Why are you not achieving the results you want in your business? 

As business owners, it would be a fair assumption that we all want great results and we want to achieve the goals we set for ourselves, so that we can achieve increased profit and have better systems and processes within the business.

Firstly, business owners need to be really clear on SMART goals, i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and the Time Frame. The term SMART goals often feels like it is overused but in practice most business owners are not good at all at setting proper SMART goals.

Let's use an example from life I might say at the start of the year that my goal is to be healthier this year. This is a very poorly defined goal and it really is unlikely to make any significant difference in my health. 

An example of a SMART health goal would be that I want my weight to be 75 kg's before the 31 st of March 2023.

This will tick all the boxes for a SMART goal as opposed to just wanting to be healthier this year. It is important to note that goals have to be written as outcomes, i.e. what is the end result that I want from the business or life.

Being clear on the outcome and results then helps us to get clarity in the inputs and activities required to achieve the goal. 

For example, having clarity on my goal above will now inform my activity schedule/inputs, I now need to have a non-negotiable routine to run 10 km three times per week and to refrain from any snacking between meals. This informs the inputs and activities I have to do i.e. the plan to achieve the goals.

In business, I often see business owners muddling up the goals and the activities.  An example of a poor business goal would be a business owner saying; "I want to appoint a sales representative" - this is not well defined at all and very unlikely to have the desired effect. 

An example of a SMART sales goal would be to Increase sales in region A by R 10 mil by 31 March 2023 whilst achieving a 40% average gross profit margin.

Having that level of clarity on the desired outcomes then informs the detail inputs or activities we have to implement. In this example the input activities would for example be to calculate the leads required, implement the marketing strategies, recruit the right sales representative, train the sales representative, draw up the call cycle etc. etc. These types of activities or inputs are then easy to plot on a project plan or to do list with responsibilities and goal dates.

Defining SMART goals and documenting the activities in a plan is half the battle won but nothing changes unless we are really good at implementing and sticking with the plan. One of the reasons business owners don't execute is procrastination or "lack of motivation".

It is true that motivation can be fickle and if a business owner does not feel like doing a specific activity they will tend to just "kick the can down the road" to the determent of the business results. To get better at implementing the activities in the plan business owners need to focus more on routines and scheduling than motivation. 

This means that the plans and activities required to achieve our goals need to form part of our routines and we need to schedule non negotiable time in our default diaries to work on this. Success is much more likely to come from being disciplined with our routines and diary scheduling than waiting to "feel motivated" 

Do you struggle with setting and achieving goals?

Then get in touch for a Complementary Business Coaching session

Contact Megan from my office at hbdm@actioncoach.com