Do you want to know ONE way to not worry about your business so much?
Have a roadmap.
Call it clarity, roadmap, plan, strategic plan, whatever you want to call it, but by taking the time to plan it and create a roadmap for this coming year, quarter, month, week is going to help you alleviate that worry about your business.
Reduce Stress. Increase Focus. Save Money. Gain Results
So, how often should you plan as a small business owner? I like the idea of looking at the big picture and creating a yearly plan. But I think when we do that, it’s almost too hard to keep up with. It can be overwhelming. I suggest to break it down into quarterly goals and plans, monthly, and if you need it, weekly. What I find a lot with small business entrepreneurs, especially newer entrepreneurs is, yes, we like the process of sitting down and brainstorming and thinking about where our business is going to go, visualizing our growth, but then we kind of fix it and forget it. We create this plan, we move on, we react to what goes on around us. We get pulled into every direction, which way or the other, and then we forget about it.
Sometimes this occurs because we do not create realistic plans and we end up reacting to our businesses instead of being proactive in your business, which ultimately leads to burn out and worse case scenario, failure.
I have a 3-step approach that I walk my clients through. Today, I want to share with you Step #3 of this approach. Creating S.M.A.A.R.T. Goals. It is not a new science, it’s been around forever, but it works. So, what is the SMAART approach?
S=Strategic. What are your strategic goals to grow your revenue, to grow your profits? Maybe break it out into department. Such as marketing, team, systems, revenue, profits, work-life balance, etc. See how I added work-life balance in there?
M=Measurable. “What gets measured gets results.” It’s so true. So, everything you do, when you look at your goals, don’t just put pie in the sky, make sure that it has some type of element that can be measured.
A=Actionable. What are the steps needed to get there?
A= Accountable. I added this A into my SMAART goals because it is so important. Assign tasks, assign accountability partners. Schedule out your tasks and check-ins with the team
R=Realistic. Sure, I want you to dream big and go for it, but I want you to create baby steps, short realistic goals to get there. Not only does this earn you some wins, it avoids disappointment and discouragement along the way.
T=Timely. Assign deadlines, time to work on them, make them timely so you can keep checking them off and creating new ones to get you where you want to go. Human motivation in action, reaching goals motivates you to strive for more.
When you have a plan and work the plan it takes so much stress off of your day-to-day mindset of growing a business.
No one ever got to their destination without a road map, do you think you can achieve your dreams and goals in your business without one?
What is the one thing you worry the most about in your business?
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