257: Are You Aiming Too Low With Your Goals Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner
257: Are You Aiming Too Low With Your Goals Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner, Or Self-Employed
The great danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. I love this quote from Michelangelo. It really puts into perspective how important it is to not only set goals but to make sure that you are setting goals that make you reach a little further than you’d normally reach so that you can achieve those goals and have an amazing experience all along the journey to get there. When you set goals, you are creating a roadmap for a purpose-driven life, so when you set goals for your business, you are creating each and every milestone you need to take to make the vision for your business a reality. In today’s podcast episode, I’m taking you step by step through the process of how to create goals for your business, all the way through the best ways to track and review your goals. Whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, being passionate about what you do and having goals gives you something to shoot for in your business so that you not only have an ordinarily successful business, you are able to create an extraordinary business in which you know you are reaching beyond the normal levels that you can be proud of. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or FreshBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
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Show Notes:
The great danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. I love this quote from Michelangelo. It really puts into perspective how important it is to not only set goals but to make sure that you are setting goals that make you reach a little further than you’d normally reach so that you can achieve those goals and have an amazing experience all along the journey to get there. When you set goals, you are creating a roadmap for a purpose-driven life, so when you set goals for your business, you are creating each and every milestone you need to take to make the vision for your business a reality. In today’s podcast episode, I’m taking you step by step through the process of how to create goals for your business, all the way through the best ways to track and review your goals. Whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, being passionate about what you do and having goals gives you something to shoot for in your business so that you not only have an ordinarily successful business, you are able to create an extraordinary business in which you know you are reaching beyond the normal levels that you can be proud of. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or FreshBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
Welcome Back…Setting goals in your business gives you something to strive for, as well as the motivation to achieve your goals within your specific time frame. You need to set and track your goals so that you can monitor the progress and stay accountable for the actions you take in your business. Goals give you the roadmap or milestones so that you know exactly what you need to do next to reach the goals you set in your business. It doesn’t matter if your goals are big or small, short term or long term; each goal you set, as long as it aligns with your overall vision of your business, will help you achieve your success. Business owners who set goals are more likely to succeed. They are more aware of what needs to get done and how they are going to reach the success they want, so let’s make sure you are one of these business owners who are succeeding.
Once you understand how important it is to set goals, it’s time for you to set them. This tends to be a roadblock for most business owners. You know how important it is to do, but when you actually sit down to start creating your goals, you don’t know where to start. Ask yourself, what do you want your goals to be? Think about what you’d like to accomplish this year. You can start with what your overall vision is for your business. Where do you want your business to go? What do you want to accomplish with your business in the next three years, five years, and even looking out to the next ten years? When you are creating goals, they need to be in alignment with what you want to accomplish. Each goal needs to move the needle in the direction you want to go so that you are reacting to the exact accomplishments you want. You can set goals to be either short-term, which would include goals that you want to achieve within three to six months, or longer-term goals, which typically take six months or longer to complete. Your short-term goals are typically stepping stones to help you reach your long-term goals. Each of these goals will help drive your business in the right direction toward your overall vision. It is essential to make sure you are setting both short-term and long-term goals for your business. Think about what you want to achieve at each point in your business. Each month, each quarter, each year. Another way to look at creating new goals is to do a SWOT analysis. When you do this, you take a look at your strengths and what is working, your weaknesses, or which areas in your business need to be fixed. You take a look at the opportunities your business has, such as the market, your processes, products, services, growth, and the overall potential of your business. And you look at any threats or challenges that could occur to your business from competitors or demand. This SWOT analysis can give you an additional perspective when creating your goals. A few examples of goals that business owners set are, reducing business expenses, increasing leads, increasing business growth, increasing leadership skills for the business owner or team members, decreasing the amount of debt the business has, and developing a new product or service for the business.
As you are setting each goal, you need to make sure it is SMART. When you set SMART goals, this will help you create a goal that gets you where you want to go. A SMART goal takes into consideration different aspects of your goal. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Let’s dive into each of these separately. When your goal is specific, you need to ask yourself what do you want to accomplish and why it is important to you or your business. You need to think about who is involved in reaching this goal and which resources you need. When your goal is measurable, you will know exactly how you will measure your goal as well as how you will know you have accomplished it. What are the key performance indicators or KPIs that you can design to help you track the progress of your goals? Do you have a way to keep track of what you are measuring? For example, if you are tracking your sales, you could monitor your profit and loss report or your income statement to see what your sales are from month to month. You also want to make sure your goal is achievable. Is the goal you are setting realistic? You should be setting big goals, but they should be achievable. You’ve probably heard about people setting big, hairy, audacious goals. You need to do this as well. Push yourself a little so that you feel your goal might be a stretch but is still achievable. Think about how you can accomplish it. Making sure that it is relevant will ensure you that it is the right time and it is applicable and worthwhile to your business. Lastly, you want to make sure your goal is timely. What is the deadline that you want to make sure you’ve achieved this goal?
Next, you need to make a commitment to your goals so that you can reach them. If you have a lot of goals to accomplish, you may need to prioritize them so that you don’t start feeling overwhelmed. You could start by focusing on the top three goals first. Decide what needs to be done daily, weekly, or monthly. Once you have these commitments recognized, get them on your calendar, and don’t budge on getting them done. When you are looking at all the tasks you need to do in your business, you should be able to track each task to a specific goal you have for your business. If you are finding tasks that are not aligned with the vision of your business or your goals, you may want to reconsider why you are doing them in the first place. Remember, you are setting a deadline so that your goals are achieved in a timely manner, so you want to be focused on the right tasks in your business. If you have a team, make sure each team member has goals that align with the overall business goals, and take time to go over your business goals with your team, so everyone has the same vision for the business. You may also find that your team members might have additional insight to help you achieve your goals in a more efficient manner.
Once you’ve created your goals and you are committed, you need to make sure you are reviewing them. Set specific times to review your goals and get these times on your calendar as well. You need to track where you are on each goal and what additional work needs to be done to get you to where you need to be. You may need to pivot along the way, and that’s okay too. Many business owners will use a project management system or spreadsheet to track their goal progress. When you are reviewing your goals, make sure you are meeting the original deadlines you set. If you need to adjust them, this would be the perfect time. If you find that you are not going to reach a goal, rather than thinking you’ve failed, maybe you just didn’t get the timing right, and you may just need to extend the date. When you are reviewing your goals, it is also an excellent time to make sure everything in your business plan and the vision of your business are all in alignment. If changes need to be made, you can always revise your goals or your business plan. When reviewing your goals, ask yourself what is working so far, what isn’t working as well and could be improved, and what you could do better in the future.
Overall, when you are setting goals, you need to stay motivated. I want to ensure that you are enjoying your journey to reaching your goals all along the way and not just when you’ve reached your goal. Make sure you are celebrating each milestone and goal when you achieve them, no matter how big or small they are. It doesn’t have to be a big celebration, but make sure you do something to celebrate that is meaningful to you. Your goals will help you easily walk into the success and achieve the vision of your business.
Imagine having a system in place where you spend less time buried in paperwork and more time doing what you love. That’s where I help my clients. They are able to have proper processes in place, understand why they are following through with these processes, and they have more peace of mind when it comes to their business. Striking a balance between the demands of running a business and maintaining a fulfilling personal life is an art; it’s about creating an environment where you can thrive and support your lifestyle. By being proactive and setting up efficient processes, you can ensure a smoother, more enjoyable year-end, and you’ll be prepared to file any necessary filings with the IRS. By working with me, you’ll change more than just your bookkeeping processes. Like many of the clients I’ve worked with, you’ll go from not knowing how to get through all the stressful situations or being unprepared to being totally in control of exactly what you are choosing to get done at the time you want to have it accomplished by, all while knowing you are doing enough and you’re able to enjoy your business and your personal life. I help clients just like you with strategy, mentorship, and coaching. When you work with me, you’ll show up much more differently than you do today, and, after all, this is what you ultimately want in your life, right? Come join me. When I work with clients throughout the year, they are able to reduce their stress and overwhelm, understand how to master their small business finances, develop solutions to grow their bottom line, and create a work-life balance they truly enjoy. I encourage you to take the next step by signing up for a free consultation where I’m going to teach you the first step in my process so that you can eliminate stress, overwhelm, or overworking in your professional or personal life while you continue to get done what matters so that you can live your life with joy, purpose and a more fulfilled life. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you have; I’d love to help you on this journey. You can schedule your free consultation or sign up for a coaching session today at www.FinancialAdventure.com. As a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Life Coach, I can help you set goals and develop a plan that will allow you to lead a happier and more sustainable life in your business, career, or your personal life. I’m here to guide you through the financial aspects of your business as well as help you focus on the strategies you need to follow to reach the success you want to achieve in your professional or personal life and stay committed so that you can continue to keep pushing forward and relieve the stress, anxiety, or overwhelm you are currently feeling. Having an accountant and certified life coach like me can provide you with valuable insights and ideas to help you simplify your life, which enables you to go back to enjoying your professional and personal life. I work with business owners, accountants, and other financial professionals to create the actionable steps they need to take to ultimately achieve their goals while getting relief from the stress and overwhelm they feel from the pressure of owning a business, deadlines, and the workload they face every day. If you are struggling with this as well and would like some help developing a solution, help strengthen and maintain your emotional health, increase your well-being, create a more positive, happy, and joyful life, set and achieve your goals, and manage your relationships, You can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com and click on the work with me button. Sign up now. I help people get results and live a more joyful life. I know there is something you want in your life, and I can help you get it. Are you ready to enjoy your life now? Why would you want to wait? Are you ready to make bigger, bolder, stronger life goals? I’m looking forward to meeting with you soon and digging deeper to see where you currently are in your business or career and start creating actionable steps so that you can reach your vision and goals for the future, not only in your business or career but also in your personal life. I’m ready to work with you, see all of your successes, and watch you thrive in your business or career while creating your best work-life balance. I’ll post links to this and other valuable resources for business owners and accountants where you are listening to this podcast.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
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