A little birdy told me, it’s a new year and a new beginning. For me and my business, January is a time for reflecting on 2017 and setting goals for 2018. I don’t believe in new years resolutions but I do believe in setting goals. I can tell you, there was a lot of things I wanted to achieve in 2017 but looking back, the things I set firm goals for, I either achieved or got really close. The things I didn’t set goals for, well let's just say they are now goals for 2018.
One of the many important lessons I learnt last year was that setting goals is good but what’s even better is saying them out aloud. In a way, it makes them real.
Talk to your team about them, to your business associates, to those people in your business circle and even to your friends and family.
Last year I set a lofty goal for sign ups to our birthday reminder service. At first it was just my goal and I did ok. A friend of mine put me on the spot one day and asked me what my goals where for my business. At first I didn’t know what to say, it seemed too personal but then I figured, what have I got to lose. So I told her the goal I had set and how far I had to go. She in turn, shared her goal for her business. Instead of feeling exposed I felt a little lighter. It wasn’t just me going for the goal it was the two of us. My friend, Von, and I caught up for lunch every month and we checked in with our progress. And month after month, I would get excited about updating her on my achievements. It also pushed me to do more.
Now let me tell you, I did not reach my goal. But I was far from disappointed.
I don’t see what is missing. What I see is all the people that we have helped over the last year and a half.
Firstly, I only missed the mark by 4 and secondly, I know that the end result would not have been so good without Von’s help. She kept me accountable and provided much needed support. When I look at my current list of businesses who have signed up, I don’t see what is missing. What I see is all the people that we have helped over the last year and a half.
Setting my goals for 2018 I plan to share them in the hope that it will help me achieve them.
My goals for 2018 so far look a little like this:
- Grow our birthday cake reminder service. I want to double our list by June 2018.
- Relaunch our branded cupcakes. In 2017 we put our branded cupcakes on the back burner to focus on another project (blog post to come). 2018 is all about our cupcakes.
- Get my head around Facebook and Instagram advertising. I dabbled in some advertising last year but now it is time to get serious and spend some time learning the ropes.
- Go full steam ahead with our emailing campaign (more on this in another blog post). This also involves a new CRM which complements this goal (so excited about this one).
- Blog, blog, blog
- Put some serious time into my procedures and manual so it will be less pressure as we grow. This is one of the items I did not set a goal for in 2017 and therefore not much has been done.
- My own kitchen space (this one is in the dream phase at the moment lol)
Are your goals SMART?
I hope that this time next year I will be able to say that all these were achieved and then some. The next step for me is to track these goals, make sure they are SMART goals and get started. I did a little research and I found this list of apps on Entrepreneur.com to help with setting goals. I am giving LIfetick a go and see if it can help me achieve my goals this year.
What are your goals for 2018?
Here are a few blog posts that might help with setting goals for your business:
What are your goals for 2018?