Your Business Needs to Set SMART Goals 

For many of us business owners, setting business goals are catalysts for moving toward improved cash flows. The mistake we make, however, is that the goals we set are sometimes ambiguous and may leave us without a quantifiable way to measure our progress. 

To truly advance your business to a place of success, SMART goals are key. It’s an optimal way to guide business goals toward enhancing productivity, maintaining positive cash flows, and carving out time you need to enjoy the fruits of your labor. 

What is a SMART Goal?

SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely:

• Specific - The goal you set should be clear and have a very specific endpoint. 
• Measurable - You should have the ability to track your progress to assess when the goal is met. 
• Achievable - Ensure the goal you set is reasonable and not too ambitious to the point you aren’t able to attain it. 
• Realistic - The goal you set for yourself should be related to your pursuits while offering direct benefits. 
• Timely - Create a timeframe to help you stay motivated and keep you on track. 

Working with each of the five elements above will help you build a business goal that is measurable and assess what you need to achieve it, including the when-and-how to know if you’ve been successful in doing so. The SMART approach eliminates the guesswork, sets a timeline that is clear, and allows for your progress to be more easily tracked--as well as identifying missed milestones. 

How SMART Goals Work

Success can seem like a vague notion to many, but the use of SMART goals helps you recognize the context of the work you have ahead of you. In simple terms, the SMART goal should include action items that illustrate success. 

Writing the components of a SMART goal designed for your business is easy to do when you give yourself prompts to follow. For instance, a specific goal will answer questions such as

• What objective needs to be accomplished?
• Who is responsible for the objective?
• What steps are needed to achieve it?

In terms of your business, laying out SMART goals will help you achieve success through measurable outcomes such as improved cash flow, growing your business, and increasing revenue. 

By bringing greater structure and adding trackability to your goals and objectives, you’re given verifiable trajectories toward a desired objective. Every goal or object, regardless of its scope, can be made SMART and get you closer to the reality of success. 

For commercial pursuits, SMART goal setting is one of the most effective tools for attaining business goals. Beginning with an outline of your project, you can then set specific goals and use the SMART checklist to evaluate your business’s objectives.

By creating company-wide transparency, SMART goal setting offers clarification for the manner in which goals are set and implemented, and the criteria needed to realize them. 

Accomplishing Your SMART Goals

Now that you have a clearer understanding of the formula needed to attain success, you’ll want to know how to begin. These are some of the ways you can put your team on track to success.

• Write down your goal. You’ve established a goal, so go ahead and move forward by writing it down. Doing so will offer a reminder of what you and your team are working toward. It’s a simple first step that will put the rest in motion.
• Create regular check-ins. You may feel a rush of enthusiasm in the initial phases of a project or goal, but that may fade quickly when it comes time to starting the work. Goals aren’t achieved overnight, and checking in on progress will help ensure you remain on track.
• Celebrate achievement. Every win along the way should be celebrated. Smaller wins and recognizing milestones are equally important to your bigger and more overarching business goals. All are helping you and your team advance to where you want to be. Celebrating wins also ensures enthusiasm is maintained and will help keep eyes on the prize. 

SMART goals help us define nearly every aspect of our lives. From business opportunities to personal relationships, life is about priorities and finding ways that work to help us gain greater success.

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