Business owners have goals. That’s partially why they started a business in the first place – they had a goal to make a certain amount of money, or they had a goal to fit a vacant niche in an industry, or they wanted to stop working for other people and run a company their way. These goals matter – and what’s important about them is not merely the success, but the journey to get there. There are also myriad small goals that are on the way to those big goals; they need to be met first. So what are yours? Here are 4 business goals you can set this year.

SMART Goals for Your Business

Before you get started, you should have an idea of SMART goals. Business owners have been told about SMART goals for decades, and it’s more important now than ever to fully understand them so you don’t fall into bad habits or create goals that are actually going to be to your detriment. Your goals should be:

• Specific: Do not be vague in your goals. Specify exactly what you want to achieve, whether in the financial realm, your outreach, a new product line, a different territory, internal growth, and more.
• Measurable: Attach a number or deadline to the goal so that you know whether or not you’ve hit it. It’s easier to understand that you’ve reached your goal if you want to see a 10% increase in profit for the Spring quarter as opposed to merely wanting to see “profits.”
• Attainable: Don’t select goals that are out of reach, especially not small goals. You likely won’t be a multi-billion dollar conglomerate within the year, but you also might not have a dozen locations. The more attainable your goals are, the more of them you’ll achieve. Act within reason, but strive for greatness.
• Relevant: Relevant goals help your business move forward. Don’t set goals that have nothing to do with your business or that won’t have a positive impact on it.
• Time-based: This goes hand-in-hand with the measurable aspect mentioned above. By a certain point of the year, you should have a goal completed – or you should be striving to complete it.

Once you’ve gotten the concept of SMART goals down, now you can focus on the details of the goals.

Expand Your Blog

Written content on blogs is an important tool for marketing. The vast majority of businesses are found via the web, and the more you show up on search listings, the more traffic you’ll have – and the more customers you’ll have, too. Your blog is a great place to showcase every aspect of your business and to go beyond it, as well.

If you’re a pet store, for example, you might find it beneficial to write about everything related to pets – not just the animals you sell. You can write about common practices to relieve sicknesses, how to deal with leas in the home, some organic pet foods you personally use, how to identify certain breeds of cats and dogs, and more! The more content you have, the greater your presence will be on Google.

Your blog is also a great place to post informative articles that can be featured on other websites via backlinking, or even as guest spots. You could potentially write a blog for another site, too, to get your business more recognition.

If you don’t have a blog to expand, the perfect goal is to start one – how about posting once per month for the entire year?

Offer a New Product or Service

Whether it’s a new menu item or an extra bit of detailing on a car, you can look into small expansions to help attract more customers. This will allow you to diversify your business with baby steps. There are some companies that try too quickly to revamp a menu or add new services without calculating how many extra costs will rack up or how much more labor they’ll need.

A good idea may be to work with a developer to create an app for your business, or to simply be featured on an already-existing app. This will let you showcase your expansion.

Expand Your Social Media Presence

Social media is as much a networking and business tool as it is a platform to share personal lives. If you’re not using social media to leverage new customers, it’s the perfect time to start.

You can use social media to present discounts and deals, to alert people to offerings that only occur in the store, or to get input on what customers want. You can get feedback, feature other businesses, highlight sales, and more. There are limitless possibilities for how you use social media.

Remember, though – the key to social media is engagement. The more active you are with your fans, followers, and customers, the more rewards you’ll reap.

Remember Your Employees

Your customers are the ones who help drive your business and profits, but your employees are the ones who help the wheels turn and who keep everything in order. Happy, satisfied employees create a business atmosphere that is positive and loyal. The more you incentivize the happiness of your employees, the better your business will run.

Your goals with respect to employees should take into account work/life balance, perks and benefits, and mutual offerings. Talk with your employees and gauge what they feel they lack, and come up with ways to address any issues. For example, in the new age of remote work, it may not be necessary for everyone to be in the office at all times. Rotating remote days can help employees maintain that balance everyone seeks.

Your business’s goals can’t be met without a dedicated team, and making sure you have the right people behind you is crucial.

Need a Business Consultation?

Are you a business owner but you’re not sure what kind of goals you should be setting for the year? Or have you had trouble meeting your goals in previous years? No matter what the reason, Promotion LA can help. As a digital management company, we’ve helped many businesses get off the ground, and we’ve assisted numerous companies in expanding and growing far beyond what they believed possible.

Contact us today if you want a free consultation about moving forward or how we can help you meet your business goals.