04

Jan

Business Goals and Accountability

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Business GoalsBusiness goals only become reality when we take the proper steps to reach them.  One of the steps that matters in a big way is how we hold ourselves accountable.  If we don’t put systems in place that make us accountable to ourselves and to others around us we severely limit our potential.  It’s fairly easy to write out your goals, and come up with objectives once you have the tools to do so.  What has been a challenge for me personally is getting others to hold me accountable for the goals I’ve set.  There are no shortcuts to success and I believe accountability is one of the keys to reaching your business goals consistently.

How to Reach Your Goals More Consistently

There are few simple accountability steps that I recommend when you want to add extra power to your goals.  When you add these tools to your goals and objectives arsenal you’ll be able to reach your dreams faster and more efficiently.

Five Accountability Steps for Your Business Goals:

  1. Make your business goals public on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook
  2. Ask your family to check up on you
  3. Tell your team at work what you are doing
  4. Schedule your accountability checkups with the people you trust and respect
  5. Hire a business coach

I know how scary it can be to involve others in your personal dreams and goals.  Don’t let that fear keep you from moving forward.  Start with someone you can trust and share your goals with them.  Ask them for feedback on your objectives.  I find that just talking through what my goals are with someone else helps me find the errors in my thought process.

Once you’re comfortable with sharing your goals with a friend or family member, you should carefully consider hiring a business coach.  The reason that I recommend paying for a business coach is because once you are paying for accountability you’ll tend to act on the advice rather than just ignore it (which we sometimes do when we get advice from friends or family).  You’ll achieve your business goals a lot faster when you have someone personally interested in seeing you succeed.

Business goals can seem overwhelming at first, but when you define the goal, the objectives, and use accountability you can succeed more consistently.

Take action today and reap the benefits of strategic accountability!

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501 days ago Short URL Comments

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31

Dec

How To Create Daily Objectives From Your Goals

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If you are a small business owner you have probably written out goals at the beginning of the year before.  If you are wondering what your goals from January 2010 were, and you can’t remember any of them, you aren’t alone.  Often we get pumped up and write a big dream list (goals) and forget that we need clear business objectives in order to reach them.

How to Break Goals Down Into Objectives

I use a few different tactics to break down my goals into single objectives but  I’m only going to share my favorite technique here today.

When I can create bite sized objectives it is easier to in realtime see if I am on track to reach my goals or not.  The first thing I do with a goal is create a time break down.  If your goal is to make $100,000.00 next year then what does that mean?  Here is how I would look at it:

income objectives

This approach keeps me excited about the big dream, the goal, and it gives me smaller indicators that I can measure with each hour, day, week, and so on.  I try to do this for anything big that I try to accomplish.  This is one of reasons why I love spreadsheets because excel is the perfect tool to map out your objectives with.

Daily and Weekly Review

The only way to consistently hit objectives is to do personal daily and weekly reviews of your own performance.  It is also very important to have someone to hold you accountable to your goals.

Where should you place your goals and objectives so that you see them daily?  On the bathroom mirror? behind your computer screen up on the wall?  Wherever it is you need to make sure that you see your goal constantly.  Unless you visualize your goals, and see the objectives necessary to complete them, you won’t effectively move forward and reach your ultimate goal.

Today, take the time to write out your goals, then break them down into daily objectives.  Give yourself something easy to measure.  Use this breakdown as the objectives you need to accomplish on a daily basis.

To your success in 2011!

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505 days ago Short URL Comments

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28

Dec

Business Goals – What is Your Goal?

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Business GoalsSetting and achieving your business goals will be the difference maker in your success as a small business owner.  Even though it is easy to dream big dreams, it is much more difficult to take action and reach your goals.  This requires clear thoughts and decisive actions.  Goals are dreams that require clear objectives to reach them.

Describe Your Business Goals Clearly and Concisely

It’s easy to state vague goals and in doing so we don’t have any real commitment to concrete objectives.  Instead of your goals being vague “I want to sell more next year”, “I want to be more efficient with my time next year” outline exactly what your goal is.  Write out clear objectives:

  • I want to sell 10% more than last year.  My gross sales should equal $525,140.00 by December 31st, 2011
  • I want to accomplish all my tasks in 8 hours each day, instead of working 10-12 hours per day

Once you’ve clearly and concisely identified what you want to accomplish it is much easier to take the right actions.

What Will it Take to Reach Your Business Goals

A realistic look at what it will take your business to reach the goals you’ve outlined is important.  You must accurately and honestly measure the resources that you can dedicate to your goals.  As an example, if you wanted to implement consistent training you’d have to:

  • Schedule consistent times for training
  • Obtain or update relevant training material
  • Communicate the value of training to the rest of your team

Those pieces of your goal would require time, money, and planning.  You have to have an accurate and honest view of what this means for your business.  Once you’ve stated your goal clearly, take plenty of time to think about what it takes to reach the goals you’ve outlined.

When does this Goal Need to be Accomplished

Once you’ve clearly defined the goals, and determined what your business needs to accomplish them, you need to clearly lay out a time frame to accomplish them.  To reach your goal you’ll need to schedule consistent times to work on the objectives that step you closer towards your goal.  Be realistic in when the goal can be completed, but don’t set a date so far away that the goal doesn’t seem real.  If your goal is so huge that you’ve planned for it to take three years you may want to break it down into smaller goals.  Once you’ve determined when the goal needs to be completed use focus techniques that help you reach your goals consistently and effectively.

How do you reach your goals?  Share what works for you in the comments.

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508 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

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27

Dec

What’s Next on GabeArnold.com

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Around this time of the year I like to take time to reflect on what I’ve done and look forward to the coming year.  I lay out my goals and take time away to think.  That’s why you haven’t heard from me in a few days.  I hope you had a terrific holiday and that you are coming back to a productive and profitable week.  Here’s what’s coming next (my rough outline of the next few weeks of posts):

Setting and Achieving Goals:

1. What is the goal?

  • Describe it clearly
  • What will it take?
  • What is the time frame

2. What objectives will it take to reach the goal?

  • Break down the steps
  • Daily review
  • Weekly review

3. Accountability

  • Be public about your goal
  • Track it publicly
  • Ask someone to personally hold you accountable

What is an Entrepreneur?

1. Thinking Large From the Beginning

  • Building with systems
  • Building to scale
  • Mass market appeal

2. Someone Who Provides for Others

  • Grow your business for others
  • Grow other leaders around you
  • Impact your community

3. Resilience

  • Mistakes are our education
  • We know businesses fail
  • We can remake ourselves

Small Business Financial Success

1. Five Things I Wish I’d Known About Finances

  • Pay yourself first – no one else will
  • It’s your money, you decide when and where it goes
  • Monthly expenses will eat you alive
  • You don’t have to pay your bills on time
  • You don’t have to pay “prevailing wage”

2. How Much is My Business Worth?

  • It’s not worth much unless you have systems
  • Rule of thumb 1.5 times revenue
  • Are you building to sell?

3. Five Ways To Save More Money In Your Business

  • Review Your Checking Account Thoroughly
  • Eliminate Services You Haven’t Used Within 30 Days
  • Trim Down Existing Services
  • Turn Down the Heat
  • Eliminate Wasted Labor

4. In Depth Cash Flow Analysis

  • Review Your Statements and Categorize Expenses
  • Look at Actual Collection Amounts
  • Build a Spreadsheet
  • Split Revenue Into Categories
  • Check Your Pulse Monthly

5. Make More Money Without New Products, Services, or Customers

  • Negotiate better pricing from vendors
  • Ask customers if they need more
  • Ask Your Team How To Make

That’s your sneak peak!  If you have any thoughts on one of these points specifically, or if you have something else you’d like me to cover, please let me know.

Here’s to your continued growth and success in 2011!

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508 days ago Short URL Comments

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