The first step in shaping or growing your business is to decide what you want to achieve. Goals you set should be designed to move your business forward. If you don’t have a destination in mind, how will you know if you’re headed in the right direction? The easiest goals to set are those that are layered—long-term, mid-term, and short-term. You need to be able to translate your long-term goals into actions you should be taking right now. So, if you want to increase annual sales by 10 percent, how many new orders a day is that?
Most small businesses have multiple goals. However, it’s counterproductive to focus on more than two or three at a time and you should make sure these are complimentary, not conflicting.
Long-term goals
Long-term goals are usually strategic and expressed at the “results” level—what you want to have happen. For example, let’s say your long-term goal is to be known as an expert in your industry within five years. A complimentary goal might be to have also written a book, since authors tend to be regarded as experts. In contrast, a conflicting goal might be to develop a new product within that same time frame. While the inventor of a new product might also be regarded as an expert, the time and effort spent on creating a new product might keep you from being able to write the book, and if your new product doesn’t catch on it won’t position you as much of an expert.
Mid-term goals
Mid-term goals are more tactical in nature. What do you need to have accomplished by a year from now to be on track to hitting your long-term goals? In our example, if you want to be seen as an expert, your mid-term goals could include being the chair of an important committee in your professional association within two years. You might aim to be a speaker at four industry conferences within three years. You could plan to submit your book manuscript for publication within four years.
Short-term goals
With short-term goals, you’re deciding what actions you will take within the near future (this month or this quarter) to ensure you’ll achieve your mid-term goals. Now, it’s clear to see you need to join that professional association right now and find out which are the most prestigious committees. You might join Toastmasters within the next three months to sharpen your speaking skills. And you should start gathering material for your book by interviewing one expert per month to learn what industry trends your potential readers will be most interested in five years from now.
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