Several lifetimes ago, in the corporate setting, I was introduced to goals by several different small businesses I worked for.  In both instances, goals also included a bonus of some sort, and were set at a bar that was meant to be unreachable, mostly because the company wanted you to work hard, but they didn’t want to really give you the rewards.  Unfortunate to say the least, and in both cases, these companies are no longer in business, which speaks volumes to me.

When I started my business in the late 90’s, setting goals was pretty minimal for me – I set a sales goal and allowed myself some sort of reward for meeting or surpassing this goal.  Other than that, I really didn’t do much goal setting, and I don’t see many small businesses nowadays that include them as a part of their business planning.

I think this is a mistake.  Since starting my newest adventure (Virtual Assistance Coaching), I have re-established goal setting as a normal part of all my businesses, in quite a few areas.

Not only do I have goals for sales and income, but for numbers of clients, types of clients, numbers of products available, and more.  I can’t tell you how organized and focused I feel on moving my businesses forward. Who knew?

It’s sort of like putting my To-Do lists on steroids!  I keep my short-term goals (quarterly) on a Post-it taped to the desk cubby on my right, and my yearly goals on a pad with my long-term To-Do lists.  I am pleased to announce that I have already surpassed my quarterly and yearly goals for the first half of the year, and am well on my way to achieving my third quarter goals….woo hoo!

So set some attainable goals for where you’d like to see your business by the end of the year, or even by the end of September.  Just give it a try, stay positive and on track, and share them with someone who can keep you accountable.  I think you’ll be surprised at how beneficial setting these goals can be for you, and your business.

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and VA Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s).  For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?” or a 2-month trial in her group coaching program visit:  http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 9:16 am and is filed under Business Coach, Business Coaching, business growth, Business Start up, Business Tips, Goals, growing a business, Growing your business, Marketing Plans, Marketing Support, Marketing Tips, Marketing Your Business, VA, VA Classes, VA Coach, VA Coaching, VA Training, Virtual Assistance, Virtual Assistant, Virtual Assistant Classes, Virtual Assistant Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.