Business Goals And Strategies - Decide What You Are In Business To Do!

What Will You Get From Being In Business? What Are You Intentions? What Do You Want To Do? What problems are you going to solve? What value are you going to add that people are willing to pay you for and buy your products? (key words being "what people are willing to pay you for")

Before we do anything else, we need to make up a business plan for our new business. I am in fact in the middle of doing that for this new site. Spend some time on this, it will pay huge dividends later.

It is tremendously important to know what we want to accomplish so we have guidelines drawn up, so we can make the right decisions regarding the direction we take in our business dealings.

Why Is It Important To Set Goals For Our Business?

Goals are very important when it comes to the success or failure of our business. Why are they so important? Goals act as a roadmap for us to follow. They let us know where we are going, and if we are getting there on time.

You wouldn’t get in your car and start driving without having a destination planned out, so why would you approach your business that way? (Actually sometimes I do just get into the car and drive, but more often than not, I an just getting away to think or just enjoy the time on the road. Depends on your goal though doesn't it?)

All goals should have a few things in common. A goal should define what we are trying to accomplish and when we want to accomplish it by. Goals should be realistic and there should be a way to measure them.

All goals should be written down and viewed on a regular basis. Simply writing the goal down will significantly increase our odds of achieving it and having it displayed as a visual reminder will also help motivate us. We want to be thinking about our direction constantly and take advantage of opportunities to move forward when they show.

Even if you have never taken the time to set goals for your business, you are actually very familiar with the process. At some point in your life, you have more than likely taken out a pen and paper and mapped out a plan for accomplishing some type of task. Writing out goals for your business is no different than writing out your grocery list.

By clearly defining your goal, you are telling yourself where you are going. Instead of having a goal of “I plan to spend more time promoting my Virtual Assistant business”, clearly define the goal as “during the next three weeks, my goal is to spend 10 hours per week promoting my Virtual Assistant business”. The second goal tells you what you are going to do and for how long you are going to do it.

Once you know where you are going and when you want to be there, you can figure out how you are going to get there. Using the example above, you know that for the next three weeks, you need to be spending 10 hours per week promoting your business.

Now you can start defining mini-goals, such as writing articles and submitting them to reprint directories, emailing past clients and letting them know you are accepting new projects, sending press releases to the media, and so forth.

Goals can also serve as a great way to challenge yourself. Are there some things you have been meaning to do, but keep putting off? Start setting weekly challenge goals, such as blogging one post each day for a week straight or adding a new message each day to your auto responder or even writing an article each day and submitting it to a reprint directory.

The important thing is to be specific and measurable for easy monitoring results. Always keep your focus on how you can help more people get what they want. Price your product or service properly (according to your perceived added value) and you will sustain the business profitably long term.

Have fun with your goals and reward yourself with a point when you accomplish one of them. Once you have collected 10 points, treat yourself to a spa day or some other indulgence.

By setting and achieving goals you will find your business taking off and will feel a great sense of enthusiasm and accomplishment. And you will obviously be excited about your profit growth and the income stream that begins because of it.

If you need more information on setting proper goals, then see the link below and search out what info you need. There is a ton of info on our other site.

The Realgoalgetter Blog (Our Original Goal Setting Blog)

How Quickly Things Can Change in Business . . . And In Life

A heartbeat . . . things can change in a heartbeat.

Here I was more or less coasting successfully, doing a bang up business, not aggressively promoting my services, quite pleased with myself, and then . . .

. . . I read a newsletter this morning, one of many I get from the Brian Tracy Organization, and this particular quote really hit me and stuck to me today. Sometimes they do that.

I realized that my company was in fact at this point right now, and it first scared me, and then excited me . . . Here is the quote:

"There is at least one point in the history of any company when you have to change dramatically to rise to the next level of performance. Miss that moment, and you start to decline." -- Andy Grove, Intel CEO

It started my brainstorming session. I immediately wrote my thoughts out as they crept in and a new plan for my company started to emerge. Suffice to say that my goals for my company and my life this year just changed drastically.

More to come as I develop my new vision for 2008 and beyond.

Have You Clearly Defined What Success Means To You?

Define Success

Have you ever asked yourself why you want to succeed online?

If not, ... allow me to ask you ...

So, ... why do you want to succeed online?

Do you have e reason for it? Do you clearly know what the reason is?

Do you think other people are succeeding online? Are they more successful than you are? Are you more successful than them? Why?

Are you currently succeeding online? Do you feel successful? How do YOU define success in general?

These questions are very important questions in your journey to online success. The nature of your answer to these questions would significantly impact your mission.

We all have a pre-programmed definition of success. We all know what will make us successful in other people's eyes and what will personally make us feel successful. We have needs, wishes, wants and cravings for the results we desire.

But only you know what's important for you and what would drive you to achieve your vision of success, whether online or offline. You're the only one who can unlock the door to your hidden treasure of desires. Desires so powerful that would literally force you out of your comfort zone to find the success you seek.

What are you doing it for? What's in it for you?

Few years back, I joined a network marketing company that was doing business the *old way* of calling people on the phone, setting a meeting and presenting the prospects with a business opportunity. That was one of my best experiences ever.

I had an opportunity to interact with hundreds of different people from different walks of life. Different educational background, different culture, different life circumstances, different age, different business background ....

The most amazing thing was that they all had a different vision of success. They all had a different understanding of what success was and what it meant to them.

While going through the course of offering the business opportunity, some of the people were telling me that they were doing just fine with their life as it was. Even though I was offering them a business opportunity that would've given them results far beyond their wildest dreams, they were declining the offer with a comment that they were already successful in what they were doing and they were not looking for more in their life.

Other people would tell me that they were already working on achieving the results that they were striving for. My business opportunity did not offer the types of results that they wanted to accomplish. And others would simply take the opportunity since they had no other vehicle to take them to their desired results.

In general, I did not meet two people with same aspirations. Everyone wanted to be successful in his or her own unique way -- successful in regards to other people and successful in regards to themselves.

So, the question I would like to ask you is: "Why do you want to achieve online success and what are you doing it for?"

Is there something you desire to have as a result of you becoming successful online? It's very important to define your desired outcome - crisp and clear - as a result of you becoming a successful online entrepreneur. That would become your map. That would give you a direction to follow.

What do you want to have and who do you want to become as a result of you becoming successful with your online venture?

By having that fact defined, your success journey would then consist of finding the right sources to get you there as opposed to jumping onto every train that passes by with a hope that one of them would take you to your success.

You could use your list of defined results that you want to accomplish as an evaluation method when looking at different business opportunities or products. Ask yourself, could the business opportunity or even a product under your consideration, deliver most or all of your desired results?

In today's environment of ever changing technology and evolving life complexity, we don't have much time in our hands. Do we?

The "time" is slowly but surely becoming one of the most valuable commodities. The fact of knowing what you want to accomplish with your online venture would help you grasp the success you seek in the shortest time possible and help you understand the purpose of your mission.

I go in great detail on this subject in my book "Define Your Success."

by Steve Dimeck

© Steve Dimeck, webmaster and author. His recently published ebook "The Success Maze" provides an "Apt solution" (in the words of Neil Shearing) for people who want to succeed online but feel a bit lost in the online "Maze." Free details at: http://www.thesuccessmaze.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Dimeck

Do You Have Business Goals - Do You Have A Business Plan?

Setting SMART Business Goals - Make Up A Business Plan

If you are thinking of starting a business, you should first figure out what you want to achieve through your business. Set Your Goals. Then work backward from there and build a strategy to attain those targets.

You have probably come across many articles, books, and audios that stress the importance of setting goals. Hopefully, you have taken the time to sit down and write out goals for yourself. But are you writing SMART goals? SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Related.

Specific goals are written out clearly and have a set time frame. When you write out your goals, state what you want, and give it a deadline. A simple goal of “earning money by working from home” becomes much more motivational if you phrase it as “earning $500 per month on a regular basis within sixty days”. Once you know what your plan is, it will be easier to achieve it.

It is important to have Measurable Goals, as they will help you track your progress. If a goal is not measurable, it will be very hard to define when you have actually achieved it. In the example above, by defining how much income you want to earn and giving it a time frame, you will know instantly when those sixty days are over if you have achieved the goal.

An Attainable Goal is a goal you know you can achieve. Don’t be fooled by the word “attainable”. It can still be a challenging goal and require effort to achieve it, but it does need to be something you can do.

For instance, if your goal is to learn to build websites and you have absolutely no experience, your goal shouldn’t be to build a huge, portal website in a week. An attainable goal would be giving yourself a month to learn the software and build a small, but functioning website.

Otherwise you will be putting pressure on yourself. If you are constantly setting unattainable goals, you may end up doubting yourself and become so afraid of failure that you start procrastinating on easy tasks.

While it is great to shoot for the stars when you are setting your goals, they also need to be Realistic Goals. Using the first example, the goal wasn’t to earn $500 within a week. Instead, the goal was to earn $500 per month within sixty days.

If you are new to working from home, it may take some time for your business to be profitable. Instead of setting one huge goal, break the goal down into manageable “mini-goals”.

You may have noticed that the example goals were Time Related. There is an old saying that “a goal without a deadline is just a wish”. Having a defined time line will keep you motivated.

If you have an open-ended goal, it will be easier to procrastinate, and therefore, harder to accomplish. However, knowing that you need to specifically accomplish something within a set period of time, will spur you into action.

Don't just fall in love with the idea of owning and operating your own business. It will take accurate thinking, planning, and a lot of hours invested along with your money.

Set your goals and then attack aggressively. Make it happen.

Resolve To Keep Your Company Lean . . . And Profitable

I received a newsletter today from HBB Confidential. I receive quite a few informative newsletters that keep me on the cutting edge, and those that don't keep me interested I unsubscribe quickly.

This one always has me wanting more and I want to share an article today that I enjoyed thoroughly. Laurie Hayes wrote this article about how she is making changes in her day to day business operations to become more effective and more efficient.

Since this is a new year you might think that this is only applicable when making great sweeping changes, but this information can be effective anytime at all. In fact whenever you are reading this is the best time of all, meaning NOW! There is no time like the present.

Here is a little teaser here and the link to the full article below.

TIME TO TRIM THE FAT FROM YOUR HOME-BASED BUSINESS?

I don't know what came over me this holiday season, but for whatever reason, I had this overwhelming urge to start cutting the fat from my business.

It was starting to look like an over-stuffed turkey and although you might think, 'Is that really such a bad thing?' -- it is if the stuffing has little flavor or nutritional value.

There was too much going on both in my business and in my head.

I decided to make some lifestyle and business-style decisions before January 1st. This was too important to wait.

I made a list of all the things I should be doing consistently but wasn't, even though I knew they produced terrific results.

I made a list of the things I shouldn't be doing, but was.

Although I have a mastermind group and a good support system, I set out to find a new mentor and coach who has already achieved the level of success I'm aiming for.

And, I made a list of the relationships that do not contribute to my life or business in a meaningful way.

Then this is what I did ...

Full article here.

Goals And Your Home Business

Goal Setting: The Secret To Home Business Success

The ability to set goals and effectively motivate yourself to achieve them are two essential skills that will help you achieve success in you home business.

To try and start a business without goals could be compared to throwing a baseball pitch, blindfolded in the dark. What would be your chance of getting your pitch on target? Never mind getting a strike-out. Unless you are very lucky it is unlikely that you will have any success without properly setting out goals.

If when you start your home business, in what ever field it maybe, if you have no goals and aim at nothing, is it not unlikely that you will hit nothing and achieve nothing?

To set effective goals there are a few things you need to know about yourself which will affect how you set your goals. You are affected by, the environment in which you live, your experience and knowledge, your attitude and dreams and visions for the future.

When you set your goals you need to decide what you want and when you want to achieve each goal. You should spend time writing down your goals and display them in a prominent position where you will see them daily to remind yourself to stay motivated and focused. Cross off your goals once they’ve been achieved, adding new ones to ensure your business keeps growing.

“Don’t set your Goals to low. If you don’t need much, you won’t become much”. - - Jim Rohn - -

I’m sure you will have come across the SMART analogy, with regards to goal setting. It contains the most important concepts to consider and adhere to when setting your goals.

Goals should be; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time related.

For example it would be unwise to set a goal of making $10,000 in a week, it’s just not a realistic goal for the average person, unless you have a lot of experience and knowledge in your field or receive help from someone who has these attributes. When you failed to reach this goal your motivation would suffer and you might start doubting your decision to start your home business.

Before you start setting your goals I want you to write a list of all the things you want; whether it is a new car, watch, house, to send your kids through college or a successful home business, write them all down and say why you want them. When I did this I had a list the length of my arm and I’m still working through it 3 years on. By doing this it will help focus your mind and motivate yourself to succeed.

Now set your goals, they need to be SMART and you need to set both short term and long term goals, and also daily goals. One of the best techniques I use is to set 6 goals before I go to bed for the next day and prioritise them so I know clearly in my mind what I have to do the next day.

All successful people set goals and prioritise them in order of importance. Remember your time is your most important asset; you simply cannot afford to waste it.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -- Aristotle –

When you are in business for yourself, you are the primary motivating factor, if your truly want your home business to succeed you will do whatever it takes to make it happen.

By making goal setting a habit there is no reason why you cannot achieve excellence.

by Ian Canaway

About the Author: Ian Canaway will help you launch your very own money making website today that's 100% ready to take orders and pull in massive profits for you right now... Guaranteed! Visit: http://www.asuccesfullhomebusiness4u.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Goals And Business

The Importance of Business Goals

For you to get where you want to go, there are four key steps for you to take. They are not difficult, but they are vital.

Commonly known as the GROW model, the four stages are as follows:-

G stands for Goals

Being clear about where you want to get to is absolutely critical. You MUST know where you are intending to get to, by identifying your goals and being very precise about them.

Use SMART goals - this is a useful description which is great to remember.

S - is for Specific
Be really clear about what it is you want

M - is for Measurable
There must be some sort of number of other measurable description of your goal

A – is for Actionable
You have to have some verb in the goal – you have to DO something!

R – is for Realistic
Make your goal achievable, but don’t be frightened to make it BIG!!

T – is for Timebound
All of your great goals will fall by the wayside if you have no when about them – the ‘maybe I’ll start next week method’.

Poor Goal examples:-
To grow business revenue
To have happy employees

Great Goal examples
To build bottom line profit by 20% every year for the next three years
To have a 33% split between all revenue streams within 2 years

You might also want to consider what ‘Purpose’ in your life there is for this goal, the more it fits what you truly want out of life, the more motivated you will be. Thus SMART(P)

R stands for Reality

Be brutally honest about where you are starting from and what has held you back in the past.

Take a half hour to understand the assets and skills you bring to the business. Get really clear on your qualities - and shortfalls!

Be realistic and honest – a good way is to just list all the positive attributes you have, such as patience, perseverance and focus.

Dispel any ‘I can’ts’ right now. You can and will. Reality means just that and no untrue negative beliefs you hold about yourself.

O stands for Options

Here is where the fun starts, if you let it. Really let your imagination go – blank sheet of paper and 10 minutes of uninterrupted time. For organisations, this may take longer – it may involve as many of your people as possible – that’s OK! You write until you can’t think of any more ideas about how to make your goal come true.

After 10 minutes, or when you dry up – take a 10 minute break – and then think of ten more – you can do it!! In this phase, you are not judging, it is very important that you don’t think of any ‘can’ts’ or even thinking of any ‘how’s’ just let the ideas flow. There are loads more idea creating things you can choose.

W stands for ‘What’ and ‘When’

Check out the ideas from above and choose five ‘quick wins’ and five longer term projects.

Make a decision to do the five quick wins within one week, starting today (you might be surprised to find you do them all today!). Then when finished do five more till all are completed (mind you, once you get into the swing of it, you’ll start uncovering a lot more!).

For the longer term ideas to achieve your goals, a sense check is important first. Will action (remember the ‘A’ in SMART) on this idea, deliver the outcome you really want towards your goal – or is it a nice to do, or even off track. For either of these be ruthless and ditch the ones that are off track. Get five focused ideas in place ready for Action.

Create a timeline from your goal and working back from there, decided milestones on each of your five key ideas. Use say quarterly, monthly, or weekly reviews. Be decisive and flexible as the actions will go at different speeds. In some sort of visual planner, record where you will be with each one of your actions towards your goal at the regular reviews you have. Some people prefer to have weekly ‘action steps’ in each project – even daily.

The key is to be able to say., ‘This week (Tuesday is my best day), I will visit three new potential customers, as a step towards visiting 50 this year’. Put it in your diary, Outlook or whatever as if it is an appointment with yourself. Ring-fence that time as the most important thing you are going to do and it cannot be shifted. You will need to be disciplined – if you are, it will work.

The key here is to create actionable steps in bite-sized chunks which you believe you can do.

As someone once said (with apologies to elephant lovers), ‘You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time!’

. . . and finally

Remember that in life and business, you personally have the choices to make. No-one else. It is your responsibility how you act and challenge yourself. Take the responsibility and give it a go. Life is not a dress rehearsal – Grasp the opportunities you have today and every day.

Further reading on the GROW model (should be available from libraries)"Coaching for Performance: Growing People, Performance and Purpose", Sir John Witmore.

by Martin Haworth

Copyright 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, executives and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com.

...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/