ARK Blog

Your guide to making S.M.A.R.T. goals for the New Year

Get ready my small business friends because it’s GOAL time! There’s nothing more satisfying than knowing you’ve reached a big goal. Whether it’s finally landing that huge client or reaching that magic number of followers on Facebook, goals motivate us. They push us to strive for that next level of success. S.M.A.R.T. goals can help keep you on track, hold you accountable and set you up for ultimate victory.

S = Specific

The best goals are those that are clear-cut and well defined. Setting a goal to “get more business” won’t really help much. How do you want to get more business? Is it by developing a referral program with incentives to bring in “x” number of customers per month? Take time to think through the details and define a process that can help you achieve your goal. This can help build a foundation for a successful follow-through and acts as a road-map for you and your company.

M = Measurable

You don’t have to be good at math to realize numbers are a critical part of the business. Coming up with measurable goals will help hold you and your team accountable. Try to come up with some actual figures when considering your aspirations for growth. Defining your goals using specific numbers can make your initiatives trackable while motivating you to keep pushing forward.

R

A = Achievable

We love our small businesses, but we know some of you bite off a little bit more than you can chew at times. We’re not telling you to abandon your hopes and dreams but when it comes to goal setting, keep it realistic. Keep in mind your capacity and plans for growth but don’t overextend yourself.

R = Realistic

A good test to see if your goals are realistic is to compare them next to your mission statement and purpose for your business. Goals that fall outside of that realm and don’t align, are often not achievable. Ultimately, realistic goals should make sense with your overall business model.

T = Timely

When setting a goal, try not to leave it open-ended. You want to give it a time-frame that’s realistic. Think about how certain goals take more time to achieve than others and plan accordingly. It’s even a good idea to break down your goals into actions needed to achieve it and set a timeline for each piece of the process.

We wish you the best of luck with setting your S.M.A.R.T. goals for next year! We hope we’ve given you lots of inspiration to crush your goals and set you up for success. Check back soon for more useful tips on how to leverage your small business in a big world of competition. If you need help managing certain aspects of your small business or you’d like to know more about the services ARK Marketing has to offer, email us or comment below! Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram for industry news, inspiration, and helpful tidbits for finding small business success.

Sincerely,

The ARK Crew

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