How Setting Small Goals Leads To
Big Business For Your Home Office

Contributed by Jennifer Goldman

When it comes to running a home business, there are plenty of distracting temptations that can tear your focus away from the task at hand. That’s why it’s so important to set clear goals.

Setting a goal for your home business involves more than just identifying what you hope to gain; it means creating realistic aims regarding what and how much work you hope to accomplish in the process of achieving the desired outcome.

Here are some tips for setting achievable goals for your home business:

Set short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. In other words, your goals should be attached to a timeline, according to their priority and the logical relationship between them. Setting a timeline for your goals, as well as identifying the actions you’ll need to take in order to achieve them, is what turns a dream or desire, into a feasible goal. By setting short-term and medium-term goals you will be lining up the steps necessary to achieving your larger long-term goals. Making your goals time-sensitive will motivate you to pursue them actively on an ongoing basis. Likewise, the gratification of achieving smaller goals will fuel your motivation to continue on the path towards accomplishing larger ones. Short-term goals can have a deadline of three months; medium-term goals must be completed in half a year, and long-term goals should be achieved within a year’s time. Give yourself credit for accomplishing small goals. After all, they add up over time and can ultimately result in significant change and improvement, such as increased profits or the exponential growth of your business.

The steps you identify as necessary to reaching your goals should only include actions and circumstances for which you can hold yourself accountable. A goal simply isn’t yours if its success is largely contingent upon circumstances beyond your control. Uncontrollable situations may leave you feeling frustrated and helpless when things don’t go your way and you are powerless to change them. You are much better off concentrating your energy on the countless things you can do to grow your business.

Record your goals then create daily and monthly lists of actions you can take towards achieving your goal. Save a specified amount of time each day to devote entirely to those tasks assigned to that particular date. Set an alarm for when the time begins and one for when it ends. Hang a “do not disturb” sign outside your office so your family knows not to disturb you unless it’s an emergency. Reward yourself by crossing off each task as you complete it; it will give you a sense of accomplishment, and something to look forward to. If you are unable to complete all tasks assigned to a given day, transfer those tasks to the following day. Your inability to meet all tasks during the allotted daily period may indicate that you need to dedicate more time to your goals. You’ll need to reorganize your priorities and see whether you can save or eliminate time spent on less important matters.

Make sure each of your goals specifically states what you hope to accomplish, what action you will take to get there, and by what date you will have completed all necessary steps towards your goal. Should you find it difficult to meet your deadlines in spite of your dedicated efforts, you may want to consider establishing a more realistic timeline. In the case of operating a home business, your goal may be a monetary amount, i.e., the revenue you hope to achieve for the week, month, and year.

When you declare your goals, use positive wording that focuses on what you will do for the sake of improvement. Goals should not be self-deprecating or expressed in terms of what you shouldn’t do, such as previous mistakes that you now aim to sidestep. Instead, they should be action-oriented and promise a reward.

Don’t forget to be realistic. Setting outlandish goals is self-defeating. You’ll be setting yourself up for failure. If your goals are realistic, you’ll achieve them quite frequently and therefore feel encouraged.

But don’t set your goals too low. Sure, that would make them a cinch to pull off, but what good would that do? You’ll never make any real progress that way. Don’t forget, you’re your own boss. That’s a way better incentive to work hard than some employer’s profit sharing program. No one will directly benefit more from your diligence than you. Besides, challenging goals will inspire you to push yourself, and you may just be astonished to learn just what you’re capable of getting done!

About the Author:
Jennifer Goldman is a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader living in Denver, Colorado.

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