Setting goals

There are two main types of goals that you should focus on when planning for your business’s future success, long-term and short-term. The long-term goals, which you should set yourself, are going to be the most important on a large scale, and will help you to determine the direction your business is going to take, how it is going to grow and where it will be in five to ten years.

Long-term Goals

Focus on specific areas of your business that you would like to improve, expand or simply develop, and indicate how you want them to have changed in your allotted time period. If you are starting a new business, try to set goals that you would like to achieve within five years of operation. If you are new to the marketplace, you are less likely to be able to predict what you can achieve and how the marketplace is likely to change over a longer period.

When setting these goals, try to include all of your managers, asking them to help decide what the business’s objectives should be. You are going to need their interest and cooperation to help you to achieve these goals, and they are likely to show a greater commitment if they have a hand in formulating the plan.

Some areas to consider when setting your long term goals are:

-    Sales
-    Profits
-    Competitive position
-    Development of personnel
-    Industrial relations

Short-term Goals

Setting short-term goals, especially when you are just starting out in business, will help you to manage the progress of your staff and encourage them to work towards their long-term objectives as they achieve each of their short-term goals.

It is a good idea to ask your staff to set these goals for themselves to get them involved in the process and thinking about they can help to improve your business. Short-term goals should be achievable within a shorter time frame, possibly weekly, monthly or bi-annually.

All goals should support the overall objectives that you have set for your business and help you and your staff work toward achieving them.