Welcome to another new year and another opportunity to drive your business success forward by setting goals and intentions.
If you don’t like using the term ‘goal setting’ you may prefer to think of the work you do here as business planning. After all, “a goal without a dream is only a plan” and the dreams you have for your future business are worthy of hard work and preparation.
What do you want to accomplish in 2022?
The first step of goal setting is to understand what you want. That might be a financial target you want to achieve, new premises, learning a new skill, switching your products or services, taking on employees, or outsourcing your social media. Your business goals will be unique to you and your business.
The easiest way to set business goals is to follow a simple three-step process:
Step 1 – Choose a theme
Step 2 – Identify the action steps you need to take
Step 3 – Commit
There is no right or wrong way to go about your goal-setting strategy. I love grabbing a piece of paper and brainstorming the areas I want to work on and develop. Our Woman Who Achieves Academy began life as an idea mapped out on paper, and continues to evolve and grow.
Getting started with goal setting
Think back to before you started your business. What plans did you have? What did you want to achieve? Have you managed it? Is your business where you hoped it would be? If not, why not? Where do you see your business being in 2-5 years?
Reflecting on where your business is at the moment helps you see and celebrate what you have already achieved. You can then see any gaps that need filling or areas that need attention or have room for growth.
When you think about your goals divide them into the short and long term.
Examples of short term goals (life and business) include:
- Increase your prices by 3% over the first quarter
- Finish an online training course
- Do 30-minutes of exercise five days a week
- Read one book a month
- Connect with five new people every month
Examples of long term goals (life and business) include:
- Transition from a corporate role to running your own business
- Buy a house
- Clear your debt
- Earn a professional degree
- Retrain for a new career
Your theme for 2022 might be a financial one. The action steps you take to achieve the goals associated with this theme might include re-evaluating your prices and offerings, possibly putting your prices up by 3% in the first quarter, aiming for a set target, reducing your outgoings, and marketing a specific service to reach your objective.
Setting SMART goals
Setting SMART goals allows you to get clear about your intentions, stay focused, think about the use of time and necessary processes, and give you the best chance of business success.
But what does SMART stand for?
Specific – be as clear as possible about what you want to achieve this year
Measurable – ensure you track your goal so you know when you’ve succeeded
Achievable – only set goals that you have the time, energy, funds, etc. to complete
Relevant – make sure your goal coincides with your values and is worthwhile
Timely – Plan around your busy diary and give yourself a deadline
When you are getting specific, ask yourself what you want to achieve, why it is important to you, and who can help?
To stay measurable you need to know when your goal is accomplished, which is why tracking your progress is so important. You may assign a measurable goal of selling 10 online courses or signing three new clients – use questions such as ‘how many do I want to sell?’ to help you make your decision.
An achievable goal needs to remain realistic. You wouldn’t run the London marathon without setting up a training schedule first. Think about your goal and ask yourself if you can physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially accomplish it.
A relevant business goal means it has value to you and your career. It’s something you are passionate about and look forward to sinking your teeth into over the coming year.
Any timely goals will have a target date that works with our current diary and schedule. Give yourself a deadline to help you stay focused. Ask yourself what you can achieve in 3, 6, 9, or 12 months.
Putting all of these tips into practice, set yourself a SMART goal for your business in 2022. Share your intention in our Facebook group so the Woman Who Achieves community can support you.
Bringing your goals to life
It can be fun to gift yourself an hour to brainstorm the ideas and plans you have for your business success moving forward, but without taking action your goals will never be accomplished.
How do you bring your goals to life?
The next logical stage is to map out the action steps you need to take. If your goal is to sell 10 online courses as per our measurable example above, you would need to assign smaller steps such as:
- Take out a Facebook Ad to promote the course
- Create a dedicated sales page on your website
- Write a blog post highlighting the benefits
- Publish a podcast episode talking about elements of the course
- Offer a discount for new students/clients
Break down all of your goals into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Celebrate your success
Planning for success is fun and taking positive action to secure the growth of your business will take time, dedication, motivation, and determination. Once you hit your financial target, reach your deadline, sign new clients, start that business, or achieve your other goals it’s imperative that you celebrate.
Without acknowledging your successes they will never feel like a true win. Celebrate and use this to motivate future intentions.
What next?
Start your Woman Who journey today and make 2022 your best year yet! Register now for a Woman Who Inspires Network Event in 2022.
Explore the many benefits open to our Woman Who members. Power up your personal brand and get visible from just £35 per month (12-month payment plan, no renewal. This is a one-off subscription to Academy Gold).
Grow yourself and your business with the Woman Who Achieves Academy.
“Joining The Woman Who Achieves Academy has been, by far, the best business decision I made for a very long time! The Academy is home to a motivated group of businesswomen, ready to support each other, who bring their particular skills and knowledge to the group for the benefit of the community. Sandra is everything you’d expect: a wonderful business role model for us all, and a genuinely caring and warm human being, who shares her knowledge and ideas for our betterment. In short, The Woman Who Achieves Academy is a safe place for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and even problems, and it also has a social aspect which is much needed right now, in the Autumn of 2020! I’d wholeheartedly recommend you join us!”- Andrea de Gabriel, Portrait Photographer
The Woman Who Achieves Academy is a fast-track environment of learning and support to help you power up your personal brand and get visible. There are three levels of subscription:
Academy Lite – for women in business who are just starting out on their journey and not quite ready or unable to devote the time just yet. This level provides all the weekly learning, networking in the Facebook Group, and a Directory entry.
Academy Gold – for women in business who are ready to power up their personal brand and get visible through the opportunities created.
Academy Platinum – for women in business who want to accelerate their business growth and visibility through public speaking.
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