Goal-Setting for Entrepreneurs – Purpose and Benefits
Goal-setting is a process for personal planning. It could be regarded as a tool for narrowing your focus and segmenting your business so that you can evaluate where you need to give more attention for maximum results.
Goal-setting provides you with long-term vision, while providing you with short-term motivation.
Benefits of Goal-Setting for Entrepreneurs
- Setting goals allows you to determine what you want to achieve in your business:
-Â Do you want to have a hobby that provides a small extra income?
-Â Do you want to have a serious business that generates a healthy cash flow?
– What are your short-term and long-term visions for your business?
-  Knowing what you want to achieve allows you to decide where to focus your attention and become specific. In any business there are broad areas you can cover, and many huge corporations do this successfully. As an entrepreneur, however, you may find that when your focus becomes more narrow, and you target a specific audience, your business may expand dramatically.
- Setting goals help you to improve your self-confidence because you're no longer floundering; you know exactly where you're going and how to get there.
- Achieving small, short-term goals allow you to enjoy the satisfaction of accomplishment and strengthens your resolve to achieve greater goals in your business.
What are your thoughts on the above? What has been your personal experience?Â
In my next post, we'll consider how we can set goals effectively. Until then…please feel free to leave your comments. We learn from each other.
Thank Yvonne for sharing the benefits of goal setting. If you don’t have a plan you can’t create your goals, and if you don’t have goals you could derail your plans for success. Staying focused is so important. This is a great check list to refer back to often.
1Yvonne, with my crazy life and lifestyle, ANYTHING that can be divided up into smaller and more manageable pieces is a godsend — and that includes goals.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a big advocate of short term goal-setting. There’s nothing wrong with knowing what your long term goals are, but if you just focus on those, you may never get to where you want to go as an entrepreneur.
I’ve started this year off with bigger goals than last year. But, trust me, I’ll still be taking (intentional) baby steps to reach my destination! Because as soon as I start biting off more than I can realistically chew … I’m toast!
2There’s no way to be really successful without know where you want to go. That would be the long term goal. I look at mine all the time (and there are several!). The short terms are my favorites because I can click them off rather quickly and know that I’m getting closer to the big goal. It’s a great sense of achievement along the way. Great post!
3Great post, Yvonne.
4The best way to achieve a goal is to break into at least three tasks with definite time requirements. If you can’t determine three tasks, it’s not really a goal, but part of another one. Think where you really want to go.
If you find the goal needs six or more tasks- break it into two goals, because there are too many items needed to achieve this- and breaking it into definable items that can be completed helps you reach the ultimate goal- achieve your vision.
I totally agree that it is important set goals. My problem is that the my short term goals don’t have a quick turn around, so I become impatient thinking that I may never reach the long term goal. Perhaps I need to break the short term goals into smaller steps? Thanks for this post.
5“If you don’t have goals you could derail your plans for success.” Well said, Lynn and the picture comes to mind immediately of a train that has to run on tracks in order to reach its destination, otherwise there will be a derailment. That’s exactly what will happen to our plans if we don’t have goals. Thank you for leaving your comment.
6Melanie, I know you are a super-hard worker and everyone of us has to work within our own circumstances, so I applaud you that even though you have huge goals, you set ‘baby steps’ to reach them. This way you avoid frustration with yourself and what you have to do for the present. I understand only too well as I find that I almost feel resentful at times when I have to work away from home when I’d much rather be working on and in my business. Then I have to do a reality check 🙂
7That sense of achievement really is like a booster, isn’t it, Martha? Without achieving short-term goals that we can check off it would seem like an uphill battle. Thank you 🙂
8Roy, you made a profound point by noting that if the goal needs six or more tasks, it’s better to break it into two goals. Martha noted that she likes short term goals because she can check them off and get a feeling of achievement and I share her sentiment as well. However, what you said about having too many tasks attached to one goal is important because although the tasks are being accomplished, if there are too many it seems as if the goal is taking way too long to be reached and it can have the reverse effect. Thank you.
9Hi Sweepy Jean, it’s easy to become impatient with ourselves and what we want to achieve. I think you identified what you may need to do, that is break the short-term goals into smaller steps. Remember also that your goals have to be realistic (which will be discussed in an upcoming post), but must also make you stretch. So if you’re expecting too much too soon, it can lead to frustration. All the commentors shared some really valuable points, which I hope can help you in some way. Thanks for keeping it real and sharing how you truly feel 🙂
10