setting business goals plan

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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65 Practical Startup Business Goals Examples To Craft Success in 2024

Sudarshan Somanathan

Head of Content

May 3, 2024

Launching a startup is an exciting prospect but comes with its fair share of challenges. Unlike established businesses with access to several resources, startups operate in an environment of constraints. As a result, they have to adapt and innovate constantly to stay ahead of the curve.

Navigating challenges becomes easier if you have a goal in mind. It is a marker of success and lines the path to the overarching business objective. We’re about to share a blueprint of startup goal-setting, along with real-world startup business goals examples to inspire you and illustrate their application.

Are you ready to chart a clear course for your startup’s success?

What’s a Business Goal?

Gives a sense of direction, helps measure progress, creates accountability, sustains team motivation, guides resource allocation, aids in risk mitigation, attracts investors and partners, supports strategic planning.

• Define your mission and vision

Assess your current state

• Define and prioritize business goals
• Convert goals into actionable tasks

Track, monitor, and recalibrate progress

Celebrate milestones and achievements, learn and improve continuously, financial goals, employee retention goals, productivity goals, brand awareness and reputation goals, marketing strategy goals, sales and revenue goals, customer satisfaction and retention goals.

• Project management software

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform

• Process mapping tool

Marketing and sales analytics

• Financial management systems

ClickUp: Helping Startups Become Enterprises

Get, set, go(als), frequently asked questions (faq).

Every business kickstarts in the pursuit of success.

A business goal is a marker or milestone on the road to this success.

It is a specific target or an outcome that organizations aim to achieve. It reflects a company’s vision and understanding of “success” in the short or the long term.

Although the concept of business goals is common across enterprises, its definition varies significantly.

For instance, an eCommerce store may view success through metrics like average order value or sales revenue. On the other hand, a social enterprise dedicated to safe drinking water accessibility may view success as the number of water filtration plants installed.

You might argue that such variation is obvious since these startup business goal examples concern two highly diverse sectors. However, even businesses operating in the same sector may employ different scales to mark their business goals.

For example, an online retailer focuses on web traffic, while brick-and-mortar stores are busy counting footfall. A SaaS-based startup may define business goals regarding customer acquisition, while an established counterpart may analyze subscription renewals!

Even though business goals differ, their primary function remains consistent—to serve as a guiding principle for informed decision-making.

The Importance of Setting Startup Business Goals

Your business goal is a North Star to guide your startup journey. Here’s how it contributes to the overall success and sustainability of your startup:

The business goal or objective outlines the company’s aspirations. While the objective is more short-term, the long-term business goal governs every business decision and strategy so that you don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Naturally, the short-term objectives tie up to the overarching goal. For instance, increasing revenue through sales could help with long-term business objectives of growth and expansion.

Having such clarity of the short and long-term expectations offers a sense of direction to the team. Using this as their focus, they can plan key tasks or activities to realize such goals. It fuels concerted efforts through effective time, effort, and resource management.

Organizations can use SMART business goals as a measure of success. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. They convert goals from vague entities into quantifiable metrics to track progress.

Say your basic business goal is to increase website traffic. Then, as a SMART framework, it would read as ‘Increase organic website traffic by 30% within the next six months. ‘ Notice the difference? SMART business goals turn generic ideas into specific, measurable outcomes . They help you objectively assess your startup’s performance and tweak strategies using data-driven insights!

Given a startup’s dynamic environment, it is easier for priorities to shift. Similarly, daily tasks can eclipse the bigger picture and detract from the larger goal.

Startup business goals shield you from distractions and recenter your ideas, strategies, and actions. They cultivate a sense of accountability by acting as a yardstick for performance. At the same time, we’ve seen how they serve as quantifiable benchmarks to track progress toward achieving the broader vision. 

You may review your goals occasionally to get an idea of your startup’s growth while also identifying areas for improvement. Such a holistic overview allows you to prioritize impact-based activities and foster a greater sense of ownership and responsibility .

Business goals are a source of motivation for startup founders and team members. Having a clear shared objective to work towards and clarity on how it ties up with the larger goals drives collaboration and motivation. Plus, publicly shared goals promote transparency, which instills accountability . 

And when goals are reached, recognizing personal and organizational achievements improves team morale.

Setting business goals also involves task prioritization. Entrepreneurs may prioritize based on importance, impact, and urgency. Such weighted distribution of focus enables the smart allocation of limited resources , which is fairly common in a startup setup. 

With clearly articulated and prioritized business goals, you can effectively allocate resources like time, money, and staff to activate success.

This ensures that your startup can meet critical business objectives and launch minimum viable products (MVPs) that can kick-start growth while you secure funding for resource reinforcements!

Startups are highly vulnerable to risks. Identifying potential risks or challenges early on and addressing them or mitigating their impact is instrumental in a startup’s success.

To anticipate hurdles, goal-setting strategies often employ analytical tools and frameworks like SWOT analysis, risk matrices, etc. Knowing these beforehand allows entrepreneurs to prepare holistic risk management strategies and contingency plans that help navigate these challenges in a hands-on manner. This level of preparedness minimizes risks or, if not outright, eliminates them.

While a strong mission statement lays the foundation for your startup, the goals guide your journey. Goals transcend brand building and market positioning and illustrate your understanding of success. Well-defined goals showcase your understanding of the market, target audience, and value proposition.

Imagine two startups: one laser-focused on explosive business growth with a series of fast-paced goals. Another that prioritizes scalability and sustainability through long-term goals spaced out over a considerable duration. In both cases, clear goals paint a picture for investors and partners.

Partners can evaluate if your startup is a good fit for a strategic partnership , while investors can calculate their anticipated return on investment (ROI). They can also adjudge whether the startup’s mission, vision, and values align with theirs. This alignment will attract meaningful partnerships and investor relations for mutual benefit.

Clear startup goals are pillars of strategic planning. They define your desired outcomes , establish a roadmap for success, and help you navigate the journey. Use them to devise short-term and long-term strategic plans. The cumulative and concentrated result of individualistic strategic plans will enable your startup to take on big, hairy, audacious goals that may have felt unsurmountable at one point. 

How to Set Effective Startup Business Goals: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now that you understand the mission-critical role of business goals, especially in the context of startups, let’s learn how to set these. Below is a step-by-step guide to setting a business goal:

If you haven’t done it already, start by defining your startup’s mission and vision statement. 

The vision statement demonstrates the long-term aspirations of your business. On the other hand, the mission statement describes the driving force and guiding principles of your startup’s activities. The mission statement is a roadmap to the vision statement; think of the former as your business objectives and the latter as the goal.

Ensure that the two align with your company’s offerings and core values. 

For example, here’s how Amazon weaves its mission statement through its introduction:

Amazon’s goal of becoming the Earth’s most customer-centric company is evident from its trailblazing effort in personalizing the eCommerce sector and its expansive product range.

On the other hand, Apple showcases its workplace culture through personalized stories and anecdotes from its team members:

Apple’s mission statement, ‘We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it,’ will attract talent that aligns with this goal.

In this way, mission and vision statements reflect the company’s business model, aspirations, and culture.

Along these lines, articulate what stirs your passion and frame it as your mission and vision statements.

Once you’ve done the groundwork, analyze your current state. You may use any business analysis framework for a comprehensive and cross-sectional evaluation. We find the SWOT analysis to be a great starting point.

A SWOT analysis template highlights your startup’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). It sheds light on your internal strengths and weaknesses, such as team collaboration, skill or talent gaps, resource availability, etc. At the same time, you can visualize external opportunities and threats, such as target market conditions, customer demands, competitors, etc. 

Keeping all of this in mind, the ClickUp Small Business SWOT Analysis template is designed to help you strategize, plan, and make informed decisions. Such a well-rounded and holistic analysis helps set realistic and attainable business goals. It also lets you divide your analysis into different categories, such as Marketing, Operations, Finance, etc., to assess each aspect of your business.

You now see your destination. You know where you currently stand. It’s time to bridge the two!

Identify the key focus areas to accelerate your journey to success. It could be through product innovation, brand recognition, operational efficiency, increasing market share, retaining customers, or a blend of all of these.

You might eventually come up with four or five desired goals. However, you may not have the resources and capacity to achieve these together. Hence, you should set priorities for your business goals and define them along SMART parameters.

Each goal must be clear, quantifiable, and time-bound to align with your startup’s business objectives. Be as specific as possible with your SMART goals, as granularity will improve your chances of achieving the goal.

To make this task easier, leverage readily available resources, such as goal-setting templates . 

The previous step may lead you to believe that your job is done. However, goal-setting is more than just documenting business goals—it is part planning and part implementation.

So, once you have your business goals ready, break them down into smaller, actionable steps. Continue this division until you reach the smallest task, activity, and timeline required to achieve each goal. Doing so will help you create a comprehensive and actionable roadmap for goal execution.

When the work breakdown structure is ready, assign these tasks to specific departments, managers, or team members. Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations will keep your team accountable and focused on goal achievement.

Business goals are your marker of success. So, use them for measuring progress.

Track the appropriate goals or their underlying metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). Most project management tools, including ClickUp, feature an interactive dashboard that helps you visualize progress in real time. Map all the metrics and KPIs you wish to track onto this dashboard and view their progress and any deviations so you can take action in a time-bound manner.

These dashboards also allow you to review your business goals and update them instantly. Your business goal may have changed due to evolving priorities, shifting market conditions, customer feedback, new opportunities, etc. Update them on the fly to run a highly responsive, adaptable, and resilient startup!

We’ve already discussed how celebrating milestones and achievements helps improve team morale. It is also a tangible indicator of success and motivates the team to move on to the next item on the checklist.

Acknowledging individual or team efforts contributing to business objective attainment promotes a sense of belonging and community. The resulting engagement improves team cohesiveness. Therefore, celebrating milestones and achievements should be a part of your goal-setting strategy.

Finally, business goal setting is not a ‘set it and forget it’ job. Embracing a culture of continuous learning and improvement will help startups refine the business model with each cycle.

So, treat goal setting as a continuous process that considers internal and external stakeholder feedback, product improvement and innovation, and experimentation to drive business growth.

This positive feedback loop will improve business goal-setting iteratively.

Setting goals for your startup:

• Assess the current state
• Track, monitor, recalibrate
• Celebrate milestones
• Learn and improve

65 Real-World Startup Business Goals Examples

This brings us to the end of all the theoretical aspects of business goal setting. Let’s now delve into some real-world examples to solidify your understanding of business goals and to inspire you. From financial to customer satisfaction goals, we’re about to discuss all the different types of business goals for startups, along with appropriate examples. And yes, we will describe each example as SMART goals as far as possible.

On that note, here’s a detailed list of business goals to add to your startup business plan template :

Financial business goals revolve around plans to boost revenue, improve profit margins, reduce costs, and acquire funding. They describe the desired financial performance or health of the company. Use this business objective to maximize revenue and minimize expenses to run a sustainable startup.

Here are some business goals examples to manage your finances better:

• Increase net profit margins by 10% through effective cost-cutting measures
• Improve cash flows by reducing outstanding AR (accounts receivable) by 30% in the next six months
• Increase shareholder value by achieving an ROI (return on investment) of 20%
• Secure funding of $1 billion from venture capital and angel investors in the next three months
• Renegotiate terms with vendors to increase profit margins by 25%
• Achieve financial stability with a 1:1 debt-to-equity ratio
• Get to your startup’s break-even point within the first two years of operations
• Reduce wasteful expenditure by 10% through smart, data-driven inventory management

Pro Tip : Track your startup’s financial goals using metrics like:

• Profit margins
• Cash outflow
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Quick ratio

As the name suggests, these business goals look to improve employee retention. Your employees are the target audience for these goals, so you should focus on driving employee satisfaction, engagement, and loyalty. Earning your employees’ goodwill reduces turnover rates and ensures continuity in workforce expertise.

Consider the following team goals to improve employee retention:

• Cut down employee turnover rates by 30% within the next year by introducing attractive benefits and incentives
• Employ regular feedback mechanisms and engagement initiatives to improve employee satisfaction rates by 20%
• Establish a 6-month buddy system after onboarding fresh hires to maintain engagement and clarify expectations from day one
• Offer 2 online skill development courses and 1 internal workshop per quarter
• Organize monthly team-building exercises with a focus on activities that have more than 70% enrollment and participation rates
• Launch a hybrid work policy in the next 2 months, allowing 3 days remote and 3 days in-office schedule post manager approval
• Increase paid time off (PTO) allowance by an additional 3 days per year across all employee levels
• Offer high-performing individuals a 40% appraisal by the end of the financial year
• Build a work environment imbibing the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) principles to foster a sense of belonging
• Conduct exit interviews to understand the main reasons behind employee churn
• Conduct regular performance reviews to identify areas of improvement and mentorship to employees

Pro Tip : Track your startup’s employee retention goals using metrics like:

• Employee turnover rate
• Employee satisfaction surveys
• Retention rate
• Time to Hire
• Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
• Absenteeism Rate

While the employee retention goal aims to retain talent, productivity business goals seek to enhance operational efficiency and output. As such, they revolve around day-to-day activities that can streamline productivity levels. You may set targets to optimize workflows, reduce waste, eliminate inefficiency, and increase per-employee output across the company.

Here are some examples of business goals that help achieve success by nurturing a highly productive workforce:

• Introducing process optimization and automation to drive up productivity by 30% in a few months (3-6)
• Streamline product development processes to reduce time-to-market by 30% for new products and 70% for product enhancements
• Reducing server downtimes by 98% to improve the availability of online tools and resources
• Implement project management software to enhance team collaboration, task management, and deadline adherence
• Document SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to standardize business workflows and processes to introduce consistency, eliminate errors, and minimize rework
• Share employee handbooks to define employee roles, responsibilities, and expectations clearly

Pro Tip : Track your startup’s employee productivity goals using metrics like:

• Sales quota attainment
• Tasks/projects completed
• Bug fixes or code commits
• Customer satisfaction scores
• Employee engagement
• Meeting durations
• Utilization rate

Remember to tweak this according to the employees’ department and expected deliverables.

Startups can grow by generating brand awareness and earning a solid reputation. This strategy focuses on forging a positive brand perception in the target audience’s minds. Businesses can achieve this by increasing brand visibility, earning trust and credibility, and running brand loyalty programs. 

Below are a few business goals examples to increase brand awareness and reputation:

• Conduct market research to assess brand perception and generate awareness by 20% within 3 months by tracking social media imprints
• Increase brand recognition and recall by 30% within a year among the target demographics
• Invest in brand storytelling to communicate the startup’s values and identity
• Obtain 20 positive customer testimonials and reviews on Google and G2 by Q2 to increase brand reputation
• Partner with 12 industry experts and influencers to expand brand reach by 40% across LinkedIn, Instagram, and X within 6 months
• Publish 8 blog posts on the company website to establish a reputable and credible digital presence
• Use social listening and reputation management strategies to monitor, manage, and mold brand narrative and online chatter
• Participate in 4 industry events, 8 conferences and webinars, and 2 trade shows to raise brand visibility and awareness in Q3 and Q4
• Establish and standardize brand guidelines for a consistent and branded customer experience across all touchpoints
• Launch a brand ambassador program with 40 loyal customers recruited as brand ambassadors in the first month to catalyze word-of-mouth marketing and increase advocacy by 12%

Pro Tip : Track your startup’s brand awareness and reputation goals using metrics like:

• Impressions
• Online traffic
• Search volume
• Customer reviews
• Sentiment analysis
• Brand mentions
• Social media chatter

Business goals about marketing strategies explore ways to promote products or services, generate more leads, drive customer engagement, and forward highly qualified leads to sales. They guide marketing efforts by specifying outcomes such as boosting conversion rates, increasing brand awareness, unlocking web traffic, etc., to match the larger business goals.

Some examples of marketing strategy goals include:

• Implement content marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) to drive website traffic by 50% in the next 12 months
• Generate 1,000 new leads per month through targeted paid advertising
• Boost email open and click-through rates by 20% and 15% by data-driven optimization of email marketing campaigns
• Increase social media engagement by 25% and earn 3000 new followers in a month through carefully curated content and social media community management
• Launch an attractive referral program to encourage existing customers and loyalists to refer new business
• Optimize your marketing strategies using automation to nurture leads and drive conversions
• Conduct focus group meetings and customer surveys to understand target audience preferences and needs
• Form strategic partnerships with complementary businesses to break into new audiences
• Increase marketing ROI by analyzing and optimizing marketing expenditure across various channels
• Use segmentation and targeted marketing campaigns for a personalized customer experience

Pro Tip : Track your startup’s marketing goals using metrics like:

• Website traffic
• Lead generation rate
• Conversion rate
• Social media follower growth
• Social media engagement rate
• Email open rate
• Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Sales and revenue goals are an extension of the marketing goals. They focus on attracting more sales or revenue in a time-bound fashion. The sales team may work on acquiring new customers, upselling and cross-selling activities, and other revenue-generating initiatives to infuse sustainability and profitability into your startup’s growth.

Here are a few examples of sales goals to get more sales:

• Achieve $2 million in annual sales revenue by the end of the fiscal year
• Bump up AOV (average order value) by 15% using product bundling
• Drive conversion rates up by 20% through sales process optimization, automation, and training
• Increase your customer base by acquiring 1200 new customers in the next six months
• Improve customer lifetime value by 25% through upselling and cross-selling strategies
• Expand market share by 20% by entering a new geographic or demographic segment
• Launch an attractive sales incentive program to motivate and reward your sales team and their performance
• Accelerate sales cycle by reducing timelines by 20% through improved lead qualification, workflow automation, and timely follow-ups
• Enable the sales team with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to track and quantify sales activities across various channels
• Leverage AI-powered predictive models to enhance sales forecasting accuracy, effective resource allocation, and sharp inventory management
• Introduce dynamic pricing to maximize profitability while also staying competitive

ClickUp Smart Tips : Track your startup’s sales and revenue goals using metrics like:

• Total revenue
• Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
• Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)
• Sales cycle length
• Sales conversion rate

These business goals focus on enhancing customer satisfaction and delivering memorable customer experiences to cultivate long-term customer relationships. Startups may aim to improve customer retention through various strategies, from loyalty programs to exceptional customer service to improving product quality.

Here are some goals that you can set to improve customer satisfaction:

• Increase customer satisfaction scores by 30% through enhanced customer service and support
• Improve customer retention rates by 20% through personalized re-engagement strategies and customer loyalty programs
• Implement a customer feedback system to capture actionable first-hand insights and address customer pain points
• Leverage proactive communication across preferred channels to share updates and notifications to increase trust and transparency
• Address customer concerns and issues within a prescribed timeline and in the appropriate manner to improve customer satisfaction
• Measure and track NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) score to get a realistic idea of customer satisfaction levels
• Identify the KPIs to measure customer satisfaction and measure progress goals using them
• Invest in training and development of customer-facing teams to improve service quality and add value to customer interactions
• Offer perks or value-added services to incentivize repeat purchases and customer loyalty

Pro Tip : Track your startup’s customer satisfaction and retention goals using metrics like:

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Effort Score (CES)
• Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR) 
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
• Customer churn rate
• Customer engagement

Digital Tools To Help Meet Your Startup’s Business Goals

They say a goal is just a wish without a plan. In other words, you must cement your business goals with actionable plans and strategies to make them work.

To develop and execute a solid business plan, you will require the right tools, platforms, software solutions, and systems. These add structure to your plan and help you reach your goals faster .

Here is an overview of the various solutions you can use to meet the different types of business goals:

The project management software is the Swiss Army Knife of setting business goals.

Project management software helps set attainable goals by acting as a centralized platform dedicated to the efficient planning, organization, and execution of projects. To meet this objective, these platforms offer features for task management, project scheduling, collaborative working, team communication, etc.

These enable startups to logically break down long-term business goals into smaller, manageable objectives so that teams can prioritize work tasks . Such hands-on project management improves transparency and accountability, helps track progress, and manages risks and resources to deliver results per specification, timeline, and budget.

We’ll talk more about how you can use ClickUp for Startups in the later section to grant you practical exposure.

CRM tools allow businesses to foster meaningful and enriching customer relationships to drive organizational growth.

CRM platforms centralize all customer data, communication channels, and interactions to offer you a well-rounded view of customer demands, preferences, and behaviors.

Using these insights, startups can curate personalized experiences to improve customer satisfaction and drive brand loyalty. Personalization could be achieved through unique marketing experiences, targeted sales campaigns, or improved customer service to delight customers throughout their journey.

Additionally, its pipeline management features allow startups to track leads, opportunities, and deals to enhance conversions and revenue.

ClickUp functions as both a project management software and CRM, an all-in-one platform designed to streamline various workflows. 

Visualize and manage sales pipelines with over 15+ ClickUp Views , benefit from email integrations, build a customer database, analyze customer data, and much more— all on ClickUp. 

So, if your business goals revolve around acquiring new customers or retaining existing ones, then investing in a CRM platform like ClickUp is a smart move.

Whether it is through the loss of employee productivity or by eating into revenues—inefficient processes cost businesses. While established businesses might be able to absorb some cost overheads, the same could be disastrous for startups. After all, they are often resource-strapped as it is!

Startups may turn to process mapping tools to mitigate risks . Use them to visualize, analyze, and optimize business processes and workflows. They allow you to conduct a thorough analysis of the current processes to identify bottlenecks, inefficiency, and areas of improvement. Understanding these hurdles helps formulate effective solutions and optimization initiatives . They also standardize processes to maintain consistency, quality, and compliance across teams and departments.

Pro Tip : Leverage ClickUp as your process mapping tool. ClickUp Whiteboards and mind maps help visualize business processes.

Such a dynamic approach to optimizing processes drives operational excellence and increases profit margins.

You will require a robust data analytics tool to analyze your marketing and sales performance.  They make these two mission-critical activities measurable and more accurate. Most importantly, they are compatible with high volumes of data to help you manage campaigns on the fly.

Leverage these tools to gain insights into market trends, campaign effectiveness, customer behavior, and conversion rates. Tracking these variables helps identify untapped opportunities, recalibrate strategies, and allocate resources effectively to achieve sales and marketing business goals. From personalizing business messaging to benchmarking performance, marketing and sales analytics tools help startups achieve their growth goals . 

Pro Tip : Use ClickUp Dashboards to track sales and marketing metrics in real time, implement strategies, and benchmark performance.

Financial management systems are crucial for startups to meet their financial goals. It helps startups manage budgets and finances effectively, improve shareholder value, maintain healthy profit margins, and ensure compliance. They may even come equipped with AI tools that help with revenue forecasting, demand-supply prediction, and budget utilization with heightened accuracy.

They help maintain accurate financial records and reports. Such well-documented insights fuel informed decisions while managing cash flows, tracking and controlling costs, and optimizing resources. Additionally, they help maintain legal and regulatory compliance by maintaining an auditable log of all financial decisions. 

By improving financial visibility , these systems maintain transparency and accountability while maintaining financial stability.

Pro Tip : Deploy ClickUp as your account and finance management software to stay ahead of your financial goals.

ClickUp is every startup’s friend. After all, we’re a startup ourselves, and we know how challenging—and exhilarating—the startup journey can be. ClickUp is our attempt to make this journey less stressful for innovative startups.

So, here’s a look at how ClickUp helps in setting business goals:

• Goal tracking : ClickUp Goals help create SMART goals that align with your project requirements. Apart from setting specific and measurable goals along a timeline, ClickUp allows you to track their progress in real time so that you always know where you stand

• Strategic task management : Achievable goals must be broken down into specific projects and tasks. Entrepreneurs can use ClickUp to organize, prioritize, and monitor these tasks. You can even dig in deeper to divide tasks into subtasks. Organize tasks in task lists, filter by priorities, owner, and due dates, set up reminders and notifications, and add task dependencies to ensure that every task is completed on time
• Dynamic resource allocation : ClickUp supports dynamic resource allocation by offering a one-stop view of all activities. Plus, you have workload management and time-tracking features to help you understand how resources are utilized. Having such an overview makes it easier for managers to assign or redistribute resources based on the priority, impact, and urgency of any task or activity

• Collaboration and communication : ClickUp is the ultimate hub for collaborative working. From an assortment of synchronous and asynchronous communication channels to live editing of shared documents—teams can use ClickUp to stay in touch and on track. Use the ClickUp Chat View to exchange messages in real time, assign comments to escalate issues or draw attention, and create, edit, and manage documents collaboratively using ClickUp Docs .  Share ideas, brainstorm, and work together to meet your business goals 
• Interactive dashboards : ClickUp Dashboards possess potent data analytics and reporting capabilities that allow startups to monitor KPIs, track progress, and analyze performance. These dashboards share data-driven insights on the current state of the project, which allows you to develop strategic plans, corrective measures, and informed decisions to get to your desired state 

• Integration ecosystem : Use ClickUp with various third-party tools, apps, and platforms to build a value-loaded interconnected network. Whether it is incorporating file storage platforms like Google Drive or customer support solutions like Zendesk, you can integrate these into the ClickUp ecosystem to build a comprehensive, one-stop platform for all your startup needs

• Rich templates : With ClickUp, you get a rich library of highly configurable templates to help you work smart. From detailed Standard Operating Procedures to the Business Plan Template on ClickUp ensures faster time-to-market as you don’t have to build things from scratch

One of ClickUp’s greatest USPs is that it is highly customizable to meet your specific needs. You can use it as a project management platform, a task management tool for HR and other teams, and a campaign and customer management platform for marketing and customer support—the possibilities are endless.

So, leverage its versatility to meet your different business goals without spreading them across multiple tools and platforms. As we often say, one is all you need!

Startup business goals are your compass for venturing into the seas of entrepreneurship.

 Goals give a sense of direction, act as a marker of progress, generate accountability, motivate teams, support strategic planning, and attract investors and partners. Each of these benefits propels your startup one step closer to success.

We highly recommend the startup business goal examples above, as they will inspire you to set SMART goals for your company. All that remains is to use suitable tools and platforms to execute and track these goals. You can choose from various solutions ranging from CRM to process mapping tools and beyond.

On the other hand, you can select ClickUp and replace the disparate tech stack with a centralized one. ClickUp promises flexibility and scalability that will grow along with your startup.

Sign up for free and explore!

How do I prioritize business goals?

Setting priorities for your business goals involves assessing the importance, urgency, and impact of these goals on your startup’s core objectives. Identify those that tightly couple with the mission, vision, and strategic priorities of your startup and place them first. Then, consider factors like potential risks or setbacks, dependencies, and resource availability to meet these goals. Finally, use prioritization techniques like the MoSCoW method or the Eisenhower matrix to assign weighted priorities to your goals.

How often should I review and update my startup’s business goals?

Review and update your startup’s business goals to keep up with evolving priorities, emerging opportunities, and shifting market conditions. Since startups are more dynamic, you may review your business goals every 3-6 months to stay responsive to volatility. Upon business consolidation, you can perform this exercise annually.

Which tools can help me achieve my business goals?

You can achieve your business goals using the following tools:

• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform
• Marketing and analytics solutions

What happens when we don’t achieve all of our startup business goals?

Don’t treat falling short of your startup business goals as a failure. On the contrary, think of it as a learning opportunity through which you can:

• Analyze the reasons why you couldn’t meet specific goals
• Optimize your strategies to facilitate goal attainment
• Celebrate the goals or milestones that you managed to achieve
• Identify areas where your startup performed beyond expectations and templatize such success
• Recalibrate your goals to make them more realistic and in line with external factors

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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.

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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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How to Set Smart Business Goals for Your Small Business

Colette Broomhead

8 min. read

Updated October 29, 2023

There’s nothing like the start of a new year to get us all goal setting like crazy. I don’t know about you, but I can count the number of New Year’s Resolutions that I’ve made and actually kept past January on the fingers of, well, one finger!

So why is it that we find goals so exciting to make, but so difficult to actually achieve?

Well, there are a number of reasons but mostly, it’s because the goals we set just aren’t smart .

• What is a SMART goal?

Yep, you’ve guessed it, this is another of those business acronyms that we all love so much. In a nutshell, your business goals should be:

Let’s break that down so you’re ready to set the smartest of SMART goals for your business this year.

• How to make your business goals specific

It’s easy to say things like “this year, I’m going to increase my revenue,” or “I’m going to build a following on Facebook.”

Perhaps you’re after more website traffic or you want to grow brand visibility. These are all worthy aspirations to have for your business, but they’re not specific.

How will you know when you’ve achieved them?

So let’s take another look, but this time our goals will be a little more defined:

• “I’m going to increase my revenue by 20 percent” would work, or “my revenue goal for 2020 is $100,000.”
• “I’m going to build a following of 5,000 likes on my Facebook page.”
• “I’m going to increase my website traffic to 5000 per month.”

See what a difference that makes?

Of course, plucking numbers from nowhere may seem more specific but is no more helpful unless the goals you choose are relevant to your current business performance and forecasts.

For example, if your current Facebook likes are at 1000 and your rate of growth is 50 new likes per month, then it would be feasible to set a goal of building your following to 5000 over the next six months. This stretches you, by exceeding your current rate of growth but isn’t an impossible target to achieve.

When your goals are specific, you know what success looks like and can measure it.

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• How to make your business goals measurable

Speaking of measuring it, there is no point in setting goals if you’re not able to track your progress and review your results. If you’ve made your targets specific, then you’ll already have given yourself some clear measurables, but the real skill comes in identifying the not so obvious metrics which help you to spot problem areas in your strategy and to improve them.

Let’s look at one of our examples again:

• Goal: Increase my website traffic to 5000 views per month
• Metric: Monthly views

So there we have a specific goal and a pretty obvious metric.

This metric will tell you if you have hit your goal or not, but you can also set smaller milestones which will allow you to track your progress—maybe you look at your website performance once a week so you get a sense of whether you’re heading in the right direction. This helps you to identify problems along the way so that you can tweak your strategy accordingly.

What else could you measure to help you monitor your progress?

How about monthly traffic by channel? That is to say, looking at the different places your traffic comes from, such as social media, search and so on.

By breaking down our metrics even further, we can see which channels are performing well and those which are falling short of our target and in need of some further development.

Another great advantage of setting measurable goals is that it keeps us focused on measuring the right things and stops us from becoming obsessed with those vanity metrics that we all love so much, but which often have very little to do with our actual business goals!

Lastly, when it comes to setting measurable goals, you need to know how to measure them. Make sure you have tools in place such as Google Analytics, which will allow you to view your data quickly and easily. The last thing you want is to waste time each month in manually measuring your results.

• How to make your business goals achievable

Your business goals and your business vision should be aligned, but they aren’t necessarily the same—especially when you’re just starting out.

Your dream may be to build a multi-million dollar company with global reach and impact; the reality for this year is probably going to be quite different.

Challenge yourself, but don’t set yourself up to fail by creating goals which are so out of reach, you have no hope of achieving them. Nothing is more demoralizing, and it will make you more likely to quit before you’ve even started.

How do you know what’s achievable? That can be tricky when your business is still new and you don’t have previous results to look back on. It’s not impossible though and your “aim” will get better with time.

If you don’t have past performance to use as a compass then use the information that you do have. Spend time researching your industry and doing a market analysis . You could also conduct a SWOT analysis which focuses on your current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The more research you can use to inform your decision making, the more accurate your goal setting is likely to be.

Stretch and comfort

This may sound spookily like the tagline for an underwear commercial, but I promise I’m still talking about your business goals!

You see, there are arguments to say that SMART goals don’t allow for stretching and challenging yourself and honestly, I disagree. Why not set your “comfort” goals (those which you feel pretty confident about) and alongside those you can also set yourself some stretch targets which may feel scarier but will push you to be innovative and focused.

• How to make your business goals relevant

Remember those vanity metrics that I mentioned earlier on? Well, those are the types of shiny object goals that can sometimes blind us to what’s really important in our business.

There is one very useful question you can ask yourself for each of your business goals in order to discover if it’s truly relevant or just something you think you “ought” to be going, something everyone else is doing or just something that will make you feel good about yourself.

That question is  “why?”

Let’s look again at that goal to increase Facebook likes.

So before it gets added to our official business goals, we’ll consider why we want to grow our Facebook following:

• “Because it shows my business is popular, right?”
• “Because XYZ have a trillion likes and I want to be more like them.”
• “Because I like spending time on Facebook!”

I could go on, but you see where I’m going with this. None of these reasons are relevant to your overall business purpose and vision, are they?

So, how about:

• “Because I want to increase my brand visibility on Facebook.”
• “My ideal clients mainly use Facebook so I want to increase my reach there.”
• “Community building is a key focus this year and Facebook is a great place to do that.”

Aha! Now these seem like more strategic and business-focused reasons to include increasing Facebook likes as a goal.

• How to make your business goals time-based

Well, this is the easy part (although still a part that gets missed all too often!). You know what goals you want to achieve, how you’re going to measure them and why they’re important to your business. Now, you just need to add a timescale.

Are you going to increase your Facebook likes by 5000 per month or per year?

As you can imagine, this is a pretty vital distinction to make! Not only does adding a timescale make your goals more specific and measurable, but it also helps when it comes to planning your time and creating your strategy.

Give your goals timescales, but also remember to set milestones too. This will allow you monitor your progress and review your strategy where necessary.

• Why SMART goals are just the start

So now you know how to create goals for your business that will get you off to the perfect start this year. Hurrah!

What happens next is up to you. You can do what we all do so often and let those goals gather dust for the rest of the year, lost and forgotten.

Or,  you can use them to shape your planning, to align all your business activities and manage your time. That’s what goals are meant for.

Your next step is to plan how  you will achieve them, to create lists of projects and tasks that will need to be completed and to break down your year into quarters, months, weeks—and yes, even days.

But that’s a whole different post!

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Colette Broomhead is a startup strategist and helps people who want to quit their 9 to 5 and create an online business doing what they love. That's exactly what she did after a 13 year corporate career, working in marketing and CRM for a FTSE30 company.

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How to Set Strategic Planning Goals

• 29 Oct 2020

In an ever-changing business world, it’s imperative to have strategic goals and a plan to guide organizational efforts. Yet, crafting strategic goals can be a daunting task. How do you decide which goals are vital to your company? Which ones are actionable and measurable? Which goals to prioritize?

To help you answer these questions, here’s a breakdown of what strategic planning is, what characterizes strategic goals, and how to select organizational goals to pursue.

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What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the ongoing organizational process of using available knowledge to document a business's intended direction. This process is used to prioritize efforts, effectively allocate resources, align shareholders and employees, and ensure organizational goals are backed by data and sound reasoning.

Research in the Harvard Business Review cautions against getting locked into your strategic plan and forgetting that strategy involves inherent risk and discomfort. A good strategic plan evolves and shifts as opportunities and threats arise.

“Most people think of strategy as an event, but that’s not the way the world works,” says Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen in the online course Disruptive Strategy . “When we run into unanticipated opportunities and threats, we have to respond. Sometimes we respond successfully; sometimes we don’t. But most strategies develop through this process. More often than not, the strategy that leads to success emerges through a process that’s at work 24/7 in almost every industry."

Related: 5 Tips for Formulating a Successful Strategy

4 Characteristics of Strategic Goals

To craft a strategic plan for your organization, you first need to determine the goals you’re trying to reach. Strategic goals are an organization’s measurable objectives that are indicative of its long-term vision.

Here are four characteristics of strategic goals to keep in mind when setting them for your organization.

1. Purpose-Driven

The starting point for crafting strategic goals is asking yourself what your company’s purpose and values are . What are you striving for, and why is it important to set these objectives? Let the answers to these questions guide the development of your organization’s strategic goals.

“You don’t have to leave your values at the door when you come to work,” says HBS Professor Rebecca Henderson in the online course Sustainable Business Strategy .

Henderson, whose work focuses on reimagining capitalism for a just and sustainable world, also explains that leading with purpose can drive business performance.

“Adopting a purpose will not hurt your performance if you do it authentically and well,” Henderson says in a lecture streamed via Facebook Live . “If you’re able to link your purpose to the strategic vision of the company in a way that really gets people aligned and facing in the right direction, then you have the possibility of outperforming your competitors.”

Related: 5 Examples of Successful Sustainability Initiatives

2. Long-Term and Forward-Focused

While strategic goals are the long-term objectives of your organization, operational goals are the daily milestones that need to be reached to achieve them. When setting strategic goals, think of your company’s values and long-term vision, and ensure you’re not confusing strategic and operational goals.

For instance, your organization’s goal could be to create a new marketing strategy; however, this is an operational goal in service of a long-term vision. The strategic goal, in this case, could be breaking into a new market segment, to which the creation of a new marketing strategy would contribute.

Keep a forward-focused vision to ensure you’re setting challenging objectives that can have a lasting impact on your organization.

3. Actionable

Strong strategic goals are not only long-term and forward-focused—they’re actionable. If there aren’t operational goals that your team can complete to reach the strategic goal, your organization is better off spending time and resources elsewhere.

When formulating strategic goals, think about the operational goals that fall under them. Do they make up an action plan your team can take to achieve your organization’s objective? If so, the goal could be a worthwhile endeavor for your business.

4. Measurable

When crafting strategic goals, it’s important to define how progress and success will be measured.

According to the online course Strategy Execution , an effective tool you can use to create measurable goals is a balanced scorecard —a tool to help you track and measure non-financial variables.

“The balanced scorecard combines the traditional financial perspective with additional perspectives that focus on customers, internal business processes, and learning and development,” says HBS Professor Robert Simons in the online course Strategy Execution . “These additional perspectives help businesses measure all the activities essential to creating value.”

The four perspectives are:

• Internal business processes
• Learning and growth

The most important element of a balanced scorecard is its alignment with your business strategy.

“Ask yourself,” Simons says, “‘If I picked up a scorecard and examined the measures on it, could I infer what the business's strategy was? If you've designed measures well, the answer should be yes.”

Related: A Manager’s Guide to Successful Strategy Implementation

Strategic Goal Examples

Whatever your business goals and objectives , they must have all four of the characteristics listed above.

For instance, the goal “become a household name” is valid but vague. Consider the intended timeframe to reach this goal and how you’ll operationally define “a household name.” The method of obtaining data must also be taken into account.

An appropriate revision to the original goal could be: “Increase brand recognition by 80 percent among surveyed Americans by 2030.” By setting a more specific goal, you can better equip your organization to reach it and ensure that employees and shareholders have a clear definition of success and how it will be measured.

If your organization is focused on becoming more sustainable and eco-conscious, you may need to assess your strategic goals. For example, you may have a goal of becoming a carbon neutral company, but without defining a realistic timeline and baseline for this initiative, the probability of failure is much higher.

A stronger goal might be: “Implement a comprehensive carbon neutrality strategy by 2030.” From there, you can determine the operational goals that will make this strategic goal possible.

No matter what goal you choose to pursue, it’s important to avoid those that lack clarity, detail, specific targets or timeframes, or clear parameters for success. Without these specific elements in place, you’ll have a difficult time making your goals actionable and measurable.

Prioritizing Strategic Goals

Once you’ve identified several strategic goals, determine which are worth pursuing. This can be a lengthy process, especially if other decision-makers have differing priorities and opinions.

To set the stage, ensure everyone is aware of the purpose behind each strategic goal. This calls back to Henderson’s point that employees’ alignment on purpose can set your organization up to outperform its competitors.

Calculate Anticipated ROI

Next, calculate the estimated return on investment (ROI) of the operational goals tied to each strategic objective. For example, if the strategic goal is “reach carbon-neutral status by 2030,” you need to break that down into actionable sub-tasks—such as “determine how much CO2 our company produces each year” and “craft a marketing and public relations strategy”—and calculate the expected cost and return for each.

The ROI formula is typically written as:

ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100

In project management, the formula uses slightly different terms:

ROI = [(Financial Value - Project Cost) / Project Cost] x 100

An estimate can be a valuable piece of information when deciding which goals to pursue. Although not all strategic goals need to yield a high return on investment, it’s in your best interest to calculate each objective's anticipated ROI so you can compare them.

Consider Current Events

Finally, when deciding which strategic goal to prioritize, the importance of the present moment can’t be overlooked. What’s happening in the world that could impact the timeliness of each goal?

For example, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the ever-intensifying climate change crisis have impacted many organizations’ strategic goals in 2020. Often, the goals that are timely and pressing are those that earn priority.

Learn to Plan Strategic Goals

As you set and prioritize strategic goals, remember that your strategy should always be evolving. As circumstances and challenges shift, so must your organizational strategy.

If you lead with purpose, a measurable and actionable vision, and an awareness of current events, you can set strategic goals worth striving for.

Do you want to learn more about strategic planning? Explore our online strategy courses and download our free flowchart to determine which is right for you and your goals.

This post was updated on November 16, 2023. It was originally published on October 29, 2020.

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Tips for Setting Better Business Goals

Table of Contents

If you want to take your business to the next level, setting the right goals could be the key. While creating the right goals for your company can be challenging, the best ones can make all the difference in your growth.

Hard work is required to build your business, but you also need direction. Setting solid and attainable goals is an excellent place to start. Read on to learn about different business goals and how to set them.

What is a business goal?

A business goal differs significantly from a New Year’s resolution and has way more money riding on it than a gym membership fee. Business goals are objectives tied to your vision for your company and the achievements you want to accomplish. 

Business goals may pertain to the whole company, certain departments, specific groups of employees or other areas of the business. Depending on your purpose, the goals you set to help your company progress can be daily, quarterly or yearly objectives. If you’ve created a business plan , you may have already mapped out your goals as action strategies.

What are SMART goals?

When setting business goals, it helps to be SMART, as in the goal-setting acronym that stands for “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.” SMART business goals can be highly effective.

A SMART goal should follow the elements in the framework, which we elaborate on below. By setting a SMART goal, a person plans out their goal to track and execute their specific target. Here are some pointers on what it means to set SMART goals.

When setting a goal, knowing precisely what you hope to accomplish and what actions you must take to reach your objective is essential. Let’s say you want to expand your revenue . These are some of the specifics you would want to decide as you set your goal:

• The dollar amount or percentage of revenue growth you want to achieve
• A deadline for when you expect to reach the objective
• Which department or individuals would drive this process
• What steps they would take to work toward this goal
• What resources you would need to allocate to help your staff meet this objective

Measurable goals use metrics such as dates and numerical values to track your progress. This approach not only encourages you to focus on the end goal, but also helps you evaluate how your efforts are helping you accomplish your objectives, which can help you stay motivated. In the above example, your measurable goal might be to increase your sales by $5,000. You might decide this should happen in a month, and then ask each sales team member to follow five extra leads per week in hopes of meeting this objective.

For a goal to be achievable, it must be realistic. For example, a goal to make $1 million in one day probably isn’t attainable for most of us, and setting such a goal would be setting yourself up to fail. Even though your goals should require you to expend extra effort, they should be reachable.

A relevant goal matters to your business; it should make sense and meet your company’s needs. Referring to the example above, would increasing your revenue make a difference to your business? Of course! However, not every business goal needs to be about revenue.

“If one of your big values is to serve others to the best of your abilities, then merely setting a revenue-based goal isn’t going to be enough to motivate you,” Heather Moulder, leadership and business coach at Course Correction Coaching, told business.com.

A time-bound goal has a deadline for the work you intend to do. When there isn’t any time limit, measuring your progress is hard. Deadlines can push you to action and help you work toward your goals efficiently.

What are examples of business goals?

Understanding a good goal can help you model your own goals for your small business. 

Let’s say you want to increase revenue by introducing a new service or product. Moulder said this goal is purposeful and beneficial to your company because it would help you better serve your clients and improve customer satisfaction. It would also mean taking on more responsibility for creating your new product or service, so you would need to prepare for the time and resources that entails.

Business goals can also be about your employees. If your objective is, for example, to improve or grow your team members’ skill sets, you can do so through actionable items, like creating a committee to hire a professional instructor for employee training courses . Then, the objective would be to have this instructor train your staffers for the next six months. When they complete the course, you can measure their skills by assigning tasks based on their learning. 

How do you write a business goal?

It’s one thing to have general goals in mind, but you need to put pen to paper. Writing your goals down is very effective.  “The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible,” said Angela Civitella, a certified business coach and founder of Intinde. “You have no excuse for forgetting about it.”

Here are two tips to help you write effective business goals.

1. Write in an active style.

The language you use when writing your goals impacts how you perceive them and whether you get them done.

“As you write, use the word ‘will’ instead of ‘would like to’ or ‘might,’” Civitella said. “For example, ‘I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year,’ not ‘I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year.’ The first goal statement has power, and you can ‘see’ yourself reducing expenses. The second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked.”

2. Narrow down what’s important.

Make sure your goals are important to you and your company. Ask yourself, “Does this goal motivate me?”

“If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim,” Civitella said. “Motivation is key to achieving goals.”

There is such a thing as too many goals. Ensure you write down only extremely valuable objectives. A long to-do list with only two items crossed off can cause feelings of disappointment and frustration, which can add to demotivation and be incredibly destructive, Civitella said.

“Ask yourself, ‘If I were to share my goal with others, what would I tell them to convince them it was a worthwhile goal?’” she said. “You can use this motivating value statement to help you if you start to doubt yourself or lose confidence in your ability to actually make the goal happen.”

What are the different types of business goals?

Four types of goals are beneficial in the business world. Read on to learn more about each of them.

Activity-based goals

Activity-based goals require you to perform specific tasks or activities. For example, you might set a goal to make 20 weekly client phone calls.

Process-based goals

Process-based goals require you to focus on internal processes, strategies and behaviors. “Some examples would be resetting business policies for better efficiency or developing a new training program for staff to help their communication with customers,” Moulder said. 

Outcome-based goals

Outcome-based goals focus on the results of your efforts. You may have less control over these results if they’re based on consumer or client behavior. 

“An example of this would be to get 10 referrals from existing customers,” said James Pollard, owner of The Advisor Coach. “You can’t directly control whether or not they give you any referrals, but you can influence the process by asking.”

Some goals are a hybrid of process and outcome goals, explained Moulder. For instance, a service-based business might set a goal to implement a new staff training program to improve customer service. The process portion of the goal is implementing the training program. The outcome is improving customer service, which you could gauge by a reduction in service cancellations or an increase in repeat customers . 

Personal goals

Personal goals are those that business owners set for themselves. These may be related to maintaining or improving your health, work-life balance , or professional development. Knowing what you want for yourself is as essential as understanding what you want for your business because your personal goals affect how you run your company. 

Why is setting goals important in business?

We set small goals in our everyday lives, such as making it home in time for dinner or eating salad for lunch. Goals are vital because they give you and your business direction. With them, you may perform at your best.

Without goals, however, it’s hard to measure your business’s success, which makes it challenging to recognize what aspects of your company are doing well and where growth is needed. Objectives and a mission statement also keep you and your team aligned. When everyone knows the company’s purpose and how their roles contribute to the mission, it improves morale and increases productivity.

Julie Thompson contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. 

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Become a pro at setting business goals in the new year with these 6 tips.

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Improve your goal-setting process by committing to your goals, measuring them, and setting specific ... [+] deadlines.

After dealing with curveball after curveball, I’m ready to see what 2021 has in store. And one of my favorite things when gearing up for a new year is reviewing and setting business goals. 

With many years of experience under my belt (and plenty of blunders along the way), I’ve learned how to set goals that are attainable. Want to become a pro at setting goals for your company, too? I’ve got just the right tips for you...

Why Are Setting Goals Important?

Before we get into how you can set successful goals for the upcoming year, let’s break down why goals are so important in the first place. 

If you want to make your business the best it can be, you have to be willing to establish and track goals. Without goals, you have no way to monitor your company’s progress or keep yourself or your team accountable. Goals help you create a clear path for your company and get you headed in the right direction. 

All goals are important, no matter how big or small they are. Achieving small goals can help you work toward bigger goals. Your goals help you grow your business . And, they can be what make or break your business’s success. 

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Best 5% interest savings accounts of september 2023, 6 tips for setting goals in 2021 and beyond.

According to one study, people with goals are 10 times more likely to succeed . The same rings true for businesses. If you want to succeed in the long run, learn how to set goals and achieve them. 

The last thing you want to do is put off setting your business goals for the upcoming year. Instead of procrastinating, get a head start and learn how to establish (and achieve) goals for 2021 and beyond. Check out these six tips to enhance your goal-setting process. 

1. Determine What You Want Your Goals To Be

Not sure where to start when setting goals? Congrats—you’re not alone! Plenty of business owners struggle with where to begin when it comes to determining business goals (especially the newbies). But, that’s completely OK. We’re here to help each other out, right? Right.

So … where to start? Instead of just thinking “What goals do I want to set for my company?” think about it this way: What do I want to accomplish ?

When determining your goals, make sure they are worth your time and effort. Think about what goals can really push your business forward within the next year. And, don’t just think about the big picture. Also figure out what itty bitty goals you want to achieve—they are equally as important. 

To figure out your top priorities, consider taking advantage of a SWOT analysis . Your analysis will tell you where your business is falling flat and what areas need improvement. Once you determine what areas need help, start coming up with the goals you believe you can achieve (or come close to achieving) in the next few months or years. 

2. Be As Specific As Possible

The more time you spend describing and visualizing your goals, the more likely you will be to actually achieve them. So, when setting your goals, be as descriptive and crystal clear as possible.

Go into the nitty-gritty details when setting a goal, such as exact dollar amounts or percentages, what it will take to achieve said goal, and how long you think it will take to reach it. 

Define where you want your goal to be at each step of the way. Think of this as your goal’s roadmap. Be specific with what you want to accomplish at each point.

Are you a visual learner? If so, here’s an example of what your goal roadmap may look like:

• Increase customer count to 10,000 by end of Q1
• Have 15,000 customers by Q2
• Have 20,000 customers by Q3
• Have 25,000 customers by Q4

Your roadmap can also detail more long-term goals, such as increasing overall revenue or reducing certain expenses. As you can tell, the opportunities are endless. 

3. Commit To Your Goals  

Like with anything in life, if you want to achieve a goal, you have to commit to it. If you’re determined to lose weight, what do you do? You set goals, and you commit to your diet and exercise regime to reach your goal weight.

Once you set your goals, make the commitment and stick to it. Don’t second-guess your goals or give up on them right away. Enjoy the ride, track your results, and do whatever you need to do to stay motivated throughout the process. 

4. Meet Regularly To Measure Progress

There’s no better feeling than achieving a goal you’ve set your mind to. But, you can’t reach your goals if you don’t have a system to track and analyze your efforts. 

Find a way to keep track of your goals that works for you and your team. For example, maybe you’ll utilize a spreadsheet to keep track of metrics monthly. By tracking your goal(s), you can find out what is and isn’t working and make changes along the way to ensure you achieve your goal in the end. 

It’s also good practice to meet with your team to discuss your goals. That way, you keep everyone in the loop and can brainstorm ideas to help you reach your goals.

Let’s take a look at an example, shall we? At my accounting software and payroll company, Patriot Software, we monitor our metrics to track our progress over time. For example, our marketing team meets at least once per month to set and discuss the status of the goals and to determine what is and is not working in our favor before making any changes. 

5. Hold Yourself Accountable With Deadlines

If you really want to motivate yourself to achieve a business goal, try setting deadlines to hold yourself accountable. 

Setting time-focused goals help you set a clear date on when you want to reach your goals. Deadlines help you stay in line and give you the boost you need to accomplish your goals. 

From the get-go of establishing your goal, set a deadline for when you want to reach your goal. I’m not talking about saying “by next summer” or “by the end of Quarter 3.” I’m saying to give a specific date on when you want your goal completed. That way, you can hold yourself accountable when that date rolls around.

6. Celebrate Milestones And Achievements

Last but certainly not least, remember to celebrate the milestones you reach and the goals you accomplish—no matter how big or small they may seem. 

You’ve invested so much time and energy into reaching your goal, so take a moment to take it all in and celebrate your accomplishment. 

Smaller accomplishments can be simple rewards, like lunch at your favorite restaurant or a cake. As milestone accomplishments are met, you might splurge a little more with your celebrations to match the goal you reached.

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Goals and Objectives for Business Plan with Examples

Nov.05, 2023

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Every business needs a clear vision of what it wants to achieve and how it plans to get there. A business plan is a document that outlines the goals and objectives of a business, as well as the strategies and actions to achieve them. A well-written business plan from business plan specialists can help a business attract investors, secure funding, and guide its growth.

Understanding Business Objectives

Business objectives are S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R elevant, and T ime-bound (SMART) statements that describe what a business wants to accomplish in a given period. They are derived from the overall vision and mission of the business, and they support its strategic direction.

Business plan objectives can be categorized into different types, depending on their purpose and scope. Some common types of business objectives are:

• Financial objectives
• Operational objectives
• Marketing objectives
• Social objectives

For example, a sample of business goals and objectives for a business plan for a bakery could be:

• To increase its annual revenue by 20% in the next year.
• To reduce its production costs by 10% in the next six months.
• To launch a new product line of gluten-free cakes in the next quarter.
• To improve its customer satisfaction rating by 15% in the next month.

The Significance of Business Objectives

Business objectives are important for several reasons. They help to:

• Clarify and direct the company and stakeholders
• Align the company’s efforts and resources to a common goal
• Motivate and inspire employees to perform better
• Measure and evaluate the company’s progress and performance
• Communicate the company’s value and advantage to customers and the market

For example, by setting a revenue objective, a bakery can focus on increasing its sales and marketing efforts, monitor its sales data and customer feedback, motivate its staff to deliver quality products and service, communicate its unique selling points and benefits to its customers, and adjust its pricing and product mix according to market demand.

Advantages of Outlining Business Objectives

Outlining business objectives is a crucial step in creating a business plan. It serves as a roadmap for the company’s growth and development. Outlining business objectives has several advantages, such as:

• Clarifies the company’s vision, direction, scope, and boundaries
• Break down the company’s goals into smaller tasks and milestones
• Assigns roles and responsibilities and delegates tasks
• Establishes standards and criteria for success and performance
• Anticipates risks and challenges and devises contingency plans

For example, by outlining its business objective for increasing the average revenue per customer in its business plan, a bakery can:

• Attract investors with its viable business plan for investors
• Secure funding from banks or others with its realistic financial plan
• Partner with businesses or organizations that complement or enhance its products or services
• Choose the best marketing, pricing, product, staff, location, etc. for its target market and customers

Setting Goals and Objectives for a Business Plan

Setting goals and objectives for a business plan is not a one-time task. It requires careful planning, research, analysis, and evaluation. To set effective goals and objectives for a business plan, one should follow some best practices, such as:

OPTION 1: Use the SMART framework. A SMART goal or objective is clear, quantifiable, realistic, aligned with the company’s mission and vision, and has a deadline. SMART stands for:

• Specific – The goal or objective should be clear, concise, and well-defined.
• Measurable – The goal or objective should be quantifiable or verifiable.
• Achievable – The goal or objective should be realistic and attainable.
• Relevant – The goal or objective should be aligned with the company’s vision, mission, and values.
• Time-bound – The goal or objective should have a deadline or timeframe.

For example, using the SMART criteria, a bakery can refine its business objective for increasing the average revenue per customer as follows:

• Specific – Increase revenue with new products and services from $5 to $5.50.
• Measurable – Track customer revenue monthly with sales reports.
• Achievable – Research the market, develop new products and services, and train staff to upsell and cross-sell.
• Relevant – Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, profitability and cash flow, and market competitiveness.
• Time-bound – Achieve this objective in six months, from January 1st to June 30th.

OPTION 2: Use the OKR framework. OKR stands for O bjectives and K ey R esults. An OKR is a goal-setting technique that links the company’s objectives with measurable outcomes. An objective is a qualitative statement of what the company wants to achieve. A key result is a quantitative metric that shows how the objective will be achieved.

OPTION 3: Use the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for S trengths, W eaknesses, O pportunities, and T hreats. A SWOT analysis is a strategic tool that helps the company assess the internal and external factors that affect its goals and objectives.

• Strengths – Internal factors that give the company an advantage over others. 
• Weaknesses – Internal factors that limit the company’s performance or growth. 
• Opportunities – External factors that allow the company to improve or expand. 
• Threats – External factors that pose a risk or challenge to the company.

For example, using these frameworks, a bakery might set the following goals and objectives for its SBA business plan :

Objective – To launch a new product line of gluten-free cakes in the next quarter.

Key Results:

• Research gluten-free cake market demand and preferences by month-end.
• Create and test 10 gluten-free cake recipes by next month-end.
• Make and sell 100 gluten-free cakes weekly online or in-store by quarter-end.

SWOT Analysis:

• Expertise and experience in baking and cake decorating.
• Loyal and satisfied customer base.
• Strong online presence and reputation.

Weaknesses:

• Limited production capacity and equipment.
• High production costs and low-profit margins.
• Lack of knowledge and skills in gluten-free baking.

Opportunities:

• Growing demand and awareness for gluten-free products.
• Competitive advantage and differentiation in the market.
• Potential partnerships and collaborations with health-conscious customers and organizations.
• Increasing competition from other bakeries and gluten-free brands.
• Changing customer tastes and preferences.
• Regulatory and legal issues related to gluten-free labeling and certification.

Examples of Business Goals and Objectives

To illustrate how to write business goals and objectives for a business plan, let’s use a hypothetical example of a bakery business called Sweet Treats. Sweet Treats is a small bakery specializing in custom-made cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods for various occasions.

Here are some examples of possible startup business goals and objectives for Sweet Treats:

Earning and Preserving Profitability

Profitability is the ability of a company to generate more revenue than expenses. It indicates the financial health and performance of the company. Profitability is essential for a business to sustain its operations, grow its market share, and reward its stakeholders.

Some possible objectives for earning and preserving profitability for Sweet Treats are:

• To increase the gross profit margin by 5% in the next quarter by reducing the cost of goods sold
• To achieve a net income of $100,000 in the current fiscal year by increasing sales and reducing overhead costs

Ensuring Consistent Cash Flow

Cash flow is the amount of money that flows in and out of a company. A company needs to have enough cash to cover its operating expenses, pay its debts, invest in its growth, and reward its shareholders.

Some possible objectives for ensuring consistent cash flow for Sweet Treats are:

• Increase monthly operating cash inflow by 15% by the end of the year by improving the efficiency and productivity of the business processes
• Increase the cash flow from investing activities by selling or disposing of non-performing or obsolete assets

Creating and Maintaining Efficiency

Efficiency is the ratio of output to input. It measures how well a company uses its resources to produce its products or services. Efficiency can help a business improve its quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

Some possible objectives for creating and maintaining efficiency for Sweet Treats are:

• To reduce the production time by 10% in the next month by implementing lean manufacturing techniques
• To increase the customer service response rate by 20% in the next week by using chatbots or automated systems

Winning and Keeping Clients

Clients are the people or organizations that buy or use the products or services of a company. They are the source of revenue and growth for a company. Therefore, winning and keeping clients is vital to generating steady revenue, increasing customer loyalty, and enhancing word-of-mouth marketing.

Some possible objectives for winning and keeping clients for Sweet Treats are:

• To acquire 100 new clients in the next quarter by launching a referral program or a promotional campaign
• To retain 90% of existing clients in the current year by offering loyalty rewards or satisfaction guarantees

Building a Recognizable Brand

A brand is the name, logo, design, or other features distinguishing a company from its competitors. It represents the identity, reputation, and value proposition of a company. Building a recognizable brand is crucial for attracting and retaining clients and creating a loyal fan base.

Some possible objectives for building a recognizable brand for Sweet Treats are:

• To increase brand awareness by 50% in the next six months by creating and distributing engaging content on social media platforms
• To improve brand image by 30% in the next year by participating in social causes or sponsoring events that align with the company’s values

Expanding and Nurturing an Audience with Marketing

An audience is a group of people interested in or following a company’s products or services. They can be potential or existing clients, fans, influencers, or partners. Expanding and nurturing an audience with marketing is essential for increasing a company’s visibility, reach, and engagement.

Some possible objectives for expanding and nurturing an audience with marketing for Sweet Treats are:

• To grow the email list by 1,000 subscribers in the next month by offering a free ebook or a webinar
• To nurture leads by sending them relevant and valuable information through email newsletters or blog posts

Strategizing for Expansion

Expansion is the process of increasing a company’s size, scope, or scale. It can involve entering new markets, launching new products or services, opening new locations, or forming new alliances. Strategizing for expansion is important for diversifying revenue streams, reaching new audiences, and gaining competitive advantages.

Some possible objectives for strategizing for expansion for Sweet Treats are:

• To launch a new product or service line by developing and testing prototypes
• To open a new branch or franchise by securing funding and hiring staff

Template for Business Objectives

A template for writing business objectives is a format or structure that can be used as a guide or reference for creating your objectives. A template for writing business objectives can help you to ensure that your objectives are SMART, clear, concise, and consistent.

To use this template, fill in the blanks with your information. Here is an example of how you can use this template:

Example of Business Objectives

Our business is a _____________ (type of business) that provides _____________ (products or services) to _____________ (target market). Our vision is to _____________ (vision statement) and our mission is to _____________ (mission statement).

Our long-term business goals and objectives for the next _____________ (time period) are:

S pecific: We want to _____________ (specific goal) by _____________ (specific action).

M easurable: We will measure our progress by _____________ (quantifiable indicator).

A chievable: We have _____________ (resources, capabilities, constraints) that will enable us to achieve this goal.

R elevant: This goal supports our vision and mission by _____________ (benefit or impact).

T ime-bound: We will complete this goal by _____________ (deadline).

Repeat this process for each goal and objective for your business plan.

How to Monitor Your Business Objectives?

After setting goals and objectives for your business plan, you should check them regularly to see if you are achieving them. Monitoring your business objectives can help you to:

• Track your progress and performance
• Identify and overcome any challenges
• Adjust your actions and strategies as needed

Some of the tools and methods that you can use to monitor your business objectives are:

• Dashboards – Show key data and metrics for your objectives with tools like Google Data Studio, Databox, or DashThis.
• Reports – Get detailed information and analysis for your objectives with tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or SEMrush.
• Feedback – Learn from your customers and their needs and expectations with tools like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Google Forms.

Strategies for Realizing Business Objectives

To achieve your business objectives, you need more than setting and monitoring them. You need strategies and actions that support them. Strategies are the general methods to reach your objectives. Actions are the specific steps to implement your strategies.

Different objectives require different strategies and actions. Some common types are:

• Marketing strategies
• Operational strategies
• Financial strategies
• Human resource strategies
• Growth strategies

To implement effective strategies and actions, consider these factors:

• Alignment – They should match your vision, mission, values, goals, and objectives
• Feasibility – They should be possible with your capabilities, resources, and constraints
• Suitability – They should fit the context and needs of your business

How OGSCapital Can Help You Achieve Your Business Objectives?

We at OGSCapital can help you with your business plan and related documents. We have over 15 years of experience writing high-quality business plans for various industries and regions. We have a team of business plan experts who can assist you with market research, financial analysis, strategy formulation, and presentation design. We can customize your business plan to suit your needs and objectives, whether you need funding, launching, expanding, or entering a new market. We can also help you with pitch decks, executive summaries, feasibility studies, and grant proposals. Contact us today for a free quote and start working on your business plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the goals and objectives in business.

Goals and objectives in a business plan are the desired outcomes that a company works toward. To describe company goals and objectives for a business plan, start with your mission statement and then identify your strategic and operational objectives. To write company objectives, you must brainstorm, organize, prioritize, assign, track, and review them using the SMART framework and KPIs.

What are the examples of goals and objectives in a business plan?

Examples of goals and objectives in a business plan are: Goal: To increase revenue by 10% each year for the next five years. Objective: To launch a new product line and create a marketing campaign to reach new customers.

What are the 4 main objectives of a business?

The 4 main objectives of a business are economic, social, human, and organic. Economic objectives deal with financial performance, social objectives deal with social responsibility, human objectives deal with employee welfare, and organic objectives deal with business growth and development.

What are goals and objectives examples?

Setting goals and objectives for a business plan describes what a business or a team wants to achieve and how they will do it. For example: Goal: To provide excellent customer service. Objective: To increase customer satisfaction scores by 20% by the end of the quarter. 

At OGSCapital, our business planning services offer expert guidance and support to create a realistic and actionable plan that aligns with your vision and mission. Get in touch to discuss further!

OGSCapital’s team has assisted thousands of entrepreneurs with top-rate business plan development, consultancy and analysis. They’ve helped thousands of SME owners secure more than $1.5 billion in funding, and they can do the same for you.

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How to Set Business Goals? A Must-read Guide for Startups

Free SMART Goal Template

• December 15, 2023

Running without direction never lets you win the race, which is why the direction is necessary. Similarly, the same goes for a business; without setting business goals you will not understand in which direction to go.

But if your question is  how to set business goals , then right after five minutes of reading this guide, you will get all the answers to your doubts.

What Are Business Goals?

The business goal is your destination where you want your business to be in a certain period. Goals might apply to the entire company, particular divisions, certain personnel groups, or other parts of the enterprise.

Set a goal to advance your business on a daily, quarterly, or annual basis depending on your purpose. Your goals can create action strategies in your business plan . There are two types of goals:

1. Short-Term Goals

Short-term goals are frequently constrained by a specific time frame, which typically ranges from a few hours to a whole year.

Goals for the short term are frequently employed as building blocks toward longer-term objectives. Setting many short-term goals to make long-term goals more attainable is a popular corporate technique.

Examples of immediate business objectives:

• Current quarter, incorporate 100+ new customers
• By the end of the year, hire 10 new staff
• 10% raise in positive feedback

2. Long-Term Goals

Long-term goals are more expansive visions that you hope to accomplish in the future.

A ten-year aim is a typical long-term objective. Consider where you want your company to be in ten years. What corporate goals do you hope to have accomplished by then? Which new industries, if any, are you interested in entering?

Long-term objectives act as a compass for your company to steer it in the appropriate direction. They are frequently utilized as a vision statement or a mission statement . Consider your goals as a road plan that will lead you in the right direction.

Long-term objectives may not provide detailed instructions on how to get there, but they do provide a general direction.

Long-term business objectives examples:

• 1 million dollars in profit in 10 years
• 200+ employees in the next 10 years
• Different team leaders of every department

3. Further, We Can Divide Goals Into Three Parts:

The three different sorts of goals are process, performance, and outcome goals. Process goals refer to certain courses of action or “processes” of carrying out.

Let’s say you resolved to spend two hours per day after dinner studying. The process goals are entirely in the hands of the individuals.

Performance targets are established using personal criteria. A 3.5 GPA, for instance, might be the goal. Most personal goals are within one’s power to influence.

The foundation of outcome goals is winning. Finding employment for a college student can entail doing so at a company where they have always wanted to work or in their field. Here, external forces also play a role in achieving outcome goals.

Let’s delve into SMART more:

1. Specific

While setting your goals you should be very accurate and specific about what you want and how to accomplish it. Some of the examples to understand specific parameters of goals are:

• The revenue you want in a year/ or specific period
• Which department would drive that process
• What resources you will need

2. Measurable

Measurable goals measure progress toward your objective using metrics like dates and numbers, in short, you can measure business goals. It helps you to stay motivated about your business achievements process and also enables you to assess how your efforts are advancing your goals.

3. Achievable

Set practical goals to be achievable. Earning 1 million dollars in a day for a startup isn’t a realistic goal.

4. Relevant

All your goals should be business specific and relevant to your field. A goal that matters to your company and meets its requirements is reasonable.

5. Time-bound

A deadline for the job you plan to complete is part of a time-bound goal. Without a deadline, it can be challenging to gauge your progress. Deadlines can motivate you to take action and facilitate effective goal-achieving.

How To Set Business Goals?

1. Be Specific And don’t Distract From Your Dreams

“Sometime” will never come and “I will complete it soon” will be your forever go-to quote if you don’t focus on all of your goals. “Till our 2nd anniversary, we want 25 employees on board with 500+ customers” is a predefined goal for your business.

2. Divide Your Goals Into Pieces

Make short-term goals to not get overwhelmed by long-term goals. For instance, if your goal is to earn 1 million $ in five years, then break it into yearly/quarterly/monthly goals.

Breaking long-term goals into short-term goals will keep your computations, financial aspects, and forecasting simple.

3. Take Action Towards Goal Achievement

Planning the steps you must take to accomplish your goals is the next stage of the process. Here are some concrete examples of actionable goals that could contribute to achieving this:

• To reach more clients; one should create a Facebook page
• Five times every week; publish on social media platforms
• Make a website to sell products online
• Provide new clients with a 10% discount
• Hire a salesperson

Break down the goals first and then take all the actions necessary to achieve your goals within or before the deadline.

4. Check-In Frequently

Regularly evaluate your progress toward your goals to see if you need to make any modifications. When you first set them, you might have been a little too ambitious or not ambitious enough.

On the other side, perhaps your goals are no longer as important as they once were. It’s necessary to re-evaluate and modify your goals whenever you choose.

5. Do The SWOT Analysis

A high-level strategic planning analysis called SWOT will assist you to determine where your company needs to improve and where it is currently succeeding. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats are the abbreviation for this phrase SWOT analysis.

Before attempting to define goals, conducting the analysis first can assist you to consider your strategic problems and opportunities. Visit our blog to know how to do the SWOT analysis .

Want to create a SWOT analysis for your business?

Craft a powerful SWOT Analysis in just minutes using our user-friendly and free online SWOT Analysis Generator Tool!

6. Take Reviews of Your Employees

Finding out what employees think is a wise move because it will give your leadership team knowledge from individuals who are working on the “ground floor” of the company.

However, if you do solicit input, be prepared to act on it; otherwise, staff members won’t feel encouraged to share their thoughts in the future.

7. Determine Who Will Be There In the Goal-Setting Exercise

The size of your organization will determine who should take part in this discussion. Will mid-level employees be included or senior team leaders & managers will be included? How about the directors on your board? Ask yourself these questions and you will know whom to include and whom not to.

8. Do Competitive And Internal Benchmarking

Compare your performance with the previous performances and also compare it amongst the competitors to know your position. Do the competition analysis properly to know your position in your field and internal in your business too.

This information will help you define company goals by highlighting your strengths and weaknesses. Also, it will help you understand where you are lacking in comparison to your competitors.

Benefits Of Goal-Setting

• Setting business goals increases motivation, let’s see the advantages and importance of setting goals:
• Setting specific goals gives your organization direction for where it wants to go
• It guarantees that workers cooperate toward a common goal
• Increases employee incentive to accomplish both short- and long-term goals
• It aids in cultivating in workers a sense of accountability
• Clear comprehension of what is and is not necessary
• It aids in your avoidance of activities unrelated to attaining your goal, helping you to save time
• Setting goals enables you to maintain future control
• It gives clarity to decision making
• Setting business goals increases customer satisfaction too
• Gives you a sense of satisfaction
• During setbacks too it provides motivation
• It provides you with a better understanding of your business
• More productivity
• You can clearly set and track your business milestones
• Defining goals also helps you in building an attractive business plan

In our daily lives, we establish modest objectives like arriving home in time for supper or consuming a salad for lunch. Setting goals helps you and your business move in the right manner. Without them, you risk plateauing or underachieving.

Without goals, it’s challenging to gauge the success of your company , making it challenging to identify the areas of your company that is succeeding and those that require expansion.

You and your team are also kept on the same page by goals and a mission statement. Everyone will be more motivated and more productive when they understand the company’s mission and how their contributions fit into it.

Setting business goals and KPIs helps you in creating a to-the-point business plan. If you need help in writing a business plan , then are various online business plan tools, but choose the best software for business plan ~  Upmetrics .

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About the Author

Riya Shah is a skilled content writer experienced in various areas of writing, currently working with Upmetrics. Fascination with reading led her to be a writer. Highly creative, focused, imaginative, and passionate. Read more

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5 Ways to Set More Achievable Goals

• Rakshitha Arni Ravishankar
• Kelsey Alpaio

#1 Connect every goal to a “why.”

Setting goals is a meaningful exercise. Still, so many of us struggle to achieve the goals we set out for ourselves. Here are five ways to set more attainable goals:

• Connect your every goal to a “why.” When you spend time understanding the “why” that’s driving your actions, it’s easier to avoid distractions and focus on pursuing your goal.
• Break your goals down. Instead of setting one big goal, break them down into smaller goals that you can accomplish every day.
• Schedule “buffer time” for your goals and increase your estimated deadline by 25%.
• Focus on continuation, not improvement. Embrace all the things you’ve already started and would like to continue or build upon with time.
• Don’t dwell on past failures. Know that it’s normal and everyone goes through a cycle of ups and down.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Setting goals is a deeply meaningful exercise. Research shows that it motivates us , gives us a sense of purpose, and helps us feel accomplished.

• RR Rakshitha Arni Ravishankar is an associate editor at Ascend.
• KA Kelsey Alpaio is an Associate Editor at Harvard Business Review. kelseyalpaio

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How To Set Your Business Goals For 2024

Every business, especially those using a startup business plan template , needs to set goals. They are what give your company a sense of purpose and direction and ensure your business success. Without them, you would be aimlessly drifting along, hoping to find success without any real plan or strategy.

If you don’t already have business goals for 2024, now is the time to start setting them. But why are business goals so important? And what should you be setting as your goals for 2024? In this article, we will explore why setting business goals is essential and provide six tips for doing it effectively. We will also share some examples of goals you should be considering for your business in the new year.

Why Is Setting Business Goals Important?

There are many reasons why setting business goals is essential. For starters, it gives your company a sense of purpose. It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget why you’re doing what you’re doing. Having goals that you’re working towards helps to keep you focused and motivated.

Setting business goals also allows you to measure your progress and determine whether or not you’re on track. This is important for making course corrections along the way. Without goals, it’s difficult to know if you’re making progress or if you’re just spinning your wheels.

Finally, setting goals gives you something to strive for. It’s easy to get complacent when things are going well. But if you have goals that you’re working towards, it challenges you to continue pushing forward and growing your business.

Now that we’ve covered some of the basics let’s move on to our 6 tips for setting business goals.

    Finish Your Business Plan Today!

6 tips for setting your business goals for 2024, 1. know your company’s vision and long-term goals.

The first step in setting business goals is to know your company’s vision and long-term goals. What is your company’s mission? What are you trying to achieve? Answering these questions will give you a good starting point for setting goals that are aligned with your company’s overall objectives.

2. Conduct A SWOT Analysis

Once you know your company’s vision and long-term goals, it’s time to conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis will help you identify areas where your company needs to improve and also potential opportunities that you can capitalize on.

3. Set SMART Goals

After you’ve conducted a SWOT analysis, it’s time to start setting goals. But not just any goals – your goals need to be SMART. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. In other words, your goals should be clear and concise, with a defined timeline for completion.

4. Identify Your KPIs

Once you’ve set your SMART goals, it’s time to identify your KPIs. KPIs, or key performance indicators, are metrics that you will use to measure your progress toward your goals. This could be things like website traffic, conversion rate, or social media engagement.

5. Hold Yourself Accountable

Once you’ve set your goals and identified your KPIs, it’s time to hold yourself accountable. This means setting up a system to track your progress and making sure that you’re staying on track. There are several ways to do this, but one way is to create a goal tracker that you can use to track your progress over time.

6. Celebrate Your Milestones

Finally, don’t forget to celebrate your milestones! This is important for keeping yourself motivated and on track. When you hit a goal, take the time to celebrate your success. This could be something as simple as taking the team out for lunch or buying yourself a new gadget.

Now that you know how to set business goals, let’s take a look at some examples of goals you should be considering for your business in 2024.

5 Goals To Set For Your Business In 2024

1. improve your company culture.

One goal you should consider setting for your business in 2024 is to improve your company culture. This could involve things like instituting weekly team-building activities or offering more employee development opportunities. Company culture is important for attracting and retaining top talent, so it’s worth investing in.

2. Expand Online Presence

Another goal you should consider setting for your business is to expand your online presence. This could involve things like creating a social media strategy or launching a new website. Your online presence is important for reaching new customers and increasing brand awareness. This is essential if you want to experience growth in 2024.

3. Reach A Profit/Revenue Goal

If you’re looking to set a financial goal for your business, consider reaching a profit or revenue goal. This could involve increasing your sales by a certain percentage or reaching a certain level of profitability. Whatever you choose, make sure that your goal is realistic and achievable.

4. Improve Employee Satisfaction

Another important goal to consider setting for your business is to improve employee satisfaction. This could involve things like implementing an employee engagement program or offering more perks and benefits. Employee satisfaction is important for retaining top talent and ensuring that your team is productive.

5. Expand Your Workforce

If you’re looking to grow your business in 2024, one goal you should consider setting is to expand your workforce. As your business grows, you’ll need to add new employees to keep up with demand. This could involve things like hiring new salespeople or adding customer service representatives. Make sure to improve your recruiting process as well so that you can attract top talent.

Final Thoughts On Setting Business Goals

Setting business goals is an important part of any successful organization. But you would be surprised how many businesses don’t have a clear growth plan. If you want your business to be successful in 2024, it’s important to set goals and create a plan for achieving them. By following the steps outlined in this article, you’ll be well on your way to set goals that will help your business achieve success in 2024.

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15 Best Examples of Professional Goals [+Tips to Achieve Them]

Published: May 01, 2024

“So, where do you see yourself five years from now?” Oof, that can be a tricky interview question, especially if you’re unsure of your professional goals.

When I graduated from college and started interviewing in my chosen field, I felt like I needed to plan my entire professional life, complete with one concrete end goal.

To be honest, it was overwhelming. I desperately needed actionable advice to plan steps to reach my professional goals.

In this post, we’ll define professional goals, provide examples, and give you tips so you can plan, meet, and exceed the goals you set for yourself.

What are professional goals?

Professional Goals Examples

Tips for Achieving Professional Goals

Work Towards Your Professional Goals

What Are Professional Goals?

Professional goals are achievements or milestones you hope to achieve in your career. These include personal and professional development, skill development, salary increases, career advancement, and switches.

Professional goals are often personal, but they don’t have to be. You can set professional goals for yourself and your team to help improve your organization and elevate it to the next level.

Free SMART Goal Template

A free template to help you create S.M.A.R.T. goals for marketing campaign success.

• Set your goals
• Calculate your metrics
• Evaluate your success

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

What makes a good professional goal?

What separates a professional goal from a wish is that professional goals are attainable and achievable when designed with the appropriate framework.

It’s important to point out that you might have one overarching professional goal, like “become professionally bilingual.”

However, under your overarching goal, you might have smaller, more manageable goals with a specific, actionable framework attached to them to help you reach your biggest goal.

The SMART goal framework is the perfect framework to apply to reach your big and small goals. The letters of SMART stand for:

Let’s examine each letter so that you understand how to structure your goals for maximum achievement.

When writing your own professional goals, you need to be specific. For example, if you want to become bilingual to position yourself ahead of your competition in the job market, you need to be specific about the language you’ll need to learn.

There are over 2,000 languages worldwide, but only one or two will be relevant to your job market. Take some time to research your field before choosing your second language.

In other words, you need to ensure your smaller goal is specific enough to help you reach your overarching goal.

If your goal is measurable, you can easily track your progress. You can make your goals measurable by including a number. For example, if your goal is to learn Spanish, a more measurable goal would be, “Learn five new Spanish vocabulary words.”

The difference between “Learn five new Spanish vocabulary words” and “Learn Spanish” is that you now have something to work on. Making your goals measurable can help break down the task, too.

If your goals aren’t attainable, there’s a good chance they’ll fall into the “wishes” category. By adjusting your goals to your ability, you have something to work towards.

Once you reach your initial goal, you can change your objectives for continued improvement.

Attainable goals are helpful because they help you see how far you’ve come from your baseline. Small wins are encouraging and can help you push through to the end.

The trick to the SMART goal framework is to keep your objectives relevant. For example, if I wanted to learn Spanish as a global sales rep, I would need to focus on learning vocabulary specific to my job.

While watching Spanish comedians might be a great way to learn new slang, it won’t help me communicate effectively and professionally with my clients.

Before setting your goals, ask yourself, “Will this goal help me reach my desired objective?” If the answer is yes, make sure it’s specific enough, measurable, and attainable. If the answer is no, this might be a goal you set aside and pick back up later.

Putting a time frame on your goal helps you increase your motivation and stay accountable for your progress. Plus, when your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant, you can track your progress and better visualize your wins.

If you’re like me and tend to get off track, SMART goals are your best friend.

Writing and implementing SMART goals can help you reach your professional goals much faster because you can break your ultimate objective into actionable steps. Think of them as your plan for success!

Professional Goal Examples

Ready to set a goal for yourself, but you need some examples? Here are FIFTEEN examples of professional goals:

1. Land an internship

If you’re a college student looking for work experience or want to enter a new industry, landing an internship is an excellent goal. Internships are a great way to gain the skills you need to be successful in your industry.

Plus, you’ll gain insider knowledge. You can acknowledge your experience on your resume, giving you a leg up on your competition.

Pro tip: Check with your local labor unions or your university’s Student Success Center for leads on potential internships.

2. Grow Your Network

When I decided to become a freelance writer, I knew I needed to grow my network and connect with others.

Growing your network is a good idea for many reasons, including collaborating with like-minded people and uncovering career opportunities.

Becoming active on social media platforms, like LinkedIn, and attending in-person meetings is a great way to make yourself available and gain new connections.

Pro tip: If you want to grow your network online, commit to regularly posting updates on social media. Social media management tools can help you keep up with your posts and nurture relationships with your followers.

3. Learn a New Skill

Increasing your skill set is a fantastic professional goal. Think about the skills you need to be successful in your work. Are there any skills you need to brush up on?

Or, if you’re looking to change careers or get a promotion, which skills will make your transition easier? Make a list and find ways to gain those skills, like taking a class or attending a seminar.

Pro tip: After making your list of desired skills, use the SMART goals framework to create an actionable learning plan.

4. Start a Podcast

Kaitlin Milliken, Senior Program Manager HubSpot, made starting a podcast one of her professional goals. Podcasting is a great way to gain technical and interviewing skills.

Milliken says, “One of my professional goals was to start a podcast. I was lucky enough to work as a multimedia producer at a startup that was looking to kick one off. I started by listening to other shows for inspiration — Reply All, The Journal, and Post Reports were really big at the time.

Miliken says she spoke with a few folks who had started their own hobby shows to get a sense of what gear was available within her budget.

"After that, I pitched ideas, wrote scripts, and started booking interviews. The big challenge was finding the time," she says. "I was still reporting stories, making newsletters, and creating videos in my role."

She explains, "I had to be very intentional about blocking off time on my calendar so I could accomplish this professional goal.”

Pro Tip: If starting a podcast is one of your professional goals, listen to related podcasts for inspiration for your own.

5. Earn a Professional Certificate

Depending on your job, you may need a professional certificate to advance your career. As a teacher, I needed to become licensed to teach my chosen subject. So, I spent a lot of time taking education courses to gain licensure.

If earning a professional certificate is on your list of professional goals, look for classes that offer relevant certifications. Then, commit to signing up for and completing the course.

Pro tip: Many companies offer continuing education courses for their employees. Take advantage of these offerings to advance your career and deepen your knowledge base. HubSpot Academy is also a great resource for learning new skills and receiving certifications.

6. Start a New Business or Company Initiative

Your personal goals can double as a company initiative, too. Not only will you benefit from gaining new skills, but your company benefits from your efforts, too. Caroline Forsey, Principal Marketing Manager at HubSpot, made starting a new company-wide initiative one of her professional goals.

Forsey says, “A professional goal I set for myself was to own the first thought leadership program at HubSpot -- I succeeded in doing so by leaning into team and company-wide goals and ensuring my program became indispensable to hitting those goals."

She explains, "So, for instance, I knew our team-wide goals were to grow organic traffic on the SERPs."

Rather than leaning into social or email views for my program, Forsey ensured she kept organic views top-of-mind with each piece of content she created for the program.

"I continued to ask myself: Does this have search intent? Is there MSV? Can I make it more SEO-optimized?" she explains. "It's always tempting to lean into personal interests when creating and working towards a goal, but it’s critical you keep the larger picture top-of-mind if you want it to gain buy-in from stakeholders.”

7. Become a Pro at Time Management

If you’re anything like me, the workday can slip by before you know it. And in times like that, productivity seems to go out the window. Becoming better at time management is an excellent professional goal and a necessary skill for many jobs within any industry.

To improve your time management, you might need to reduce your distractions or use a planner to schedule your workday.

Pro tip: Time blocking is a fantastic way to stay on task. At the start of each day, write down your to-do list and break it into smaller chunks that you can complete in a certain amount of time. Then, commit to completing those tasks during your given timeframe.

8. Increase Your Sales

If you’re in sales, you know how important it is for your company to reach your sales and revenue targets yearly. So, setting “Increase My Sales” as a personal and professional goal is not a bad idea. Take a look at your numbers, then determine where and how you need to improve it.

Pro tip: Check with your managers about their sales enablement program. Sales enablement can help you learn how to manage your sales more effectively.

9. Be a Star Employee

Becoming a star employee is really about advancing your career within your company. Erica Santiago, Marketing Manager at HubSpot, made this one of her professional goals and told me how she did it.

Santiago says, "A professional goal of mine at HubSpot was to really own a lane in terms of content so that I could be a go-to for certain projects and really get my name out in the company."

She says she noticed other writers and contributors seemed to really own a topic, and it helped them stand out.

"I wanted to do the same to set myself up for opportunities," she says. "I achieved this by taking a moment to ask myself what my strengths are, what topics I enjoy, and how these things tie in with HubSpot's greater goals."

Eventually, Santiago realized that the creator economy is a topic that she's really familiar with, thanks to the content creation she does outside of HubSpot.

She then realized there are content creators who could benefit from HubSpot’s marketing products and blog content.

"From there, I took it upon myself to write more content centered on creators and eventually started my series 'The Creative,'" she explains. "It‘s still getting off the ground, but the content that’s come out so far has proven it to be a promising project."

She continues, "Now, I‘m regularly assigned creator economy-based content, and I’ve carved my own niche within the marketing blog.”

10. Become a Mentor

If you feel you have a lot of industry experience and knowledge to share, consider making "Become a Mentor” one of your professional goals. As a mentor, you’ll gain leadership skills, like teaching, while positioning yourself as a leader in your field.

Pro tip: If you want to become a mentor, consider partnering with your manager to design a mentorship program for new employees. If your organization already has a mentorship program, sign up to share your knowledge with others.

11. Create a Work-Life Balance

As someone who works from home, it can be tempting to work 24/7. But one of the biggest reasons I started my own business was to have time for the things I wanted to pursue—like running a half marathon and working on my personal blog.

So, making it a goal to create a better work-life balance was a must! Time to refresh and recharge is critical to decreasing the chance of burnout.

Pro tip: Commit to keeping your work at work. That means getting into the habit of leaving unfinished tasks on your desk for the next day. You can always pick up on your tasks later.

12. Get a Promotion

Many people share the professional goal of working towards a promotion, which often comes with a salary increase.

Martina Bretous, Editor of HubSpot’s Next in AI blog, made getting a promotion her goal. But she didn’t sit idly by and wait for her managers to notice her. Instead, she made a plan and shared it with me.

Bretous says one of her professional goals was to become a blog editor at HubSpot.

"The first thing I did was ask blog editors to shadow them. This was a key part of my learning," she recalls. "I had to understand the day-to-day of the role and ask questions to understand initiatives, goals, and challenges.

She then took any opportunity to fill in when an editor was out of the office. This gave her the hands-on experience she was looking for before she was actually in the role full-time.

"All of this prep work set me up nicely so that when an opportunity presented itself to fill in that role, I was a shoo-in because I knew the property very well," she says. "Other editors could recommend me as someone who understood the blog and confirm that I had hands-on experience."

13. Become a Pro at Technology

Technology is constantly changing, which sometimes means our jobs change with it. If using technology is integral to your job, consider becoming a pro or super user of your tech stack.

This will help keep your skills current and set you up as the office go-to for assisting others in learning, too.

Pro tip: Depending on the tech you use in the office, many organizations offer training courses on how to use their products. Sign up for their email newsletter to stay on top of their training and product releases.

14. Publish Your Research

Publishing your research can set you up for success and position you as an industry expert. Consider writing and publishing your work in industry publications if this is a career goal.

You’ll gain new writing skills and learn how to promote your work to experts in the field.

Pro tip: Research industry publications and their submission guidelines. Each publication may have different submission guidelines, and it’s helpful to know them upfront to save time in the submission process later.

15. Receive an Award

It’s nice to be recognized for your dedication and hard work. Plus, recognition can add to your credibility and credentials as an expert. Receiving acknowledgments and an award takes time, though.

But if this is your professional goal, it’s well worth the effort.

Pro tip: Consider the backgrounds of the award winners within your industry. What did they do to stand out amongst the crowd? Use what you learn from their experiences to map your own path to success.

Be sure to make it your personal roadmap, though, to stand out.

Ready to set your goals in motion? Here are five tips from me and our HubSpot experts for achieving professional goals.

1. Lean Into Your Network

Your network is a gold mine of opportunity. Instead of “gold mine,” rebrand it to “goal mine.”

Milliken offers expert advice on using your network to achieve your professional goals:

“Make the most of your network. The chances are there’s someone you already know who has accomplished the professional goal you want to achieve. In my experience, people have been really generous about sharing their advice. You just need to reach out.”

2. Break Your Goals Down

If you’re not careful, your professional goals can become too big to achieve and manage. Instead, follow Bretous’ advice and break your goals into smaller pieces.

Bretous says, “My advice to anyone with a goal is to break it down into bite-size pieces. Because having a goal can get overwhelming when you see how much you have to accomplish to get there."

She explains, "To avoid that, break it into measurable, smaller goals that you can tackle on a daily or weekly basis. And don’t forget to lean on colleagues and managers for help in achieving this goal.”

3. Find a Mentor

You don’t have to tackle your goals alone. Support, especially from a mentor or manager, is invaluable.

Santiago suggests reaching out to your manager. 

“Share your goals with your manager so they can help steer you in the right direction," she explains. "When I first thought of The Creative, I wasn't sure how to pitch it or what direction to take it in. So, I reached out to my manager, and he helped me fill in the blanks."

4. Be Your Own Advocate

Advocating for yourself is a tough lesson to learn. However, if you want to achieve professional goals, you need to learn to be your own advocate.

Forsey agrees and offers two essential tips for advocating for yourself. Forsey says, “My tip for achieving personal goals is a) ensure your personal goals are aligned with larger business goals, and b) be a major advocate for yourself!"

She explains, "Let people across the company know the impact your goals are having on the company— and, equally importantly, make sure your manager as well as leadership is aware of your personal goals."

Forsey says to continue asking your manager things like, “My personal goal is X. What is your advice on how to get closer to that goal?” or “My personal goal is X. How am I measuring up when it comes to meeting that goal?”

"Having leadership aware of your personal goals helps create personal momentum even on the days that you're feeling less motivated," she says.

5. Seek Feedback

My last tip for achieving professional goals is to seek feedback. In my experience, feedback is an invaluable tool for guiding your personal improvement.

If your manager doesn’t directly offer feedback, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Their insights into your work can help you identify areas for improvement that you might not have been aware of.

Work Toward Your Professional Goals

Professional goals are more than things to check off your to-do list. Instead, they help advance your career and give you a purpose for your hard work.

Don’t let your goals get out of hand, though. Set yourself up for success by using the SMART goals framework and breaking your goals into smaller tasks. With this framework in place, you’ll hit your targets in no time!

Don't forget to share this post!

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A free template to help you create SMART goals for marketing campaign success.

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Tony Robbins: 5 Step Plan To Turn Your Business Idea into Millions

Y ou never know what your business idea could turn until you try it out. Tony Robbins recently had a guest ask about how to turn an idea into millions , and he provided the steps she could take to achieve her goals. 

Explore More: Tony Robbins: 10 Passive Income Ideas To Build Your Fortune

Find Out: 7 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)

We will look at the five-step plan that Tony Robbins shared to turn a business idea into millions of dollars. 

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Step 1: Find The Desire to Serve

Robbins believes that if you have the desire to serve, you’ll be successful in business. When you focus on serving your audience, you’ll help them reach their goals, which will, in turn, allow you to grow your business. 

Robbins wants your disappointment at your current point to motivate you to keep working on your business and push forward by finding as many people as possible to serve. 

Step 2: Start Small

The goal is to start small so that you can serve an audience and work on building your way up. You want to find one client in the first month, then five in the next month, and then keep on going on that path. Every business has to start somewhere, and you want to do your best to get those first few clients so you’re officially on the right path.

Step 3: Let Your “Why” Guide You

You want to have a reason for why you’re running a business, and if you have a deeper purpose, you’ll be able to stay motivated during the challenging period at the beginning. 

Robbins stresses the importance of consistency and continuously showing up for your target market. When you find your reason for doing this, it will be easier to stay determined when you’re first starting out and struggling to get noticed. 

Step 4: Set Realistic Goals

Once you start with a small goal, you want to keep on moving up by setting realistic targets for yourself. Instead of trying to get thousands of clients, focus on getting a few so that you can be in business. You want to grow your business at the right level so you don’t get too far ahead of yourself. You can turn a business idea into millions one day by consistently finding clients and growing your client base. 

Step 5: Choose The Right Niche

You want to find the right audience to serve so that you know which clients you want to seek out. In this person’s case, she already knew the target market she wanted to serve, which was a step in the right direction. Knowing your audience will make it easier to serve them and grow your business idea into millions. 

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Americans adjust retirement goals up 15% but savings drop: survey

Gen zers start building retirement nest eggs earlier.

Gen Z and millennials have bigger retirement goals, according to a recent Northwestern Mutual survey. ( iStock )

The amount Americans believe they will need to retire comfortably has increased faster than inflation, but what they are saving has dropped, a recent survey said. 

U.S. adults believe they will need at least $1.46 million to retire in style, according to a Northwestern Mutual  survey . This figure is up 15% from the $1.27 million Americans said they needed last year. In 2020, survey respondents thought having $951,000 stashed away would provide a good enough cushion.  

At the same time, the average amount Americans have saved for retirement dropped to $88,400 from $89,300 in 2023, and is more than $10,000 off its five-year peak of $98,800 in 2021.

"People's 'magic number' to retire comfortably has exploded to an all-time high, and the gap between their goals and progress has never been wider," says Aditi Javeri Gokhale, chief strategy officer, head of institutional investments and president of retail investments at Northwestern Mutual. "Inflation is expanding our expectations for retirement savings, and putting the pressure on to plan and stay disciplined." 

If you're struggling to save for retirement in the current economy, you could consider paying down high-interest debt with a personal loan at a lower interest rate, which can help you lower your monthly payments. Visit Credible to compare options from multiple lenders at once and choose the one that's the best for you.

GAS, HOUSING AND CAR INSURANCE COSTS SOAR, FUELING INFLATION IN MARCH

Young Americans start saving sooner

Gen Zers have bigger retirement goals and will need $1.6 million to retire comfortably, the survey said. Despite the bigger goal, this generation of U.S. adults plan to retire by age 60 because they started saving for retirement earlier. 

While the average American started saving at age 31, Gen Zers began building their retirement nest at age 22—nearly a decade earlier. By comparison, Baby Boomers started building retirement savings a full 15 years after this age and said they expect to work until the age of 72. Millennials and Gen X'ers, who began their savings at ages 27 and 31, respectively, expect to work until 64 and 67.

"These numbers tell a fascinating story about the profound shift in financial planning that has taken shape in America," Javeri Gokhale said in a  statement . "Young people today recognize the value of retirement planning and building wealth early on in life and are getting a significant head start over their parents and grandparents."

"At the same time, Gen Z is redefining retirement and signaling that they plan to have long and fulfilling post-career lives," Javeri Gokhale continued. "The good news is that they are investing earlier so they can save the money they need to enjoy it."

If high-interest debt is preventing you from saving more for retirement, you could consider paying it off with a personal loan at a lower interest rate. Visit Credible to find your personalized rate in minutes without affecting your credit score.

AMERICANS TAP INTO SAVINGS AS THEY STRUGGLE WITH INFLATION: SURVEY

Only half of Boomers believe they are ready to retire

More than 4 million U.S. adults will turn 65 this year. Still, among the generations closest to retirement, only half of Boomers (49%) and Gen Xers (48%) believe they will be financially prepared to retire comfortably, with many expecting that they will likely outlive their savings.

Even more problematic is that while many older Americans across both generations anticipate a retirement shortfall, more than a third (37% and 38%, respectively) have not addressed it. One way older adults can prepare is by minimizing the taxes they pay on their retirement savings, yet only 37% have a plan in place.

"Putting money into a 401K may not be enough to retire comfortably if the financial plan doesn't address the impact of taxes on retirement income," Javeri Gokhale said. "Most people don't realize that their retirement income may be taxed about 20% or 30% when they withdraw and spend it. When they recognize the impact, it's often too late for them to adjust."  

If you are retired or are preparing to retire, paying down debt with a personal loan can help you reduce your interest rate and your monthly expenses. You can visit Credible to compare multiple personal loan lenders at once and choose the one with the best interest rate for you.

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Have a finance-related question, but don't know who to ask? Email The Credible Money Expert at  [email protected]  and your question might be answered by Credible in our Money Expert column.