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As a business owner, you know how important it is to set goals that facilitate company growth. Without goals, a realistic strategy for achieving your objectives, and an infrastructure capable of supporting your vision, any progress your company makes can be attributed to luck or mere coincidence. You would have to search far and wide to find a story of a small business that became a large enterprise by accident. It takes hard work, cash flow, strategy, and discipline to establish your startup as a company to be reckoned with.
Goal setting is the best way to make your startup company viable, gain an edge over your competitors in the marketplace, and increase your bottom line. To learn how you can set smart goals to enhance your business strategy, grow your customer base, and maximize business results, continue reading.
1. Use the SMART Goals model for goal setting.
Did you know that “SMART goals” is an acronym that serves as a practical model for setting effective goals? No matter what type of business you own, these principles can aid your goal-setting strategy and help your company get the most out of your company objectives.
The S in smart goals stands for specific. Many business owners make the mistake of being too ambiguous about their goals, and therefore, no one has any real idea of what’s expected of them. When your goals are specific, it’s easier to get your team members in alignment with them.
The M in “SMART goals” is for measurable. The only way to track the progress of your company toward its goals is if you can measure outcomes using success metrics that detail the efficacy of your business strategy. Creating benchmarks also helps when trying to hold team members to account for key results that directly impact company performance.
The A stands for attainable or achievable. It’s hard to promote employee engagement when you set the bar too high. The key is to make the goals attainable so that you can keep your team morale high. A great way to push your small business toward its big goals is to set short-term goals and metrics for achievement.
The R stands for relevant. Your employees know a lot more about your business processes than you might think. That means if you set goals that don’t immediately impact the customer experience, worker experience, or the company’s bottom line, they’ll know it. If you want to get their all, you have to make the goals relevant to the success of the company.
The T in “SMART goals” stands for time-sensitive. One of the reasons Malliha Wilson has been able to accomplish so much in her career practicing labour law, corporate law, complex litigation, and now serving as the new owner and senior counsel of her own law firm is by putting a deadline on her goals. Malliha got to the helm of her own startup law firm through hard work and setting ambitious goals while she worked as a litigator for human rights and voting rights law. The best way to ensure that your goals remain the top subject of your team’s focus is to make them time-sensitive.
2. Consult your team members to promote employee ownership.
When employees treat the company like they own it, the results are great for the company and the customers. One of the best ways to promote employee ownership is to get your team members’ expert advice on how to enhance the company culture and business strategy.
As mentioned earlier, your employees understand your business operations better than anyone else, which means they’re the best advisors to give you a sense of the company’s direction and how to improve it. If you want to gain a competitive advantage and get the best out of your team members, you should try picking their brains to find out how their vision of the company looks.
Many large enterprises offer ESOP programs to their employees to give them actual employee ownership. If you’re a newbie business owner, you’re probably wondering, “What is ESOP?” ESOP stands for employee stock ownership plan, and it’s a way of awarding employees for their years of experience and hard work with company shares. Once again, there’s no better motivator for excellence and employee alignment with company goals than employee ownership.
You might also be wondering, “How do I sell my business shares?” The good news is that there are companies like PCE that help private companies manage financials and become public companies. If you need help managing employee benefits, stock options, and finding strategic buyers for your stock options, rely on an industry expert like PCE.
3. Use technology to enhance and measure employee performance.
Even with the best-laid plans, you still need ways to measure your company’s progress, employee performance, and other key results that help in setting and working toward company objectives. With Workboard OKRs software, you can set and measure objectives and key results for everything from employee performance to social media marketing campaigns.
As you know, in recent years, social media has become one of the best marketing tools available for small businesses. As a result, many companies have gone from making television commercials to making product videos for online viewing. Online marketing videos have many of the same effective tactics as commercials but with the affordability and access to a broader customer base that small business owners are looking for.
COLDEA Productions is one of the top product videography companies in the United States. If you’re looking for a good product video that will enhance your online presence, you should contact COLDEA.
4. Employ market research to get a better understanding of industry standards and best practices.
Doing market research is a great way to get an overview of your market to see exactly what your competitors are doing to attract and keep their customer base. It can also help you to set measurable goals based on industry standards. Whether you own a financial institution or wellness store, you should perform market research before changing your company objectives and business strategy.
5. You must hold employees accountable for achieving company objectives.
Holding your employees accountable for their productivity is one of the most important parts of making sure your company achieves its goals. The fact of the matter is that, no matter how smart your goals are, you probably won’t achieve them if you don’t put a system in place to hold your team members accountable for the things they can directly influence and control like their effort, adherence to best practices, and punctuality. It’s up to you to set the tone and culture for your company, and it starts with holding your team accountable.