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Business Goals 101: How to Set, Track, and Achieve Your Organization’s Goals with Examples

By Kate Eby | November 7, 2022

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Learning how to set concrete, achievable business goals is critical to your organization’s success. We’ve consulted seasoned experts on how to successfully set and achieve short- and long-term business goals, with examples to help you get started.

Included on this page, you’ll find a list of the different types of business goals , the benefits and challenges of business goal-setting, and examples of short-term and long-term business goals. Plus, find expert tips and compare and contrast business goal-setting frameworks.

What Are Business Goals?

Business goals are the outcomes an organization aims to achieve. They can be broad and long term or specific and short term. Business leaders set goals in order to motivate teams, measure progress, and improve performance.

“Business goals are those that represent a company's overarching mission,” says David Bitton, Co-founder and CMO of DoorLoop . “These goals typically cover the entire business and are vast in scope. They are established so that employees may work toward a common goal. In essence, business goals specify the ‘what’ of a company's purpose and provide teams with a general course to pursue.”

For more resources and information on setting goals, try one of these free goal tracking and setting templates .

Business Goals vs. Business Objectives

Many professionals use the terms business goal and business objective interchangeably. Generally, a business goal is a broad, long-term outcome an organization works toward, while a business objective is a specific and measurable task, project, or initiative. 

Think of business objectives as the steps an organization takes toward their broader, long-term goals. In some cases, a business objective might simply be a short-term goal. In most cases, business goals refer to outcomes, while business objectives refer to actionable tasks. 

“Business objectives are clear and precise,” says Bitton. “When businesses set out to achieve their business goals, they do so by establishing quantifiable, simply defined, and trackable objectives. Business objectives lay out the ‘how’ in clear, doable steps that lead to the desired result.”

For more information and resources, see this article on the key differences between goals and objectives.

Common Frameworks for Writing Business Goals

Goal-setting frameworks can help you get the most out of your business goals. Common frameworks include SMART, OKR, MBO, BHAG, and KRA. Learning about these goal-setting tools can help you choose the right one for your company.

Here are the common frameworks for writing business goals with examples:

• SMART: SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This is probably the most popular method for setting goals. Ensuring that your goals meet SMART goal criteria is a tried and true way to increase your chances of success and make progress on even your most ambitious goals. Example SMART Goal: We will increase the revenue from our online store by 5 percent in three months by increasing our sign-up discount from 25 to 30 percent.
• OKR: Another popular approach is to set OKRs, or objectives and key results. In order to use OKRs , a team or individual selects an objective they would like to work toward. Then they select key results , or standardized measurements of success or progress. Example Objective: We aim to increase the sales revenue of our online store. Example Key Result: Make $200,000 in sales revenue from the online store in June. 
• MBO: MBO, or management by objectives , is a collaborative goal-setting framework and management technique. When using MBO, managers work with employees to create specific, agreed-upon objectives and develop a plan to achieve them. This framework is excellent for ensuring that everyone is aligned on their goals. Example MBO: This quarter, we aim to decrease patient waiting times by 30 percent.
• BHAG: A BHAG, or a big hairy audacious goal , is an ambitious, possibly unattainable goal. While the idea of setting a BHAG might run contrary to a lot of advice about goal-setting, a BHAG can energize the team by giving everyone a shared purpose. These are best for long-term, visionary business goals. Example BHAG: We want to be the leading digital music service provider globally by 2030. 
• KRA: KRAs, or key result areas , refer to a short list of goals that an individual, department, or organization can work toward. KRAs function like a rubric for general progress and to help ensure that the team’s efforts have an optimal impact on the overall health of the business. Example KRA: Increase high-quality sales leads per sales representative. 

Use the table below to compare the pros and cons of each goal-setting framework to help you decide which framework will be most useful for your business goals.

Types of Business Goals

A business goal is any goal that helps move an organization toward a desired result. There are many types of business goals, including process goals, development goals, innovation goals, and profitability goals.

Here are some common types of business goals:

• Growth: A growth goal is a goal relating to the size and scope of the company. A growth goal might involve increasing the number of employees, adding new verticals, opening new stores or offices, or generally expanding the impact or market share of a company. 
• Process: A process goal , also called a day-to-day goal or an efficiency goal , is a goal to improve the everyday effectiveness of a team or company. A process goal might involve establishing or improving workflows or routines, delegating responsibilities, or improving team skills. 
• Problem-Solving: Problem-solving goals address a specific challenge. Problem-solving goals might involve removing an inefficiency, changing policies to accommodate a new law or regulation, or reorienting after an unsuccessful project or initiative.
• Development: A development goal , also called an educational goal , is a goal to develop new skills or expertise, either for your team or for yourself. For example, development goals might include developing a new training module, learning a new coding language, or taking a continuing education class in your field. 
• Innovation: An innovation goal is a goal to create new or more reliable products or services. Innovation goals might involve developing a new mobile app, redesigning an existing product, or restructuring to a new business model. 
• Profitability: A profitability goal , also called a financial goal , is any goal to improve the financial prospects of a company. Profitability goals might involve increasing revenue, decreasing debt, or growing the company’s shareholder value. 
• Sustainability: A s ustainability goal is a goal to either decrease your company’s negative impact on the environment or actively improve the environment through specific initiatives. For example, a sustainability goal might be to decrease a company’s carbon footprint, reduce energy use, or divest from environmentally irresponsible organizations and reinvest in sustainable ones.
• Marketing: A marketing goal , also called a brand goal , is a goal to increase a company’s influence and brand awareness in the market. A marketing goal might be to boost engagement across social media platforms or generate more higher-quality leads. 
• Customer Relations: A customer relations goal is a goal to improve customer satisfaction with and trust in your product or services. A customer relations goal might be to decrease customer service wait times, improve customers’ self-reported satisfaction with your products or services, or increase customer loyalty.
• Company Culture: A company culture goal , also called a social goal , is a goal to improve the work environment of your company. A company culture goal might be to improve employee benefits; improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across your organization; or create a greater sense of work-life balance among employees. 

What Are Business Goal Examples?

Business goal examples are real or hypothetical business goal statements. A business goal example can use any goal-setting framework, such as SMART, OKR, or KRA. Teams and individuals use these examples to guide them in the goal-setting process. 

For a comprehensive list of examples by industry and type, check out this collection of business goal examples .

What Are Short-Term Business Goals?

Short-term business goals are measurable objectives that can be completed within hours, days, weeks, or months. Many short-term business goals are smaller objectives that help a company make progress on a longer-term goal.

The first step in setting a short-term business goal is to clarify your long-term goals. 

“My practice is to start with an aspirational vision that is the framework for my long-term goals and to compare that ‘better tomorrow’ with the realities of today,” says Morgan Roth, Chief Communication Strategy Officer at EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases . “Once that framework of three to five major goals is drafted and I have buy-in, I can think about how we get there. Those will be my short-term goals.”

Bitton recommends using the SMART framework for setting short-term business goals to ensure that your team has structure and that their goals are achievable. “Determine which objectives can be attained in a reasonable amount of time,” she adds. “This will help you stay motivated. Your organization may suffer if you try to squeeze years-long ambitions into a month-long project.”

Short-Term Business Goal Examples

Companies can use short-term business goals to increase profits, implement new policies or initiatives, or improve company culture. We’ve gathered some examples of short-term business goals to help you brainstorm your own goal ideas. 

Here are three sample short-term business goals:

• Increase Your Market Share: When companies increase their market share, they increase the percentage of their target audience who chooses their product or service over competitors. This is a good short-term goal for companies that have long-term expansion goals. For example, a local retail business might want to draw new customers from the local community. The business sets a goal of increasing the average number of customers who enter its store from 500 per week to 600 per week within three months. It can meet this goal by launching a local advertising initiative, reducing prices, or expanding its presence on local social media groups. Small business owners can check out this comprehensive guide to learn more about setting productive goals for their small businesses.
• Reduce Paper Waste: All businesses produce waste, but company leaders can take actions to reduce or combat excessive waste. Reducing your company’s paper waste is a good short-term goal for companies that have long-term sustainability goals. For example, a large company’s corporate headquarters is currently producing an average of four pounds of paper waste per employee per day. They set a goal of decreasing this number to two pounds by the end of the current quarter. They can meet this goal by incentivizing or requiring electronic reporting and forms whenever possible. 
• Increase Social Media Engagement: High social media engagement is essential for businesses that want to increase brand awareness or attract new customers. This is a good short-term goal for companies with long-term marketing or brand goals. For example, after reviewing a recent study, a natural cosmetics company learns that its target audience is 30 percent more likely to purchase products recommended to them by TikTok influencers, but the company’s social media team only posts sporadically on its TikTok. The company sets a goal of producing and posting two makeup tutorials on TikTok each week for the next three months.

What Are Long-Term Business Goals?

A l ong-term business goal is an ambitious desired outcome for your company that is broad in scope. Long-term business goals might be harder to measure or achieve. They provide a shared direction and motivation for team members. 

“Long-term planning is increasingly difficult in our very complex and interconnected world,” says Roth. “Economically, politically, and culturally, we’re seeing sea changes in the way we live and work. Accordingly, it’s important to be thoughtful about long-term goal-setting, but not to the point where concerns stifle creativity and your ‘Big Ideas.’ A helpful strategy I employ is to avoid assumptions. Long-term planning should be based on what you know, not on what you assume will be true in some future state.”

Tip: You can turn most short-term goals into long-term goals by increasing their scope. For example, to turn the “increase market share” goal described above into a long-term goal, you might increase the target weekly customers from 600 to 2,000. This will likely take longer than a few months and might require expanding the store or opening new locations.

Long-Term Business Goal Examples

An organization can use long-term business goals to unify their vision, motivate workers, and prioritize short-term goals. We’ve gathered some examples of long-term business goals to guide you in setting goals for your business. 

Here are three sample long-term business goals:

• Increase Total Sales: A common growth profitability goal is to increase sales. An up-and-coming software company might set a long-term goal of increasing their product sales by 75 percent over two years. 
• Increase Employee Retention: Companies with high employee retention enjoy many benefits, such as decreased hiring costs, better brand reputation, and a highly skilled workforce. A large corporation with an employee retention rate of 80 percent might set a long-term goal of increasing that retention rate to 90 percent within five years. 
• Develop a New Technology: Most companies in the IT sphere rely on innovation goals to stay competitive. A company might set a long-term goal of creating an entirely new AI technology within 10 years.

Challenges of Setting Business Goals 

Although setting business goals has few downsides, teams can run into problems. For example, setting business goals that are too ambitious, inflexible, or not in line with the company vision can end up being counterproductive. 

Here are some common challenges teams face when setting business goals: 

• Having a Narrow Focus: One of the greatest benefits of setting business goals is how doing so can focus your team. That said, this can also be a drawback, as such focus on a single goal can narrow the team’s perspective and make people less able to adapt to change or recognize and seize unexpected opportunities. 
• Being Overly Ambitious: It’s important to be ambitious, but some goals are simply too lofty. If a goal is impossible to hit, it can be demoralizing. 
• Not Being Ambitious Enough: The opposite problem is when companies are too modest with their goal-setting. Goals should be realistic but challenging. Teams that prioritize the former while ignoring the latter will have problems with motivation and momentum.
• Facing Unexpected Obstacles: If something happens that suddenly derails progress toward a goal, it can be a huge blow to a company. Learn about project risk management to better manage uncertainty in your projects. 
• Having Unclear Objectives: Goals that are vague or unquantifiable will not be as effective as clear, measurable goals. Use frameworks such as SMART goals or OKRs to make sure your goals are clear. 
• Losing Motivation: Teams can lose sight of their goals over time, especially with long-term goals. Be sure to review and assess progress toward goals regularly to keep your long-term vision front of mind.

Why You Need Business Goals

Every business needs to set clear goals in order to succeed. Business goals provide direction, encourage focus, improve morale, and spur growth. We’ve gathered some common benefits of goal-setting for your business. 

Here are some benefits you can expect from setting business goals:

• More Clarity: Business goals ensure that everyone is moving toward a determined end point. Companies with clear business goals have teams that agree on what is important and what everyone should be working toward. 
• Increased Focus: Business goals encourage focus, which improves performance and increases productivity. 
• Faster Growth: Business goals help companies expand and thrive. “Setting goals and objectives for your business will help you grow it more quickly,” says Bitton. “Your potential for growth increases as you consistently accomplish your goals and objectives.”
• Improved Morale: Everyone is happier when they are working toward a tangible goal. Companies with clear business goals have employees that are more motivated and fulfilled at work. Plus, measuring progress toward specific goals makes it easier to notice and acknowledge everyone’s successes. 
• More Accountability: Having tangible goals means that everyone can see whether or not their work is effective at making progress toward those goals.
• Better Decision-Making: Business goals help teams prioritize tasks and make tough decisions. “You gain perspective on your entire business, which makes it easier for you to make smart decisions,” says Bitton. “You are forming a clear vision for the direction you want your business to go, which facilitates the efficient distribution of resources, the development of strategies, and the prioritization of tasks.”

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20 Business Goals Examples & How to Set Them

Last Updated – Jan 22, 2024 @ 10:42 am

Any successful entrepreneur will tell you the importance of goal setting to maximize your business’ potential.

Whether your business has been up and running for years or you’re dealing with a startup , you need to deliberately plan your business goals. 

Not sure where to start? We’ll explain everything you need to know about business goals below.

What are Business Goals?

Business goals refer to the specific articulations of all the things you want your business to achieve within a specific period. These goals fall under your business plan. 

One example of a business goal is your mission statement, which is more general and highlights what your business strives towards.

You can also set specific business goals that are more measurable and trackable. Having a clear time-bound business goal helps your company to be oriented in the right direction as it grows. 

The Importance of Business Goals

Starting and running a business is no walk in the park, and the truth is, not a lot of businesses make it.

One of the most common reasons this happens is because many businesses fail to set goals. Here are some of the benefits you’ll reap when you set clear business goals. 

It allows you to focus on the important things

When companies set goals, it allows everyone in the organization to re-focus their priorities. The main purpose of business goals is to let employees know what they should put more effort into the upcoming period.

This enables them to align their tasks more efficiently. For managers and other high-ranking staff, it allows them to decide the major projects to prioritize.

It helps people stay motivated

Even if you love your business or industry, there will still be instances when you just don’t feel motivated to work.

One of the importance of goal setting in businesses is it allows everyone to stay motivated especially in times when they don’t want to put in work.

Although someone may feel like they can’t give their 100%, they will still move forward because they can visualize the end results.

It defines what success is

Every business owner wants to know whether or not their business is successful .

How can you do this?

Clearly outlining your business goals will give you a picture of what success is. When you set goals, you will push the capabilities of your team.  

It enables you to track your progress

Another reason why it’s integral to set business goals is because it is a way to track your progress.

By sitting down and looking at how close you are to hitting your targets, or how many business goals you have achieved, you are able to see the areas of your business that need more work.

You will also know which of your actions are paying off.

It helps you stay accountable

Every responsible business owner will tell you the importance of holding yourself accountable. If you decide you want to achieve something for your business, you need to take all the necessary steps to hit your goal.

If you are constantly falling behind, you know that you have to work harder and see which of your actions you need to change. 

Types of Business Goals

Not all business goals are the same. To help you find out what type of goals you should set in place, study the types of business goals listed below.  

1. Personal & Professional Business Goals

When you think of business goals, the first things on your list may be hitting your first million, or doubling your number of clients. While these can definitely be goals, these should not paint the entire picture.

To help you find out the best goals to set, remember why you started your business in the first place. These things prove that it’s not all about money. Instead of thinking of your sales as the end-all-be-all, think outside the box.

For instance, your business goal may be to only work for specific days each week or hire more staff so you can be more present for your kids. 

2. Short-term & Long-term Business Goals

When it comes to growing a business, you need to set both short-term and long-term goals.

Short-term business goals are ones that you want to hit in a period of weeks or months. For example, a short-term goal can be to reduce your utility bills in your physical store in the next month or get more interactions on your Instagram campaign. 

On the other hand, long-term business goals are those that you want your company to achieve in the distant future. These goals are harder to hit and require you to be strategic in breaking down the steps involved in them.

This can include reaching a specific income, opening up new stores, or completely overhauling your existing equipment. 

3. Process-based & Outcome-based Business Goals

The reason why you are making business goals is that you want to see results. 

Outcome-based business goals are directly related to the results you want. But unlike process-based goals, you have no control over whether you will achieve them or not.

To hit this business goal, you need to have process-based goals which are based on specific tasks and actions that you complete.

Setting process-based goals involves identifying all the things you need to do to achieve a larger goal. 

4. Qualitative & Quantitative Business Goals

If you want to ensure your goals have a higher chance of becoming successful, it needs to be specific enough to track.

When you have a vague goal such as “increasing your social media followers,” you’ll end up getting confused on whether you’ve hit your goal or not. 

Qualitative goals are more focused on your financial targets and metrics, but you also need to have goals that concern the more nuanced aspects of your business.

These are called qualitative goals. It can include increasing your workplace morale or improving the brand loyalty of your customers. 

The secret to creating business goals is to be as specific as possible, especially when defining how much more you want to increase something. Then, don’t forget to set a time period so you can assess your progress better.  

Business Goals vs. Business Objectives

A lot of businesses use the terms “objectives” and “goals” interchangeably. However, the two are not the same. Understanding their differences is key if you want to avoid confusion.

To put it simply, a business goal is an aim that you establish to start your business planning process. For example, increasing your Instagram followers by 100% in 6 months is a business goal.

Meanwhile, a business objective refers to milestones that you reach on the way to achieving your goal. This can include creating more relatable content to increase shares and visibility. 

Considering this definition, goals are more broad and long-term. These are mostly used to make annual strategies to be executed by different departments in your business. 

Related: Business Development 101

20 Best Business Goals Examples for Filipino Entrepreneurs

To help cement your idea of what business goals are, here are some concrete examples that you can apply to your business. 

1. Cost reduction

Whether you have a huge corporation or a small business, it may benefit you to reduce your costs to maximize your cash flow.

However, make sure to be specific about what costs you want to target . For example, you can invest in technology to improve business efficiency and increase productivity. This, in turn, reduces your costs. 

2. Hiring your first employee

Being a small business owner is hard because you need to wear many hats. If you want to ease your burden, you can set a goal to hire your first employee.

Part of hiring an employee includes defining a clear set of responsibilities. This way, you can have a laser focus on candidates that have the right experience. 

Recommended: Hiring Tips for Filipino Entrepreneurs

3. Improve operational efficiency

Improving your operational efficiency is not just one initiative. It is a collective effort that involves people, processes, technology, and financials.

This way, your business can become a well-oiled machine, and deliver quality services even with fewer resources.

4. Minimize tools & energy required for operation

More processes and staff doesn’t always mean more productivity. As an entrepreneur, remember that technology is on your side.

As much as you can, leverage resources to save money, and give you more consistent services and results. This may include automating repeatable work, especially in your administrative processes. 

5. Increase online presence

Whatever industry you belong in, you can benefit from having a strong online presence. Considering more people spend hours each day online, building your online presence has become a no-brainer.

By doing this, more people can discover your business, and you can be seen as a more legitimate enterprise. Having an online presence also means having the luxury to guide your customers in their buyer journey. 

6. Update your business plan

The first business plan you made when you first started your business may be outdated. Updating your business plan is vital if you want to keep your information up to date.

This will also help you gain more opportunities in analyzing competition, seeking more financing options, and starting a new financial period in your business. 

7. Go paperless

Every entrepreneur faces the pressure to improve their company efficiency and decrease costs. One of the ways you can do this is by going paperless.

Technology has made this easier, and while this can be intimidating for some, it can give you tons of benefits such as improved collaboration, security, and access. It’s also more eco-friendly. 

8. Reach out & help the local community

Without question, the people close to your business are more likely to become your customer base. Because of this, you have to cater to their needs.

Reaching out to people in your local community will increase brand trust since more will catch wind about your business with little effort towards advertising. 

9. Improve the company’s brand & image

Your company has a unique personality. While you serve the same needs as your competition, you need to make an effort so customers won’t confuse you with other brands.

After all, no one confuses McDonald’s for Jollibee. So how can you improve your brand image, especially online? The best way to do this is to communicate your brand voice and values clearly in your collateral, as well as your service. 

10. Leverage social media marketing

Social media marketing refers to using social media networks such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook to market your products and services.

The moment you prioritize this, you can ramp up your customer engagement, and reach new people in an inexpensive way.

More than that, social media also has built-in analytics so it will be easier for you to measure the success of your efforts. 

11. Increase market share

Market share refers to the percentage of a market your company earns. It involves your total sales in relation to the overall industry sales.

If your goal is to hold more market share, it means increasing your customer base, as well as improving your reputation.

You will also enjoy increased bargaining power, as well as an upper hand in negotiating with your suppliers.  

12. Business expense reduction

In today’s uncertain market condition, every peso counts. Even the smallest revenue increase can impact your profitability.

Aside from expanding your sales , one way you can do this is by reducing your expenses. This can include your production costs, supply expenses, insurance policies, and even marketing efforts, among many others. 

13. Perform a marketing audit

The marketing landscape and needs of your customers change constantly. Because of this, you need to conduct a marketing audit every once in a while.

This involves assessing the strategies and targets of all your marketing activities . After doing this, you can identify your areas of weakness, and have an overview of the tools at your disposal that can improve your future outcomes. 

14. Make a better & more cost-effective product

Whether you already have a huge market share or not, you will surely benefit from making more cost-effective products.

This arduous process involves studying cost trade-offs of various concept designs, as well as evaluating tons of design and supplier alternatives so you can come up with the lowest cost without sacrificing quality. 

15. Enhance customer service

Customer service involves giving your customer what they want in the best way possible. This will give you a greater chance of increasing your customer base and raking in favorable word of mouth.

When this is included in your business goals, you can also seek feedback from your customers, streamline your processes, and strengthen your team. 

16. Run a leadership development program for managers

Implementing a leadership program for your business is required if you want to keep up with the current climate.

All your staff needs reliable and strong leaders whom they can turn to for support and guidance, and a leadership development program will do wonders to increase the competency of managers and give employees the opportunity to build the necessary skills to move up. 

17. Increasing production

For many businesses, increasing production is the ingredient needed for them to grow. Providing more services and products to your customers can translate to better profits.

As production increases, your company can also pay stakeholders faster, as well as retain a larger cash flow to be used for future expansion.

18. Launch a new product

If you’ve had the same products and services for years, chances are, your customers want something new. Change things up by studying the current market and trying to fill a current gap.

If launching a new product is something you can’t afford to do, try marketing your old product in a new light. 

19. Open a new branch

Despite the success of eCommerce , brick and mortar shops still continue to do well since it provides customers with a tactile shopping experience.

If your company is ready, maybe it’s time to open a second location to expand your footprint and cater to more customer demand.  

20. Open the brand for franchising

Want to enjoy the benefits of a bigger company without all the work? If so, open your company for franchising .

When you’re finally ready to take this plunge, you need to set aside time and effort to manage and guide your franchisees. This way, you can help them grow their business while keeping your brand image strong. 

7 Tips for Successfully Setting Business Goals

Successful businesses set goals to reach milestones, irrespective of their industry. Here are some tips to keep in mind when setting your business goals.  

1. Use the S.M.A.R.T. system

When you spend effort and time visualizing and specifying your goals, you’ll have a higher chance of achieving them. However, being as descriptive as possible does not come easy for many entrepreneurs.

To make this simpler, use the SMART system to guide you. This means:

Specific – What exactly do you want to accomplish? Specify the Who, When, What, Where, and Why.  Measurable – How will you measure your progress against your specific goal?  Achievable – Can you achieve your goal with your current skills and resources? What do you need to change to achieve it?   Relevant – Are your business goals in line with how you see your business in the next few years?  Time-bound – When is the realistic deadline you want to set for yourself to achieve this goal? 

2. Study & research companies in the same field

As you make an effort to increase your market share, developing a better strategy becomes more crucial. Considering this, studying and researching your competition is an important step you should not miss.

If you forego your competition, you won’t have a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of other businesses, and how they are attracting potential customers and retaining old ones.

When you take time to research other companies in the industry, you can learn from their failures and successes and apply these things to your business goals. 

3. Use the O.K.R. framework

Broad business goals can be extremely useful, but if you want your company to adapt more, you need to break this down into smaller steps. One way you can do this is by following the OKR goal-setting framework. 

OKR means Objectives and Key Results . This goal-setting methodology was pioneered by Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel. 

This framework involves two basic parts. First is the Objective, which is qualitative and tells you what areas you want to improve.

The next is Key Results, which is quantitative, and defines how you will find out if you’ve achieved your objective. 

You can look at it this way:

(Company name) will (objective) as measured by (Key Results)

Two techniques that make this framework unique are weekly check-ins and initiatives. The former helps you track your accomplishments and other plans, while the latter includes the plans and projects that will enable you to achieve your objectives. 

4. Be specific

Do not be afraid to go into the nitty-gritty details of each goal. Define each peso. Outline each percentage. List the duration you need to achieve it. Examine who can help you achieve your goal. Be as specific as you can.

Doing so will make it easier to track your performance and progress. Having a specific goal will also bring you more clarity, as well as avoid confusion. 

5. Track & measure your progress consistently

Failing to measure business performance will give you a skewed picture of your standing in relation to your business goal. 

Whether you want to do this weekly, bi-monthly, monthly, or quarterly, you have to look at relevant business metrics and other performance indicators to know the progress of your goals.

Consistently and regularly monitoring your progress will also protect you from financial and organizational problems . 

6. Break down long term goals into actionable steps

Long-term goals can take a long time to reach, and it can be easy to lose track of your end goal and lose your motivation because you’re not seeing any results.

After all, long-term goals have been proven to be psychologically taxing, not to mention very intimidating. Think about it this way – your long-term business goal should serve as your North Star.

For example, no one expects you to hold 50% of the market share in one go. Instead, every marketing effort increases your market share until you reach your goal.

Breaking down your large goals into more manageable chunks will make them seem easier and more realistic. It also provides you with a clearer action plan that won’t make you feel overwhelmed. 

7. Identify the resources you’ll need to hit your goals

If your goal is to improve your customer service, do you have everything you need to do so? Is your customer service team ready? Do you have the right software to handle customer queries? Do you have the budget to hire more staff in your physical store? 

Answering all these questions in advance will make your journey more seamless. Perhaps your customer service team is already drowning with work. Calculate how much effort you can expect from all your identified resources before you let them know what you expect of them. 

In every business goal, knowing the people and work required to achieve it is part of the bid. When you know this key information, you can start looking at the resources required and break it down into a clear project plan.

This will enable you to identify tasks that need to be ticked off and give you an idea about the software, business skills , and tools required to complete specific tasks.

Read Next: 50+ Business Tips for Filipino Entrepreneurs

About MJ de Castro

MJ de Castro is the lead personal finance columnist at Grit PH.

MJ started her career as a writer for her local government’s City Information Office. Later on, she became a news anchor on PTV Davao del Norte.

Wanting to break free from the shackles of her 9-to-5 career to live by the beach, she pursued remote work. Over the years, she has developed a wide specialization on health, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, branding, and travel.

Now, she juggles writing professionally, her business centering on women’s menstrual health, and surfing.

Education: Ateneo de Davao University (AB Mass Communication) Focus: Personal Finance, Personal Development, Entrepreneurship, & Marketing

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• Setting business goals: The first step ...

Setting business goals: The first step to a successful business

Business goals are a predetermined target that a business or individual plans to achieve in a set period of time. This article discusses the importance of business goals and reasons why you should set them for your team.

These are just a few benefits the goal setting process provides. Whether you're looking at the big picture or looking for small stepping stones, we'll explain everything you need to know to set goals for your business.

What are business goals?

Business goals are a predetermined target that a business or individual plans to achieve in a set period of time. These goals are often split into short-term goals and long-term goals . Business goals can be general and high level, or they can focus on specific measurable actions. 

A good example of a general business goal is a mission statement. Missions statements are a general goal because they don't have one metric that defines their success. They’re more often used as a guiding North Star—something your team can strive for as opposed to hitting hard numbers.

Alternatively, you can set specific goals—measurable goals that are easy to track as your team progresses towards them. When someone talks about "setting goals" or the "goal setting process," they're talking about specific goals. A common goal setting process to use is the SMART goals process .

Short-term goals

Short-term goals are often bound by a set period of time, usually ranging from a few hours to a full year. Long-term goals can also be time-bound, but if they are, they’re typically set further into the future. 

Short-term goals are often used as building blocks towards larger goals. A common strategy in business is to set multiple short-term goals to make the long-term goals more achievable.

Examples of short-term business goals:

Increase net promoter score by 10 points this quarter.

Hire 12 new support representatives by the end of the year.

Increase employee satisfaction by 20%.

Long-term goals

Long-term goals are bigger visions—goals you want to achieve further into the future. A common long-term goal is a 10-year goal. Think about where you want your business to be 10 years from now. What business objectives do you want to have achieved by then? What new businesses do you want to break into, if any? 

Long-term goals are often used as vision or mission statements —these goals serve as a compass for your business to help you move in the right direction. Think of your goals as a map to get you where you want to go. Long-term goals may not tell you how to get there exactly, but they point you in the right direction. Short-term goals are like a GPS. They provide step-by-step directions on how to get where you want to go. 

Examples of long-term business goals:

Nike : To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

Patagonia : We're in business to save our home planet.

Google : To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Why are business goals important?

Setting business goals is a best practice for a reason—goals help drive businesses in the right direction. Here are a few more reasons why companies take the time to establish strong goals. 

Confidently define success

One of the easiest ways to know if your team is successful is by clearly outlining what success looks like. When you set your goals, take into consideration what you know your team is capable of, and push them slightly farther than expected.

There are a few common frameworks used to define goals. One of the most common ones used to create measurable and actionable goals is the Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) framework.

Connect work to goals

A good business strategy to get into the habit of doing is connecting your business goals to the work your team is already doing. When you connect daily work to short- and long-term goals, individual team members have a clear sense of what they need to do, when they need to complete it, and the strategies they're doing to achieve those goals. 

Not only are team members more confident in what they need to do, but it gives them a sense of pride and ownership over their work. Team members are confident in how the work they’re doing impacts your business and how they’ve contributed to that success.

Keep teams aligned

A key benefit of using business goals is to align teams towards a common goal. Establishing clear business objectives allows team leaders to define which tactics their individual teams should use to achieve these goals. 

For example, imagine your company's overall business goal is to increase profitability by 10%. This is an overarching goal, but there are many different ways your company can achieve this. By establishing smaller, more tailored goals, business leaders can define the specific strategy you plan to take to achieve this goal. Your sales team may increase their sales quota, and your marketing team may implement a new outreach strategy. These are two different tactics that can be implemented to ultimately reach the same goal.

Maintain accountability

Once you set business goals, you can then break them down to the individual level. Using a technique like this can help maintain accountability from the leadership level all the way down to individual team members. When individual team members are responsible for their individual goals, it's easy for managers to gauge how they're performing and when they might need more support. 

Inform decision-making

If your company regularly tracks its business goals, you can use past goals as a way to inform your decision making process. For example, if your team sets up a new marketing strategy to track your goals and progress, you can use that information to set your business strategy for the next year based on performance.

Tips for setting clear business goals

Now that you know the reasons why business goals are important, here are a few tips on how to establish them.

Use a framework to set goals

If you're on the path to setting your first business goal, it can be challenging to figure out where to start. You want to make sure that your goal is achievable, but not so easy to achieve that it's not a challenge.  Goal setting frameworks like SMART goals or OKRs are a good way to establish your first set of business goals.

Co-create with other business leaders

Your team doesn't work in a bubble. The work that your team does can affect other teams in your company and your business strategy as a whole. This is why co-creating with stakeholders is important. By working together, your team can utilize their unique knowledge and experience to set goals and create a sound business plan.

Start with the big picture

When you're establishing your goals, choosing numbers and tactics can feel overwhelming. To prevent that, start with the big picture first. Focus on answering the questions:

What do you want your company to stand for? 

Why was your company created? 

Where do you want to be in 10 years? What about 25 years? 

Once you’ve defined a big picture mission, break it down into smaller, more actionable goals. What steps can you take to get there? What new products can you introduce to help achieve that overall, big picture mission? 

With goal setting, there is no right or wrong answer. It's all about finding the strategies and methodologies that work best for your team.

Manage goals using software

There's no use in setting goals if you set them and forget them in a document somewhere, only to be opened again at the end of a quarter. Using software to regularly track goal progress is important, and what better way to do that than to use software that connects your goals to the work that needs to be done? 

Connecting the work you’re doing to goals is easy. Guru aligns their company OKRs to their projects with Asana. The Guru team uses Asana as a source of truth for clarity and accountability company-wide.

Start setting—and achieving—business goals today

All businesses start small, and setting goals is how they grow into successful companies. If you're interested in learning more about different goal strategies, how to measure them, or where to start with planning, visit the Asana goals resource page for more information.

Related resources

What is management by objectives (MBO)?

7 steps to complete a social media audit (with template)

How to accomplish big things with long-term goals

What are objectives and key results (OKRs)?

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How to Write a Business Plan

Five examples of business goals and how to set them

What are five examples of business goals

Financial goals, growth goals, customer goals, employee development goals, social goals.

Moving forward in business is like planning a great trip: You know where you want to end up, but the road there isn’t always straightforward.

Smart business goals help you navigate the twists and turns along the way. While a business plan and vision statement offer a “big picture” perspective about your company and what you want to accomplish, short-term and long-term goals define the specific strategies you’ll use to get there.

However, not all business goals are created equal. In order to be effective, goals must involve specific, actionable items with a clear time frame and responsible parties.

Build business forms for free with Jotform .

Here are five examples of smart goals for small business owners and how you can set them.

Financial goals help you focus on driving more revenue, cutting costs to raise profitability and sustain cash flow, and setting new financial targets for future growth.

To create and accomplish financial goals, you have to collaborate with different departments. Each department can help to identify strategies that trim costs, such as supplies or facility expenses. Your team’s expertise may also extend to implementing ideas that accomplish revenue and profitability goals.

When developing financial goals, project the total increase in profits over a long period like a year. Then break that amount down into quarterly financial targets. Make financial goals as specific as possible — for example, “increase production by x percent over three months.”

To develop growth goals, you need a clear vision statement that you can segment into achievable steps. Whether it’s reaching new markets, launching new products, increasing your customer base, or raising brand recognition, it’s important to establish a realistic number of goals, actionable tasks, and a team to complete those growth goals.

Start with a market analysis to ensure the approach makes sense. As you implement growth goals, you may need to change their priority or adapt them so you aren’t counteracting other business goals.

For example, growing a customer base may involve promotions that don’t necessarily improve your bottom line at the start. So you’ll need to make assessments along the way to gauge if and when you’ll achieve the financial goal connected to this growth goal.

Improving relationships with your target audience doesn’t just solve problems for individual customers. Enhanced customer service also helps your company develop respect among all stakeholders, which promotes additional business growth.

To set goals for customers, identify roadblocks that inhibit exceptional customer experiences. Roadblocks might include a complicated phone menu, significant response lag, or slow checkout time.

With these roadblocks in mind, develop customer goals to solve them, such as

• Simplify call-in customer support options
• Add other customer support channels like an online help desk or a chat option
• Streamline the online/in-store checkout process with new technology

Motivated, engaged employees offer many benefits for a company, such as increased productivity, deeper loyalty, and more creativity. This talent is an essential ingredient in a company’s recipe for success. That’s why it’s critical to design and execute goals that help employees develop skills and knowledge as well as challenge them enough to stay interested in their work.

To set employee development goals, collect regular feedback from team members about the types of incentives they want. Include these goals in performance reviews by aligning development actions like training and ongoing learning opportunities with business objectives like increasing engagement or converting new customers.

As your business grows, you’ll establish a place in the community you serve. To nurture this position, develop philanthropy and social programs that benefit local and global communities.

Not only does this feel good, but it also boosts your reputation as a socially conscious company. In addition, these social goals prove to the team that the company isn’t just about making money. Instead, it seeks to do good for everyone.

Your social goals don’t have to be financial. In-kind donations of products, services, or your thought leadership often make more of a positive impression than charitable donations. For example, if your small business isn’t yet in the position to donate a certain percentage of the profits from each sale, you can focus on having the team volunteer for a community project or donate products to those in need.

Specific and visible business goals

Studies show people are more likely to accomplish goals that are specific, challenging, and written down.

When creating the types of business goals detailed above, focus on adding a quantitative measure, where relevant, in terms of percentage of improvement or resource savings, growth or productivity improvements, or a deadline to achieve the goal. Also, keeping goals visible helps employees stay focused on business success. They have a way to benchmark their progress. And seeing what’s been achieved can be a prime motivator to continue working toward achieving your goals and tackling new ones in the future.

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I should have googled this page long ago but now know where and how to navigate. Thanks for being around for small emerging starters like myself in this highly regulated insurance industry

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I'm a financial planner, and my richest clients have the same 5 habits

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• Plenty of people manage to find financial success without having a huge paycheck.
• The secret to building wealth starts with setting clear goals and investing regularly.
• Everyone's situation is different, so a financial planner can help you develop a personalized plan.

Building wealth has little to do with your job title. Some of the richest people I know are college dropouts, teachers, and unassuming professionals who lead modest lives. But one look at their bank accounts, and it's clear they're doing something right.

What's confusing is that many of the people you assume to be rich — doctors, lawyers, and executives — spend their money and go into debt playing the comparison game with peers.

So, what is the secret to building wealth?

Your habits. All of my richest clients share five money-making habits. 

1. They set clear financial goals

The mind is a powerful tool. When you get clear about what you want, when you want it, and have a strong "why" behind your goal — your brain can't resist. You've given it a clear target to optimize your actions around.

And for my wealthiest clients, the goal is just a starting point. After deciding what they want, they set up repeatable systems that align their actions with their goals. This is what drives real progress.

So, next time you set a financial goal — like saving $50,000 for a home down payment , for example — don't stop at setting it.

Outline the weekly or monthly actions it will take to reach your goal. In this case, it could be a monthly transfer of $1,000 into a high-yield savings account you've labeled "Future Home Purchase."

2. They invest each month without fail

There's no building wealth without investing. Rich people know this, which is why they use their income to buy appreciating assets like stocks and real estate.

They also know that investing isn't about timing the market. That's proven to be a fool's errand for long-term investors with a horizon of a decade or more, which happens to be the majority of us who want to retire someday.

Instead, my richest clients know that investing is about spending a lot of time in the market. Rather than catch the market's random highs and lows at the perfect moment, they simply invest the same dollar amount on a set schedule. Just like clockwork.

By turning investing into a habit (with the help of automatic transfers each month), my clients avoid costly mistakes, like missing the best-performing days in the stock market and losing out on years of compounded returns . This savvy move is called dollar-cost-averaging , and it's something anyone can do.

3. They plan for the bad times

Building wealth is one thing. Holding onto it is another ball game. My richest clients never leave the latter up to chance. Instead, they proactively plan for when the bad stuff happens.

Whether it's a medical emergency, market crash, taking Fluffy to the vet, or replacing some ungodly expensive piece of your home — there are ways to protect yourself from financial ruin. 

Here are the most common disaster-proof strategies my clients use:

• Having a cash emergency fund  equal to six months of income
• Researching and choosing the right health insurance plan
• Protecting their income with disability insurance
• Protecting their family with life insurance
• Protecting their legacy with an estate plan

Without the "protection" part of your plan, it's all too easy to blow up your financial goals when an inevitable surprise comes along.

4. They diversify their income

Speaking of protection, my wealthiest clients understand the power of diversification . Yes, with their investments, but more so with their income.

Think about it: If you only have one source of income, which is a salary for most of us, then your entire financial future rests on your ability to maintain that income. The second you lose your paycheck, you've gone from boom to bust.

This isn't a fear for rich people, though. If they lose one income stream due to a surprise event, like a recession, they have four or five others to help them pay the bills, continue saving for retirement, and avoid going backward with their goals.

The most common additional income streams among my clients include:

• Owning income-producing assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate
• Turning their expertise into a consulting or coaching business
• Building a scalable side hustle through writing, e-books, and courses
• Leveraging their network to find great businesses to invest in

5. They invest in professional help

The last habit my richest clients share will not surprise you. When they need help or simply lack the time to do something themselves, they invest in professional advice. This rings especially true for their personal finances.

Instead of DIY-ing things like investing, taxes, insurance, and major financial decisions, they understand the value of partnering with a financial advisor to put all the pieces in place.

This article was originally published in February 2021.

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