28/07/2013
How to set targets for your business:::
Businesses need targets. They act as the yardstick for success and provide a visible North Star by which to set the direction you’ll take.
But of course, if the star is in the wrong place you’re sure to drift off course, and you might find yourself a long way both from where you started out and where you want to go. So how do you make sure the targets you set are the right ones?
Types of targets
Of course, you’ll want to set goals regarding the money you hope to make, but profit is not the only target you should set.
Look at every aspect of your business - what kind of growth are you planning? Are you hoping to move to new or additional premises? Perhaps you’re thinking of hiring more staff. How good do you expect your customer service to be? A growing number of businesses are also setting goals for what they can give back to their communities, through fundraising or other social responsibility initiatives.
Vital statistics
Consider the best way to measure how you’re performing. Customer service might be best measured through client feedback or repeat business, while community involvement could be judged by hours spent volunteering or money raised. Be specific, too - boiling performance down to cold hard numbers can often help with this.
The long and short of it
Separate your aims into long and short-term goals. The latter should bring you closer to the former, so you should make sure that they’re closely related and don’t conflict with each other. Then set deadlines for each - the end of a year or month is often best for short-term strategies, while longer-term goals are sometimes best judged over five or more years.
Keep it doable
Be ambitious but remember that big goals take time to achieve, especially when you’re first starting out. Look at the resources available to you and set the targets that are achievable.
Consistency
If your targets contradict each other, at least one will not be met. Customer service, for example, is often expensive in terms of time and money, so if 100 per cent satisfaction is top of your list, you might have to accept that your margins will not be as high as you’d like. But that’s the best thing about running a business - there’s no set pattern for what makes a business successful. That’s for you to judge.
