Goals that work!

We often view goal-setting from a financial perspective. The reason why is that typically means they are specific and measurable, but what about the "art" in SMART (SMART goals)? We also have to ask if they are attainable, realistic, and bound by time. Let's look at some less-than-ideal examples:

• Grow to the largest clothing manufacturer in the country
• Grow sales by $1 million
• Open a new location every month

The good is these are somewhat specific and measurable, but have no timeline. Without the timeline, we also don't know if these are attainable or reasonable. Let's look at how to rewrite those:

• Increase sales by $10 million this year, in order to become the 4th largest soccer clothing manufacturer in the United States.
• Grow sales of our grip sock product by $1 million in 2023.
• Open one new location every time working capital reaches $1 million, assuming we will fund without debt.

We have assumed these are attainable, but they narrow down to a specific timeline or trigger point. We highly recommend being this specific when you set goals for your business or organization. In the next post, we will give an overview of how we set budgets using these goals.