Tips to set the Right Targets for Your Business.

Every business needs to set targets for success, but how do you set the right targets for your business? It starts with you setting the overall direction, determining where you want your company to go, and documenting it in an easy-to-understand strategy summary. Once created, this document should be reviewed by your team throughout the year to be sure you’re on track to achieve goals.

The first step in setting the right targets for your business is to establish or review your company’s mission and vision. Even if you have a mission and vision statement, it’s always a good idea to review them at least annually to see if they are still relevant to how your company has matured and where you want it to go. If not, it’s time to update them. And, if you never developed them, this is the perfect first step to setting the right targets. Be sure these statements are inspiring. Everyone in your organization needs to have a clear understanding of where they are heading and if there is any chance of getting there.

Next, with vision and mission in mind, it’s time to create a simple one pager that captures your company’s top-level plan, objectives, and priorities. This will help you to being one of the 10% of companies to actually turn their strategic goals into results, because it will be easy for anyone in the company to read and understand what the priorities are, focus on what’s important, monitor and manage how the team is progressing toward those objectives.

A crucial part of any company’s plans and target setting process needs to include external changes that impact your business in the next year. Businesses are impacted by legislation such as political instability the new regulatory requirements may shift your strategy.

Set the right targets for your business with these tips

Every goal needs a number of key performance indicators and targets to measure and monitor success against. Here are some tips to keep in mind when you set targets:

1. The most successful targets are those that are stretching but realistic and achievable.
2. In order to make them stretching, realistic and achievable you need to benchmark your targets. On a most basic level, you can simply baseline current performance levels, look at trends and then stretch your target accordingly. More smart ways are to look for external comparisons, industry benchmarks, and best practice standards to help set targets.
3. Every target needs a time reference, i.e. by when you want to achieve it. Improving customer satisfaction is not a great target. Improving customer satisfaction from 55 to 65 by the end of 2023 is better.
4. ?It is also a good idea to set different milestone targets for different time frames, e.g. short-term (next quarter) and longer-term (next year, two or three).

Once your targets are set, there are a few more things to consider:

1. ?Make sure you establish an action plan on how you will achieve each of your targets and milestones.
2. Make sure you monitor the performance against your goals and targets on a regular basis.
3. Make sure you review and adjust your targets regularly to reflect changes in your performance as well as the external environment.
4. Finally, make sure you celebrate and reward the successful delivery of targets and goals.

It doesn’t matter what products or services you sell or whether your company is a multinational giant or a small start-up, setting the right targets for your business is the way to stay focused, keep your organization advancing forward, and sets your company up for success.