2. 2 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Setting effective and achievable business goals
is at the heart of any well-planned small business
strategy. And while many people say they want
to achieve business success, not everyone has
the determination to follow through and do so.
Having a long-term plan and vision is one of the
keys to being a great leader, and is necessary for
any successful small business. Long-term visions
usually also mean long-term projects, and that
means it may be harder to manage both your
business and your progress towards completing
them. All of these challenges are what make being
able to execute your long-term vision a sign of
success.
How to Achieve
Your Business Goals
3. 3 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
When starting out on your
vision, try to set goals that
you are confident you’ll be
able to achieve. Using that
confidence can give you a
push to do other things –
perhaps things that you’re
less certain you’ll be able
to achieve. These ‘other’
kinds of goals are important
too. These may be goals or
visions that you’ve never
been able to do, but aspire
to do in order to achieve
success for your business.
These are the ones that will
eventually help you to take
your business to new heights.
Always seek feedback and
opinions from others as
you go along as well; this
feedback will give you the
positive reinforcement that
you need to know that you’re
doing something right. Even
if the feedback is negative, it
may give you an opportunity
to grow and learn, and
see things from another
perspective.
These are just some of the
ways you can help achieve
long-term business success.
In this ebook, we’ll tell you
many more ways to succeed
for the long run and achieve
your business goals.
How to Achieve Your Business Goals
4. 4 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
One key to getting started on your way to
achieving your business goals is to start
writing down a list of things you want to
accomplish. When you first start, you may
think you don’t have any ideas, but that will
change quickly. You may actually end up with
too many goals that you can realistically
accomplish, in which case you’ll have to
prioritize them and decide which ones are
most important.
You can also hold brainstorming sessions with
partners and colleagues, to determine the
viability of the concepts and ideas you want
to develop. When you have an idea for a new
project or sales pitch, getting the ideas and
input of others will help you draw conclusions
Brainstorm
5. 5 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
for how to proceed. The people
you hold these sessions with will
appreciate being included and will feel
more invested in the success of the
project, and you’ll benefit from the
shared wisdom and input of everyone
involved.
By practicing brainstorming on
a regular basis, you can create a
wave of ideas that will enable you to
accomplish your business goals faster
than you ever believed possible. In
today’s information age, ideas are the
most valuable tools of production. And
by generating effective, innovative,
and usable ideas to help grow your
company, your business future will
thrive and flourish as a result.
Brainstorm
6. 6 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Contrary to popular belief, delegating
and outsourcing tasks when building your
business is a sign of strength. You can
outsource anything from graphic design to
content writing to accounting – depending
on your business needs. Outsourcing these
types of things can be a good decision;
sometimes it’s better to leave these things
to the experts, so that you can focus your
time and energy on other things. You will
inevitably be approached by clients with
requests for which you don’t have time to
complete or lack the necessary skillset.
Obviously, you’re not going to turn down the
work and risk losing these clients, or burn
the bridge you’ve worked so hard to create.
This is when outsourcing becomes
a valuable tool for you to employ.
Outsource Your Projects
7. 7 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Try to build a database of potential
outsourcing connections. There are
all kinds of places that you can make
connections with people – from LinkedIn
to Twitter to other sharing and social
media sites. You can also have people
contact you by email or via an online form
that you can set up for this purpose.
These forms can help you organize your
contacts, and gather information from
freelancers or outsourcing companies
who might be interested in working
with you down the line. Make sure your
form is set up so that they give you
information on who they are, what field
they specialize in, and how you can get in
contact with them should you need their
services in the future.
Outsource Your Projects
8. 8 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Buying services online is another great way to grow your business. One think to consider is buying email lists from
companies like Experian and others, which you can use to generate a targeted mailing list for your customers.
Experian, for example, claims to have a database of over 300 million consumers collected from a variety of sources,
which could provide a valuable boost for your email marketing campaign.
You should also invest in a good website.
Creating and developing websites once
required a big investment and the skills of
an experienced web developer, but these
days, do-it-yourself websites like Wix and
others are available for a small fee, with little
to no technical knowledge required. Most of
the time, the companies help you get your
domain name set up will also provide online,
nearly ready-to-use templates that you can
use to build your site and host your site on
their server. You can set up low-cost sites
through web hosting companies and search
engines as well.
Buy Services Online
9. 9 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Marketing campaigns are just the start when it comes to marketing your
business. Many community groups and chambers of commerce are more
than willing to provide a forum to small businesses that are willing to share
their expertise at no charge. You can also send out a monthly or even weekly
newsletter, which can help you get product news, company news, or other
information out in front of new and potential clients. MailChimp and other such
sites offer great ready-made templates and automated delivery systems for
sending out your newsletter via e-mail.
One of the best ways to build a business is to do the traditional form of networking
– meaning getting out there and meeting people that can help you grow your
company. While networking requires a time commitment and may not always
provide instant results, a strong network is one of the greatest assets any small
business person can have. The main reason for building your network will always
be to get more referrals and more business, but don’t lose sight of the fact that
networking will help you gain access to professionals in almost every type of
business. Each of these individual, smaller networks can then become a way to gain
more information and knowledge about your industry and prospective customers.
Market Your Business
10. 10 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Social media marketing is not as simple as
merely posting a few status updates a week,
or having more followers and likes. That’s all
part of it, but to really take advantage of the
power of social media, you have to dedicate
a great deal of time and energy to make it
work. Marketers today understand that to
really succeed with social media, you have
to listen to your audience and understand
what they need; share your message and
vision and let others share it; and create
great, reusable content that encourages
people to share with others as well.
Smart businesses today are able to
effectively use social media to enhance their
reputations and image in the marketplace,
find more customers, and drive more sales.
Use the Power of Social Media
11. 11 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
This means building the right persona
for your business, and proving your
authenticity and credibility to your
customers. You should be personable,
and be aware in advance of typical
customer concerns and pain points, so
that you can respond appropriately.
Perhaps the most important thing
to keep in mind when building your
social media presence is to select the
networks that best fit your particular
market. There are so many social
networks to choose from these days
that it’s tough to keep up with or know
which one to choose. Just remember
that the more targeted your network,
the more activity and interest you’re
likely to generate for your business.
Use the Power of Social Media
12. 12 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Don’t be shy or hesitant about asking for referrals. Referrals make it easier to get in the door with new customers, so
if you aren’t asking for them, you may be missing golden opportunities.
Because people are hesitant in asking for referrals, it’s become a severely underutilized strategy for building a business.
Very few business owners will actually ask for referrals, and even fewer will ask for them as an ongoing marketing strategy.
Explaining to your clients that you believe they have connections to help build your business, as well as the trust and
credibility required to make such a recommendation, shows your respect for them and makes them feel better about
lending you a hand. You can also ask for referrals from a trusted family member, friend, or colleague. These can go a long
Ask for Referrals
13. 13 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
way, and when you call a
potential client and tell them
that someone they know
and trust recommended you,
it’s an easier sell than having
to do it from scratch with a
lead from a web search or
advertisement.
Before you ask for a referral,
however, always make sure
that your client is happy. This
may seem like something
that goes without saying, but
only when you know that your
client is satisfied is when you
have an opportunity to ask
them for a referral.
Ask for Referrals
14. 14 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Setting realistic goals for your business can help create a roadmap
towards your larger aspirations and lead you on the way to achieving
long-term success. Setting these types of goals will enable your
business to grow in a sustainable, controlled way. Always break down
your goals in an organized fashion; pulling apart your bigger goals
into simpler objectives can make them less daunting, and can also
give you a better understanding of how to achieve them.
You should also ensure that you analyze and understand the core of your
company, and are well aware of your strengths and weaknesses. This is
known as the ‘SWOT Analysis’ – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats. As the name suggests, this helps you determine how
you can maximize your strengths and take better advantage of
opportunities within your reach, while improving your weaknesses and
overcoming the threats your business is currently facing and those it
may face in the future. Simply put, conducting this type of analysis will
help you better determine ways to enhance performance, and help your
business excel above others in your industry.
Set Realistic Goals
15. 15 | How to Achieve Your Business Goals
Starting and growing a business is
not an easy task. There are bound
to be some bumps along the road,
and part of succeeding is learning to
live with your mistakes. It’s natural
when you build a business to explore
many new areas and concepts that
you haven’t encountered before,
and therefore you’ll have no idea
what to expect and may in fact fear
the results. Being able to handle
and learn from these mistakes will
ultimately be a big part of how well
you grow your business and take it
in a more successful direction.
Try to learn from your mistakes
and then analyze and correct them
to avoid them going forward.
Making mistakes means being
able to figure them out and then
implement corrective measures. This
characteristic is what separates the
good business owners from the bad.
If you’re not making any mistakes, it
likely means you’re not experimen-
ting enough, which means that you
won’t make as much progress as you
should. When you’re building your
business, you can never claim full
knowledge of the business landscape
of your industry. Sometimes it’s
worthwhile to take risks and do
something new, even if it means
making mistakes along the way.
Learn to Live With Mistakes
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