How to Set A SMART Business Goal

Goal-setting is an important step in achieving success no matter what your business is, but it can be easy to overlook or not give a lot of thought. While it might be exciting to get straight into the work, working without a goal won’t yield many useful results. To continue improving, one needs a standard with which to measure success. This is where business goals come in.

Business goals can be used for a business in the broader sense or specific projects within a business. Five key components are important for a business goal to be successful. The goal needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. This is often shortened into the acronym SMART. Start by thinking of a more generalized idea of what you want your business to achieve, then apply SMART to make the goal actionable.

1.  Specific: A business goal needs to be specific. The more clear, concise, and understandable the goal is, the easier it will be to know exactly which steps to take to achieve that goal. Having a goal such as “I want my company to grow” is too broad. Narrow down exactly how you want your company to grow. A way to revise this could be “I want my company’s revenue to grow.”

2.  Measurable: A standard of measurement is also necessary. This is how you’ll be able to keep track of your progress. To add a measurement to the example above, the new goal could say, “I want my company’s revenue to increase by at least 20%.” The addition of the 20% metric makes the goal measurable.

3.  Achievable: It is natural to have high expectations for your business, but it will be hard to put your growth into perspective if your expectations are too high. Not everyone can be a Fortune 500 company. This is why a business goal needs to be achievable as well. Consider looking to similar-sized businesses in the same industry for how fast and how much you should be growing.

4.  Relevant: Keep your business goal relevant to your business’s specific situation. For example, if it doesn’t make sense for your business to focus on in-person sales because your product isn’t in a lot of storefronts, choose a different metric that makes more sense for your business to focus on.

5.  Timely: Having a timeline for your business goal is crucial to keeping your business on track. A good example of this could be “I want my company’s revenue to increase by at least 20% in the next four months”. If you notice your business is falling short of your goal in this timeframe, then you know you need to tweak your strategy.

Set SMART Goals with Help from Kimberly Prescott Speaks

As the owner of Prescott HR and a recognized business and management consulting expert, Kimberly Prescott is passionate about unintimidated HR. If you are interested in inspiring your team and transforming your HR department into a thriving, integral part of your workplace, then reach out to Kimberly Prescott for your next webinar or conference at (443) 351-8818.