At our annual planning session, we set our company goals or rocks as we call them, for the entire year. As leaders, we plan our quarterly rocks and those rocks, in turn, support our company rocks. By doing this, we have been able to achieve our goals.
Goals – Gotta Have ‘Em!
So why set goals? Goals help us drive with purpose. They help us get our business to where we want. Imagine joining a baseball team and having the manager say, “Let’s go to the World Series. I don’t know how we are going to get there, or what we need to do, but it looks fun.” I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t feel very confident we would be hitting home runs and winning World Series rings. Business is the same way. If we don’t have a clear vision of what we want to accomplish, we are wandering in the wilderness.
Create a Plan
Zig Ziglar said, “Plan your work and work your plan.” The plan is the roadmap to get you and your business to the end goal. That means planning the next year, three years, five years, or even ten years down the road. Spend the time setting those yearly sales goals and any other goals you want your center to achieve. After you know what you want to achieve next year, look at your promotions for the year, see how many events are possible, what new games or changes you want to make, and schedule training. The point is you need to have a plan.
Setting Goals the SMART Way
To set goals, make sure they are SMART. SMART goals are:
Specific – Does your goal clearly and specifically state what you are trying to achieve?
Measurable – How will you and others know if progress is being made on achieving your goal? Remember, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
Attainable – Is achieving your goal dependent on anyone else? What factors may prevent you from accomplishing your goal?
Relevant & Realistic – Why is achieving this goal important to you? What effect will achieving your goal have for you or your business?
Time-Based – When will you reach your goal? Goals need a deadline or you won’t be motivated to complete them.
Your goal is to eat an elephant, but how do you do that? One…bite…at…a…time.
Here’s an example. Let’s say your goal is to do $2 million next year. Take that and break it down into what you need to achieve monthly, weekly, even daily. It might look like this:
|
2018 Goal |
$2 Million |
|
Monthly |
$166,666 |
|
Weekly |
$38,462 |
|
20% Parties |
$400,000 |
|
Parties Monthly |
$33,333 |
|
Parties Weekly |
$7,692 |
|
Parties Per Week |
31 (based on $250 party average) |
Breaking it down this way gives us specific goals to meet. We can measure it. We know it’s attainable and realistic and that we have to meet it by the end of the year. We even went further to show how we are going to reach 20% of those sales with birthday parties. And now we have to do the work.
Breaking Down Your Goals
Now’s the time to evaluate how you are going to achieve your goals. To be successful, break down your goals by quarter. Have a scorecard for each goal so you can see how you are measuring and meeting the goal.
Let’s use birthday parties as an example. We know in the first quarter of the year birthday parties tend to be in season. How do parties look for quarter two? Usually not so good, so we know at the beginning of the year we need to lay the groundwork to fill slower months. So we plan a birthday club, make phone calls, or even create marketing initiatives to drive quarter two sales.
To help you with your goal setting, I’m giving you our SMART Goal Worksheet. Use this when planning your goals next year. It will not only help you break your goals into tasks but also help you plan for obstacles.
If you need help setting goals, making a plan to achieve those goals, and someone to keep you accountable, we can do that! Our coaches are wonderful and help businesses every day meet and exceed their goals. Just reach out to me or someone on our team and we will be sure to help.
