Financial Goals: How to Set Them for Your Business
Having clear financial goals and objective for your business is critical to ensuring your success.
It's crazy, but I about so many new businesses setting out with no clear goals in mind for what they want to achieve.
When my coaching clients ask me to work with them to establish financial goals for their business, my starting point is always asking to see their mission statement - which ideally reflects their value's and vision for the company longer term.
A Mission Statement will inform your business plan, which will, in turn, lay the foundations for setting your business goals. And when your mission statement changes, as some do over time as you become clearer on your vision and purpose, your goals need to change too.
I highly recommend checking out the work by Simon Sinek and his latest book, "Find Your Why" which will guide you through the process of finding your Purpose, defining your Vision and ultimately drafting your Mission Statement.
If you have your Mission Statement mapped out, here are my recommendations for setting your business financial goals.
Goals with Integrity
If the primary goal for your business is making money, then it is highly likely that your business will at some point derail. Deceptive marketing tactics, spreadsheet management, inconsistent messaging, and a business that does not align with your core values.
Revenue raising is an important goal to have for your business, but it should not be your ONLY goal. However, this is often where most online business owners start.
We launch our business, expenses increase, bills must be paid, and we do everything we can to stay ahead of our bank balance. Initially, our eye is pretty focused on our bank bottom line. If this is you, then I urge you to take a step back and think about your goals.
Growth goals you may need to consider are:
Growing your customer databaseGrowing the volume of repeat salesGrowing your team and their skillsetGrowing your brand profileGrowing your reachGrowing site traffic and conversions
Revenue Goals
Yes, it's important to raise revenue. It's a bit like a chicken and egg - without revenue, you cannot expand your team, buy more stock and continue to grow. I get it.
Establishing achievable revenue goals is not just about picking a number - its about thinking through all the pieces that will allow you to reach that number.
For example, here are a few things to consider when setting your revenue goals:
What marketing activities need to change or increase and for what duration?Does your team have the resources needed to achieve these goals and are they on board?Do you have the stock volume or do you need to consider increasing stock (which may increase storage costs)?What have you done in the past that worked well?What can you do differently?
Radio Ads?TV Ads?YouTube Commercials?PRInfluencer collaborations?Brand collaborations?Signage... and more!
The above list can all support you and your business to achieve a revenue goal. It's important to consider each of these, identify the action steps and move forward accordingly.
Ongoing Financial Goals
A strong business is focused on year-over-year growth and ongoing forward momentum. With a single focus of bringing in $$$, you run the risk of the market changing, customers going elsewhere and having your business fail.
Developing strong business goals across all areas of the business, and having that link to the business mission statement, purpose and your core values give you the best chance of success.
Customer loyalty, brand, staffing, and company infrastructure (systems, processes) are the areas I work on first with my clients. Each of these provides a foundation for achieving business goals in the short and long term.
Success comes in different shapes and sizes and will mean something different to each of us.
Having your business financial goals defined, and having those goals align with your overall vision for the company, will keep you on track and feel all that more rewarding when your goals are achieved.
Struggling to define your business goals? Let me know! You can contact me here.
