Goals

 

Goal Setting For Home Business Owners

by Merilyn Strange

What is a Goal? Before we can write our goals, we need an understanding of what constitutes a goal. Goals define what needs to be accomplished in order for your business to be successful. A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you.

Goal-setting in broad terms is the process of deciding on something you want, planning how to get it, and then working towards the objective. Goal-setting is not wishing or dreaming. It is something you progressively work towards. Goal setting is a process.

Write down your "Smart" Goals To start jot down on paper the goals you want to reach and then make a plan on how you will accomplish it. Look at each goal and evaluate it. Make any changes necessary to ensure it meets the criteria for SMART goals: S – SPECIFIC M – MEASURABLE A – ACHIEVABLE R – REALISTIC T – TIME FRAME

Now let’s take a look at how you can structure your goals. Is your goal specific? Example: I will reach President’s Club level. Vague terms like “some” or “a little bit”, or “more”. Be specific! Keep your goals simple, clear and focused. How will you measure your results? You can’t achieve a quart of happiness. “What gets measured gets done.” However, you CAN achieve a 4 mile jog, get 8 new customers this month or achieve the next sales level. Define your goals in terms of height, weight, dollars, inches, or hours. Then measure your progress until you achieve your desired outcome. Is your goal attainable?

Your goal must be one you really, really want. A goal that is important to you. If it is meaningful, you will develop the attitudes, abilities, skills and financial capacity to reach it. Is your goal realistic? A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished.

In what time frame will you achieve your goal? When your goal has a time frame it creates a sense of urgency. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic. What reward will you give yourself when this goal is achieved? Reward yourself. My favorite reward is a one hour massage at a day spa. That is something I truly enjoy. What would be your reward for attaining your goals?

Share your goals. We are far more likely to stick to our plan and reach our goals if we know our friends and family support us. Achievable goals are CONSISTENT WITH YOUR VALUES. One of the biggest reasons people fail to achieve their goals is that they have conflict between their behavior and their values. However, when your values and your goals are in agreement, there is no stopping you!

Clarify your values first, then set simple, specific, measurable, tangible, written goals that are consistent with those values. You will achieve them every single time! 

To Your Goal Setting Success! Merilyn Strange

Setting Business Goals

Setting sales goals is a smart business practice in any business and especially in a home business. It should be part of your overall plan to reach your earnings, advancement, awards and/or recognition success. A sales goal is exactly that…a goal. It is a logical and workable plan that illustrates what you want to accomplish in sales and how you intend to go about doing it. When you are setting sales goals, make it a point to set your goals at a level that is achievable. Begin with an honest assessment of where you are now in your sales. Your next step is to determine where you want to be in sales.

Your sales goals have to be your own. Frequently, others set sales goals for us and we don’t “own” that goal. If we don’t own it we probably won’t strive to reach it unless there’s a really crisp juicy carrot dangling in front of us!

Goal Planning Session In my Avon business I use a proven technique of first setting earnings goals and then setting sales goals. It’s very simple.

I’ll share with you Barb’s story. Barb’s sales were kind of all over the place. More times than not her sales were next to nothing and a couple of times she sold several hundred dollars. Her sales average was fairly low and she wasn’t too excited with her earnings. We sat down to see what she could do to increase her earnings. The first thing we did was to take a look at her past 90 day sales period and determine her average sales and earnings. Barb had trained in customer selling and product knowledge, however she didn’t have any idea of the direction she was going. Then we determined how much she wanted to earn in the selling period. Barb wanted to earn $340 in the selling period. We know that the average customer sale in her area is approximately $35. We determined if Barb set her sales goal at $850 and she sold to 25 customers she would reach her earnings goal! To make it even easier for her we broke the selling period in half. Barb’s selling period is a 2 week period. Breaking the goal in half made it easier to attain.

She had a plan and was very excited to get started in a new selling period. Most of all, Barb felt she was in control of her own goals, her sales and her earnings. I’ll bet you are wondering if Barb met her sales & earnings goals. She did! Barb had sales of $856 and she met her earnings goal as well. She had 19 customers and average sales of $45 each. Amazing what we can do when we are on a path with a plan! Now she plans and sets her earnings and sales goals every selling period. Setting a home business earnings goal will determine your sales goal. Instead of picking a sales figure out of thin air and trying to hit it,

Barb’s goal was purposeful, planned and helped her to determine her plan of action to reach her goal. I can tell you that Barb has increased her earnings, much to her satisfaction and she continues to set her goals onward and upward. She now feels she owns her goals; she’s in control of her earnings and looks forward to each selling period. Are you happy with your earnings and sales? If not, take action and take control of your business. Go ahead, determine your earnings and set your sales goals! You too can feel in control of your business. Go for it!

To Your Success! Merilyn Strange