4-step process to create meaningful goals that will ensure business success - whatever the outcome
Setting goals is one of the most important things you can do for your business. But all too often, people set goals that are unachievable or not meaningful. This can lead to frustration and a feeling of failure (believe me, I’ve been there).
In this post, we will discuss my 4-step process that I use to create my business goals that are meaningful, SMART and will ensure business success whatever the outcome. Goals don’t have to be "success/fail" and I’ll show you why.
Here’s a common goal we see/hear all the time:
“I want to increase my revenue by £x pcm within six months.”
And the problem becomes this:
You’ve either hit it (success) or you haven’t (so-called “failure").
PLUS you can’t even measure the success of the goal until that six months have passed.
Let's find another way to set goals up for success.
1. Understanding the two types of goals
Lead Measurements - These are goals you can directly control to achieve your desired outcome - known as lead measurements because it’s strategic action that leads you towards your goal.
Lag Measurements - These are goals that you can only influence- also known as lag measurements because there’s no way of directly controlling the outcome. You’ll only know if you’ve hit it at the very end - lag as in time lag..
Going back to the revenue goal in the example above, it’s wholly based on other people taking action - ie buying your products/services and you have absolutely zero control over what other people do or don’t do.
So if we think about wanting to generate more revenue within the business, we need to create a combination of the two types of goals to keep motivation high and heighten the chance of success.
2. Create a useful goal
For any goal - reflect on:
What is the goal?
When do I want to reach it by?
Is that realistic based on what else is going on in life?
How will I know when I’ve reached that goal (be specific - numbers are useful here)?
What makes this goal important to me?
How much of the outcome can I control?
How much of the outcome can I influence by taking other action that IS within my control?
What could get in my way?
For example, the goal:
“Generate more revenue in the business 6 months from now” By using these intentional questions we can create a more useful and meaningful goal as follow:
What is the goal? Generate more revenue in the business
When do I want to reach it by? Six months from now
Is that realistic based on what else is going on in life? Yes - if I get specific with the figure - I don’t think I can create a seven-figure business in that time!
How will I know when I’ve reached that goal (be specific - numbers are useful here)? When my monthly revenue is averaging £2500 more than it is right now
What makes this goal important to me? I’d like more stability in my business and cashflow helps with that
How much of the outcome can I control? Very little - it literally all relies on other people taking action and booking in with me. :(
How much of the outcome can I influence by other action that IS within my control? Ooh, there are lots of ways I can influence the end result here:
How often I post on social media
How many calls to action for discovery calls I put on my posts
How often I go to networking to meet new people and build relationships
How many times I share testimonials as social proof
What could get in my way? Over the next six months - the school holidays when I can’t dedicate as much time to working on the business. Myself - my confidence to take action
3. Create Good / Better / Best Goals (goal levels)
If we think that the problem with having just one fixed and measurable goal is that you’ve either achieved it or you haven’t. You’ve succeeded or you’ve failed. There’s no in-between.
With good / better / best goals, you create three levels of goal and success for both what you can control and what you can influence:
Best: this is the one your mind immediately goes to when you think of success.
Better: a level down from Best - something that’s not as good as you’d hoped, but is still a step in the right direction.
Good: a lower level that you’d be okay with if you achieved it. I mean, it’s not BRILLIANT but it’s not awful either. And, again, it’s likely to be a step further forward than where you are right now.
Let’s take the time I ran the London Marathon in 2011. My goal for the day (my ‘best goal) was to finish within a set time. When I didn’t achieve that, I felt like a failure. The disappointment hit me so badly that I slipped into a depression.
If I had known about good / better / best goals then, I would have handled the whole lead-up to race day and the day itself completely differently. I’m not saying I could have avoided the depression because the marathon was the straw that broke the camel's back, BUT I could have protected my mental health in a slightly better way by setting myself up for success regardless of that finish time.
Let’s explore what goals look like when purely focussing on lag measurements (a goal you can only hit at a specific point in time):
For “generate more revenue in the business after six months” goals might look like:
Best: £2.5k
Better: £1.5k
Good: £500 << anything is better, right?
For a “live launch” it might look like this:
Best: 20 sign ups
Better: 10 sign ups
Good: 1 << do you know what, I’ll actually be happy if just one person buys it!
For the marathon, that could have looked something like this:
Best: finish the marathon within five hours
Better: finish the marathon using a run/walk strategy to simply get round injury-free
Good: finish the marathon the same day that it started, whether I run, walk or crawl
Is it lowering your standards and expectations? NO! It’s adjusting high expectations and breaking them down even further so there isn’t a success/fail element to them.
4. Incorporate Lead Measurements
Now let’s explore what goals look like when purely focussing on lead measurements (action that’s within your direct control to influence and heighten the chances of hitting your lag goal):
For “generate more revenue in the business after six months”, the thought process for lead measurement goals might look like:
Okay - so I can’t force clients/customers to buy my stuff, but what I can do is heighten the chances of them being interesting in buying from me by taking action such as:
Creating a marketing plan so that people get to know/like/trust me by:
Posting on social media each week
Attending networking events to meet more people
Sharing testimonials and client feedback as social proof
Reconnecting with past clients/customers to see if they need my services again
Doing all of the above can’t control whether or not you hit the revenue goal, but it will heighten your chances. And if you wanted to, you can also use good/better/best goals as part of your lead measurements. It’s totally optional - but if posting on social media is very much out of your comfort zone, it might be unrealistic to say you’ll post five times a week (best).
Wouldn’t it feel nicer and kinder to yourself if your goal was to post just once per week (good), and then anything more than that was a bonus?
Summary
Once you start to tweak your mindset and process around creating goals you’ll start to notice more wins and achieve more within your business. However, looking at your goals in terms of ‘success or failure’ leads to frustration and will have a knock-on effect on your motivation levels leading to a drop in success.
If you want to experience more fulfilment in your business and to dig deeper into what success looks like for you, then sign up for my free masterclass - you might even be more successful than you give yourself credit for!
Ready to explore coaching?
If you’re curious about what coaching could help you achieve, why not book a discovery chat with me to see if it’s right for you? No pressure, commitment or obligation. Just a conversation about where you are versus where you want to be and how we can bridge that gap.