If you have goals like “Increase profits” or “Make Money” or even “Be Profitable”, you may have a hard time achieving those goals.  Why?  Because they are not clearly defined nor do they have a set time limit.  When setting goals, it’s important that they are short, to the point, and reachable within a certain time.

Setting goals which are actually attainable will make it easier to figure out the tactics you need to implement to reach the goal.  Most of all, these goals are actually useable for management and business purposes and will help align your company to work towards a single endpoint.  Reaching a goal is great for morale, which is important if you want to be able to focus on new goals in the future.

Sometimes businesses get caught up in setting goals which are a bit outside of their reach.  Sometimes “stretch goals”, these goals are sometimes attainable by putting in an amazing amount of effort and having a lot of luck.  Some people think that having goals that are not easily attainable makes people work harder, but usually there is little reward for working so hard and it is not sustainable without burnout – which eventually leads to less productivity.

So intead of setting big lofty goals that no one really understands how to reach, try for smaller, concise goals which have a specific timeline.  For example, “Increase profits by 5% by the end of the first quarter, 2009″.  You’ll set up both yourself and your business for success.

(photo by coxy @ Flickr CC)

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