The start of a new year is a popular time for goal setting. When you’re a business owner, it’s a great time to assess the past year and set your sights higher. How you go about setting these new business goals is as important as the target. Here are some tips on making SMART choices during the goal-setting process.

Setting New Business Goals

Many people spend the first month of a new year making a list of resolutions. Writing this down helps to keep you accountable. When you own a business, it’s not only important to have goals, but it’s vital to strategize ways of reaching these benchmarks.

You may have heard of the SMART framework to help ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Sensitive. This helps to clearly define what you’re after and create ways to measure and track progress. Align your goals with your overall business strategy and experience the added motivation of seeing your company succeed along the way.

Go Beyond Being SMART

When it comes to setting goals, entrepreneurs need to be more than SMART. Dive deeper into the vision for your company to increase the effectiveness of your goals.

1. Conduct a SWOT analysis. Focus on your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
2. Identify short- and long-term goals. Set achievable milestones for the near future that work towards larger, long-term objectives.
3. Involve your team. You get input from different departments, team members get agency in creating relevant goals, and everyone is aligned and working toward the same target.
4. Prioritize. What’s the most important need? Focus on that first.
5. Track progress. Regularly monitor progress with measurable tools like key performance indicators (KPIs). Make adjustments as needed.
6. Celebrate achievements. Recognize the large and small milestones to keep everyone motivated.

When you start setting SMART goals with a business mindset, it gives you a clearer picture of what you’re working toward and puts you on the path toward success.