First of, if you are dull, sluggish or lazy, having a business should not be your career choice. Becoming a successful entrepreneur takes a lot of dedication, hard work and you literally have to stay smart, really sharp. Sharpness to identify worthy opportunities and grab them as they come your way, smart in making decisions that would benefit your business and get you more prospective customers that would return to your business over time.

However, the ‘SMART’ in this strategy is an acronym for five different steps that is necessary to take when setting out your business goals, either for the month, quater, year, or 5-10 years coming. By applying SMART to your goals, you give yourself defined focus and clarity on how you’re going to achieve them. The five SMART words are;

• S – Specific
• M – Measurable
• A – Attainable
• R – Relevant
• T – Time-based

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Specific

The first step is to write down and highlight the specific goals you want to achieve. You have to be very specific with your goals. What you want to do and the steps you would take to achieve them should all be highlighted too. Without setting out your goals, they are just mere wishes. Specify even the smallest details you see your business achieving in your set time. You should also specify your target customer base and your sales target for the time. With specifications, you have a target you have to meet and you’ll be driven to work towards it. You will no longer be working blindly but with a direction.

Measurable

Your goals should have a criteria that you can use as a yardstick for measuring its progress. You may measure your goals with statistics and numbers. These give you a means of knowing if you are on track to achieve your goals. When you goal is measurable, you can also determine how close you are to its completion.

Attainable

When specifying your goals, you have to ensure that they are attainable. We all have big dreams we want to achieve, but this is not the avenue for you to start targeting your wish of buying a private airplane 😂, well you can if your business generates that sort of income.

What I mean is your goals should focus on the next step of the bigger picture, that way when you smash it, you are eager to set new goals because you know you can make them happen. Break big goals into smaller goals and work towards the smaller bit. With consistency and continually smashing your small goals, with time you get much closer to the big goals and you just might buy that private plane.

Relevant

Relevancy is an essential quality your goals should have. Your goals should be relevant to your brand, your mission and your vision. If your goals are not relevant, it won’t matter or make a difference to your business when you smash them. Think of the image your want your business to attain in future and make sure the goals you are setting will impact them positively.

Time-based

Your goals should have a timeframe for their accomplishments. This timeframe would serve as a tool to gear you towards working on your goals. Without this timing, you may become too relaxed and not work hard enough especially when you encounter obstacles. Set timelines for your goals, be it 30, 60, or 90 days or even years and work on them gradually. I advice you make your timeline tighter than the time you need to achieve your goals, that way you feel the heat to get up and go, go, go!