Specific Goal Setting

Is just setting goals enough to achieve your business objectives? It's a fallacy, one very easy to believe, but the fact remains that a goal like an expanded customer base is simply not enough. This is where specific goals come in. They help you achieve your targets in a better way, and to recognize when have met them.

When setting an effective goal, you cannot afford to be vague. You must research and come up with a set of specifics that state your goal in measurable terms. A goal like "I want to increase sales" is incomplete and ambiguous and cannot be considered an effective goal.

First, you need to know how you will define whether you have reached your goal. Business goal setting needs to be done with a measurable result in mind. For instance, you could say that you will increase sales by 5% this year. Or you could say that you want to increase foot traffic through your store to 50 people per day. These are specific goals that allow you to have measurable results.

Make sure, however, that your specific goals are attainable. In your first year of business you might not be able to achieve 50 people per day. It may take a couple of years to get to a point where 10% sales increases over the year is a feasible goal. You should be able to set reasonable goals that you can hope to achieve.

But your goal need to be not just reasonable, but also challenging. If they're not, they will not spur you to work hard to bring out your best. Your goal should enable you to achieve the fine balane between attainability and going that extra mile to meet a challenge, so you can move on to more ambitious targets, and achieve them.

Creating a plan to achieve your goal is an essential part of business goal setting. Essentially, creating this plan to achieve one over arching goal is setting a few smaller goals that lead to the finale. Breaking down a big goal into smaller sections of smaller goals is a great way to keep up morale as you move toward your ultimate goal. A specific plan for accomplishing your specific goal can help you more efficiently reach your destination.

If you set an effective, specific business goal, you will have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and chances are your business will thrive. Most businesses collapse within the first five years which is why you should devise a five year plan which consists of a range of specific goals. Without a specific goal and plan, your business will be doomed to failure from the start. Specific goal setting helps you to accomplish your goals and to succeed. But the key to achievement lies in writing them down, it makes your vision more real, more solid. And write out your plan, so you know exactly how much you've achieved, and what you need to do next. As a matter of fact, unwritten goals often remain pipe dreams, they are never met. So set it straightaway, put pen to paper, and off you go! Well on the path of success and achievement.

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About the author: Vlad Ehrsam writes exclusively for Full Info on Business, visit there today for the latest Business advice, and why not sign up for the free Business newsletter.
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