Goal setting is a critical part of your business and is one of the main parts of a good business plan. Many people when they first start a business neglect to do this and just go around in endless circles achieving very little. Without having some direction for your business it is very difficult to succeed. Lack of direction and purpose is the reason why many enterprises fail within their first year.
Before you do anything for your business you will need to have a plan with realistic objectives. It is good to tie them in with time lines. A good guideline is 3 months 6 months and a year. When you reach your first year anniversary, plan a party because if you are still in business after one year you will very likely manage to be successful in your enterprise.
Goal setting for your first 3 months will be quite basic and will include:
1. Amount of new customers and clients you plan to gain.
2. Projected amount you want to earn in your first 3-month period. As a new business do not expect to do more than break even during this period.
3. Setting up marketing campaigns to achieve this.
4. Making your website
5. Setting up your newsletter and autoresponder
Your next 3 months will be expanding your business with these tools.
1. Again you will be projecting the amount you expect to earn-this time you should be looking at a marginal profit.
2. You will also be expanding the amount of new business you want to gain.
3. You will be setting goals for each of your promotions and how many leads and customers they are meant to be bringing in.
4. You will establish objectives for how many subscribers you will be gaining for your newsletter.
Next 6 months you will continue with objectives for developing your business and working on the ones above. Plus you will be making new ones to develop new back end products and expand into new markets.
As you can see your goal setting is an integral part of your business and you will need to pay special attention to this when you start and develop your business. Your objectives will change as your business grows. As you achieve them you will add new ones. Making flow charts and keeping records is very important as you accomplish objectives and expand your business. If you do this you will develop your business into a profitable enterprise.