Plan for Success
Plan for Success
Here is the thing with planning and goal setting. It’s fun, especially when done at the 50,000 foot level that entrepreneurs love. However, somehow these great ideas need to be realistically achieved or you are simply setting yourself up for failure.
Here are some guidelines to Plan for Success:
1. Start with the end in mind. Where do you want to be a year from now? Obviously one of the main goals you should determine is your gross revenue for the company and the net pay that goes into your pocket. But some other goals you may want to achieve relate to company growth (e.g. # of employees, new regions, products & services, etc). There is also nothing wrong in throwing in personal goals. Life is about balance. Good health, a positive outlook and peace of mind always make for a more productive business owner.
2. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T. Stay away from obscure goals. SMART goals are:
a. Specific – Avoid generalizing in your goals. Make them as specific as possible by incorporating as many of the following as you can into each goal.
i. Who is involved in the goal?
ii. What are you trying to accomplish?
iii. When will the goal be completed by?
iv. Where will this goal take place?
v. How will this goal be reached?
b. Measurable – Ask yourself, “How will I know I achieved my goal?” You will need to include measurement in your goal so you know you have succeeded in reaching them. (e.g. Increase of 2 employees, overall business growth of 6%, etc).
c. Agreed Upon – Goals should be agreed upon by all those that will be involved in making them happen. Even if you are solopreneur, if you delegate to others, ensure that they understand the importance of the goal. You also must agree to yourself that this goal is important. It is a good idea when making goals that you set priorities for each goal and that you put some serious thought into whether or not they are TRULY important to you. Because when the going gets rough, its easy to abandon your goals.
d. Realistic – One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to set yourself up to fail. The goals you set should be achievable within the time period you specified. It is an art to determine goals that stretch you just enough without becoming unrealistic. The more facts you are basing your goals on the better you can predict real results.
e. Have a Target Date – Always, always include a target date to achieve your goals. Then note those dates in your calendar. Important to note here is HOW much time you allocate to each goal. Too much time affects your overall performance and not enough time sets you up for failure or poor quality.
3. Work Backwards – Once you have set your long term goals, you will need to break those goals down into monthly, then weekly then daily mini-goals. I’m a big fan of Excel sheets and calendars to show you what you need to do at specified intervals to achieve the end result. This is time management at its best and will help you to be as productive as you possibly can.
You should identify others that you need to delegate to in order to achieve your goals and when they need to complete their tasks by. Working backwards helps you avoid being at the same place a year from now, wandering why you didn’t succeed.
4. Review, Revise, Reimplement – Schedule regular intervals throughout the year to review your goals and whether or not you are on track to achieving them. If you are ahead or behind schedule, determine what has caused the change, revise your plans accordingly and reimplement for the remainder of the year.
This is a vital step to staying on track. Just like a captain steering his ship, a business owner needs to check direction and adjust for unforeseen circumstances to get to their final destination.
Goal setting and company planning should be done every year you are in business. Not only does this keep you on track, but it keeps you motivated. As a mother and an entrepreneur, who doesn’t need a little dose of motivation at times to keep you moving forward with your dream!
Plan for Success - To learn more about this author, visit Cidnee Stephen's Website.
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The new year is such an exciting time for businesses. Owners normally find themselves rejuvenated after the holidays and ready for an even BETTER new year. The desk gets cleared, the blank pages come out, the pen is poised and the first question that comes to mind is, “where do I start?”
Here is the thing with planning and goal setting. It’s fun, especially when done at the 50,000 foot level that entrepreneurs love. However, somehow these great ideas need to be realistically achieved or you are simply setting yourself up for failure.
Here are some guidelines to Plan for Success:
1. Start with the end in mind. Where do you want to be a year from now? Obviously one of the main goals you should determine is your gross revenue for the company and the net pay that goes into your pocket. But some other goals you may want to achieve relate to company growth (e.g. # of employees, new regions, products & services, etc). There is also nothing wrong in throwing in personal goals. Life is about balance. Good health, a positive outlook and peace of mind always make for a more productive business owner.
2. Make your goals S.M.A.R.T. Stay away from obscure goals. SMART goals are:
a. Specific – Avoid generalizing in your goals. Make them as specific as possible by incorporating as many of the following as you can into each goal.
i. Who is involved in the goal?
ii. What are you trying to accomplish?
iii. When will the goal be completed by?
iv. Where will this goal take place?
v. How will this goal be reached?
b. Measurable – Ask yourself, “How will I know I achieved my goal?” You will need to include measurement in your goal so you know you have succeeded in reaching them. (e.g. Increase of 2 employees, overall business growth of 6%, etc).
c. Agreed Upon – Goals should be agreed upon by all those that will be involved in making them happen. Even if you are solopreneur, if you delegate to others, ensure that they understand the importance of the goal. You also must agree to yourself that this goal is important. It is a good idea when making goals that you set priorities for each goal and that you put some serious thought into whether or not they are TRULY important to you. Because when the going gets rough, its easy to abandon your goals.
d. Realistic – One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to set yourself up to fail. The goals you set should be achievable within the time period you specified. It is an art to determine goals that stretch you just enough without becoming unrealistic. The more facts you are basing your goals on the better you can predict real results.
e. Have a Target Date – Always, always include a target date to achieve your goals. Then note those dates in your calendar. Important to note here is HOW much time you allocate to each goal. Too much time affects your overall performance and not enough time sets you up for failure or poor quality.
3. Work Backwards – Once you have set your long term goals, you will need to break those goals down into monthly, then weekly then daily mini-goals. I’m a big fan of Excel sheets and calendars to show you what you need to do at specified intervals to achieve the end result. This is time management at its best and will help you to be as productive as you possibly can.
You should identify others that you need to delegate to in order to achieve your goals and when they need to complete their tasks by. Working backwards helps you avoid being at the same place a year from now, wandering why you didn’t succeed.
4. Review, Revise, Reimplement – Schedule regular intervals throughout the year to review your goals and whether or not you are on track to achieving them. If you are ahead or behind schedule, determine what has caused the change, revise your plans accordingly and reimplement for the remainder of the year.
This is a vital step to staying on track. Just like a captain steering his ship, a business owner needs to check direction and adjust for unforeseen circumstances to get to their final destination.
Goal setting and company planning should be done every year you are in business. Not only does this keep you on track, but it keeps you motivated. As a mother and an entrepreneur, who doesn’t need a little dose of motivation at times to keep you moving forward with your dream!
Plan for Success - To learn more about this author, visit Cidnee Stephen's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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