many, and when.
If you’d like to increase revenues, how much revenue growth would you like to achieve, and within what time frame? How often will you measure your progress? Will it be within a year, and we break it down into smaller targets based on each month?
Whatever your goals are, having specific targets can increase your odds of accomplishing them.
Achievable
You need to be realistic in setting your goals. If you give yourself a list of goals that you’re unlikely to achieve, that’s just setting yourself up for failure. It’s also likely to discourage your team if they think you want them to do something impossible.
When setting goals that are achievable; consider the resources you have for accomplishing them. Are you going to need more staff or equipment? Do you have the funds available to make this work?
Relevant
This refers to the nature of your business, making sure your goals fit your objectives and the long-term vision you have for your business. You might list all the possible objectives for the next few months to a year or more, but take the time to consider each one and the kind of impact they would have on your business.
For example, increasing awareness of your business could help your sales—but who exactly are you trying to reach? A retail business that relies on foot traffic might focus on customer retention and word-of-mouth campaigns within its neighborhood. A company that supplies industrial or manufacturing equipment would want to focus on increasing awareness within its industry.
Timely
A realistic deadline can help keep you and your team focused and motivated. This is especially true if you break a long-term objective down into smaller goals as a way of measuring your progress. This can also make an objective seem more attainable.
Instead of just saying you’d like to increase sales by a particular amount within a year, try breaking this objective down into a list of tasks and when you need to achieve them each week or month.
How to Set Your Goals
Just as breaking your goals down into smaller objectives can make them seem more achievable, it can also help to do the same thing when setting your goals.
Draft a list of possible goals for your business. Consider where your business is now and what you’ve accomplished over the past year. Where do you expect your business to be at the end of each month, or the end of the year?
Think of this as a brainstorming session. What are all the possible goals that your business might have? These could be as out-of-the-box as you like because you’re not committing to them yet. This is just an exercise to consider a wide range of possibilities.
You might break these down into different categories. Depending on your business, these categories might include:
- Boosting your online presence and social media use.
- Employee addition, retention, or training.
- New products or services you might develop or offer.
- Improving efficiencies, increasing output, and reducing waste.
- Increasing your product line or services to acquire new customers or expand into new markets.
Once you have your list, take a look at your objectives and consider how they fit the SMART system. Are they specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely?
If any of them seem insurmountable, you might break them down into smaller and more manageable objectives. Consider the resources you have to obtain these goals, and how you would acquire whatever staff, equipment, or knowledge you need to meet them.
A Few Examples of SMART Business Goals
There isn’t any one-size-fits-all approach to setting your business goals. Each business owner has their own particular skills, resources, and objectives. The following examples are meant to help you consider the goals you may want for your business and how you might accomplish them.
Increasing Profits
It’s a safe bet that every business or individual wants to make more money, but having that as a goal is too vague. “Make more money” isn’t likely to motivate your employees, and there’s no way to measure your progress.
You might break that down into more specific, timely, and measurable goals such as:
- Acquire a specific number of new customers within the first quarter.
- Increase revenue by a given percentage over a year, with smaller goals set every month.
- Reduce costs by a given amount, through finding less expensive suppliers, buying more efficient equipment, etc.
Improve Your Online Presence
While many businesses rely on a website and social media to increase awareness and acquire new customers, try to put this goal into more concrete terms.
You might set a goal of increasing your social media posts by a particular amount, or improve how often people engage with your content to read it, share it, or click on a link.
A similar goal could be to increase the number of unique visits to your website or company blog by a certain amount and within a particular timeframe.
Boost Your Employee Retention
Employee turnover can have a direct and negative impact on your business. Depending on your field, it could be hard to find suitable employees.
Of course, “holding on to my employees” doesn’t fit the SMART objective, so think of ways you can accomplish this and how to gauge your success.
Take a look at what your employee turnover is and consider ways you could reduce it. You might set a goal of reducing turnover by a given percentage within the next three months, six months, or whatever seems suitable.
You’ll also need to consider what incentives you can offer. If increasing pay or benefits would be difficult, maybe flexible hours, remote work, or some other perk would help you retain staff.
Expand Your Business
Many small business owners don’t intend to remain a “small business” forever, but how much could your business grow on a quarterly or annual basis?
Of course, the idea of growth itself can have many definitions. A small restaurant owner might want to open another restaurant, or provide catering and delivery services. A manufacturer might want to expand its product line or increase output.
What kind of growth you’re looking for is entirely up to you, but you should consider how much growth you’re looking for, how you’ll accomplish that objective, and when you could reasonably expect to reach that goal.
A restaurant owner would likely need more staff, a vehicle, and perhaps a larger kitchen in order to provide catering.
A manufacturer might need to buy more equipment, increase employee training, hire more employees, add a night shift, or a combination of all of these to expand production.
Open a Business Account Today
No matter what goals you have for your business, we want to help you achieve them. Our business services are built to support you and your business operations as much as possible. Save time and money with 24-hour night deposits, telebank phone services, and ATMs located throughout Michigan and beyond.
From business checking accounts to business credit cards, the team at West Shore Bank is here to help you find the right solutions for your growing organization.
All our accounts offer identity theft monitoring, credit score tracker, cell phone protection, and free consultations on investments, estate planning, and retirement.
Contact the business team at West Shore Bank today or stop by one of our nine convenient local branches throughout Michigan, from Hart to Traverse City. Open your new business checking account today and start benefiting immediately!
