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Business Growth Goals | Rule Number One
FACT: BUSINESS OWNERS WHO ARE NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO MAKE DECISIONS INDEPENDENTLY WILL NEVER ACTUALIZE THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL.
Constantly using your team as a scapegoat prevents you from playing a bigger game.
When you come across an idea that you like, why would you not?
This article discusses the importance of goal setting for business growth in large and small businesses. And I discuss the two most important rules to achieve your goals.
WHAT ARE BUSINESS GOALS?
An achievable goal is a short statement detailing the desired outcome accomplished over a long time frame –typically three to five years.
It is an overarching goal stating broadly the desired results.
Some examples of business goals include the following:
- Increasing revenues
- Increasing efficiency
- Increasing productivity
- Maximizing profit margin
- Becoming an industry leader
- Creating a brand
Remember, a goal does not describe the methods and new strategies to get the intended outcome.
WHY ARE BUSINESS GOALS IMPORTANT?
Creating a solid business objective is essential for your organization because it:
- Keeps employees focused on growth
- Promotes accountability and transparency in your sales team
- Motivates you and your team toward a goal
- Drives team cooperation and collaboration
- Assists in structuring tasks and responsibilities
- Can increase your market share
- Builds better working relationships
- Can promote efficiency and control
If you do not have a business goal for your company, I question your commitment to growth.
RULE 1: DO NOT ALLOW YOUR SALES TEAM TO PREVENT PROGRESS
I often tell business owners that business goals for growth are not actualized because the team isn’t on the same page.
The only time this occurs is when you allow them to prevent progress.
If you want to do something.
If you want to grow.
If you want to take the next step.
But your team decides that it would require more work than they’re prepared to put in.
Ask yourself:
- What are the true business goals of the organization?
- Are we looking to grow? Increase productivity?
- Are we looking to maintain profits and stay focused?
- Or are we simply looking to survive?
Know this; your team will take leadership cues from you.
But if you keep asking for permission to grow, you’re going to alienate your top performers and give a voice to mediocrity.
You have to understand the impact of your decisions and how you arrived at those decisions.
Remember, indecisiveness is a weakness.
You tell them you want to grow and that they need to work harder to hit increasing revenue goals.
Then 10 minutes later, your fear prevents you from making the right decision for the organization.
You want the reason your team was apprehensive?
Well, not only did you let your fear dictate your decision making, but you also did it by way of committee.
You just told your team you’re not committed to your business goals and don’t run the company.
So, how can you expect them to trust you in battle?
The reality is, this is your organization. You don’t need your team to comment on whether you have set achievable goals. You need them to execute.
You don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to grow.
If your team does not want to grow, you have the wrong team, but that doesn’t mean fire everyone.
You need to realign their focus and explain that your growth goals need to be their growth goals.
And that’s simply non-negotiable.
Rose Garden Sales Accelerator Proccess
RULE 2: ALIGN GOALS WITH THE ORGANIZATION WITH MISSION AND VALUES
Setting and aligning growth goals will help effectively focus your business’ resources.
It’s a key to long-term success and will provide ongoing direction for your business’ growth.
Before you find yourself in a position where you need to speak to your entire team, you should ensure that the organization’s mission and vision are appropriately aligned.
Everyone needs to be on the same page. And those goals need to be crystal clear.
Once you have that, you’re in a situation where you need to make your decisions.
The only things you need to ask yourself is:
- Does this line up with our company’s visions?
- And, will this help us achieve our goals?
If the answer is yes, then you can move forward.
The answer is no. Then don’t.
But either way, you can operate with conviction, knowing that you have team alignment.
This allows for transparent communication, strong leadership, and decisive action.
CREATE GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Your “goals” and “objectives” both refer to the desired outcomes in your business plan, but there is a difference between goal setting and objective setting.
Your objectives are strategies you will employ to achieve that goal, and most businesses fail to make that distinction.
Your goals are the overall results you intend to achieve, while objectives are the specific actionable and quantifiable steps that help you achieve that goal.
You must have goals and objectives to achieve success – they work in tandem. If you create plans without clear objectives, you risk not accomplishing your goals.
Many objectives follow the SMART goals outlines, which emphasizes the targets that are specific, measurable, actionable, relevant & time-bound.
The time-bound focus of these targets ensures they are achieved within a smaller time frame, such as a year or less. This also encourages accountability to specific goals.
For example, to achieve an increase in revenue, a company can have an objective like:
- Earn a min. of 15% return on investment in a fiscal year
- Add two products to the product line by the end of November this year.
- Cut down the operational costs and improve productivity by 10% within three years.
- Reduce sales team turnover by 5% over the next two years.
- Increase company’s market share by 3% by the end of next fiscal year.
Another example, for the goal of creating a brand, a company can have an objective like:
- Increase brand loyalty with 100,000 new customers.
- Increase brand recognition and awareness online through 12 new social media marketing campaigns.
- Increase traffic by 50% to the business website or blog.
Essentially, objectives describe the actions or activities involved in achieving a goal
HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO GROW?
When you want to grow your organization, you have to play to win. Playing to win means thinking up creative solutions.
Do you know how to find creative solutions to these issues preventing progress?
Let me be clear, if the solution were in front of you, you would have solved it already.
It’s likely something that you cannot solve without support and help.
Rose Garden Consulting is solutions-focused, so if you want me and my team to ignite your revenue, we will do so with our Team Assessment and Sales Accelerator Process.
Rose Garden Sales Accelerator Proccess
About the author:
Ali Mirza is the Founder & CEO of Rose Garden, a national sales consulting organization, and featured in Forbes, Inc, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Business Rockstars, and The Wall Street Journal.
Ali is a highly sought-after public speaker presenting at multiple national conferences on innovative ways to accomplish transformational growth on your sales team.
Rose Garden provides unparalleled support and guidance to growth-minded founders via sales strategy differentiation, world-class sales culture creation, and exclusive playbooks, processes, and scripts to position them for limitless growth.
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