They are simple things, really.  Looking ahead for the future of your business.

Sounds dry and boring, right?

Nope! You have to look at setting goals for your business with the same enthusiasm as that soccer (futbol) announcer from a few years back:

GGGOOOAAALLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Setting goals for yourself and your company is a joyful thing. Really.  Think of it as charting the course for your child, your baby—it’s exciting to know what you have in store from them as the mission unfolds.  Think about it as a way to help navigate around the unknown—if you begin with the end in mind, it becomes simpler to avoid disaster.

What makes a goal a goal?

  • Specificity—it is clear what you are trying to accomplish.
  • Quantifiable—how much or how big?
  • Measurable—this helps give it shape and a reality.
  • A timeframe—give yourself a deadline to accomplish your goa.

As for how many, that’s up to you.  By examining your company and yourself you know what you are capable of you by when.

What kind of goals should you set?

  • Financial
  • Operational
  • Marketing
  • Sales

While those other areas are important, that first one, financial, is why we are here. Setting financial goals are really important, but they shouldn’t be conceived in isolation.  That is, you can’t set a financial goal without knowing the condition and goals of your operation. By the same token, you can’t set serious financial goals without knowing the direction your sales and marketing people are going.

Are we ready to set some goals?

For more on how to set goals for your business, call or write to us.  TFO Solutions is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and business owners with their financial strategy from the back office to the boardroom.

**photos courtesy of Unsplash (photographers Catherine Hughes and Berge Maelum); video courtesy of YouTube and Joel Leistmann