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Writing SMART 2013 Business Goalsmaryhabres

Susan gazed at her watch. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t realize it was that late.Time to stop my holiday shopping and scoot over to Cof f ee Craf ters tomeet Nancy f or cof f ee,” she said to herself . As usual, Nancy had alreadypurchased her cof f ee and was patiently waiting f or Susan at a booth intheir f avorite local cof f ee shop. The two had agreed to meet to discusstheir 2013 business goals.

“Sorry I’m late!” exclaimed Susan to Nancy. “That’s ok. I haven’t beenwaiting long,” replied Nancy warmly. “How’s your shopping going?” askedSusan. “I’m almost done. Need two more presents and I can relax,” repliedNancy. “Me ,too.” said Susan. “As a matter of f act, I’m almost f inished withmy 2013 business goals. I brought them to show you.”

“Let’s hear them,” replied Nancy. “Ok. The f irst 2013 business goal is toget more clients than I had this year. The second one is to blog more in2013. The third one is to attend more networking events and the f ourth 2013 business goal is to do morepresentations,” answered Susan. “Susan those are great aspirations to have f or next year, but you need todef ine your 2013 business goals better. You need to write business goals f or 2013 that are SMART!”exclaimed Nancy. “ Your goals should be SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, and TIMELY.”

“That sounds too complicated f or me,” responded Susan. “It ’s not that hard, Susan. For example, instead of‘getting more clients’, your f irst 2013 business goal should be ‘get 3 new clients per month by attending onenetworking event a week and obtaining one speaking presentation a month‘,” explained Nancy. “This goal isspecif ic – it lists how many clients you need to get a month;how many networking events you will attend tomeet your goal;and, how many presentations you will give per month. You can measure if you are meetingyour goals because you’ve included quotas. Each goal should be something that is realistic and somethingyou can attain. The time element is also important in making you f ocus on achieving your goals,” addedNancy.

“I guess you have a point. I can see myself working much harder to reach my goals with all of those detailsincluded,” replied Susan. “Susan, in order to f igure out what strategies are going to help you reach yourgoals , you need to look at which ones made you money in 2012. Include the marketing tactics that provedsuccessf ul in increasing your client base as ways to achieve your 2013 business goals,” said Nancy. “Makessense,” responded Susan. “ Now let’s see. My shopping goal f or 2013 will be ‘purchase one outf it f or everyclient I get ‘, ” joked Susan. “ Whatever f loats your boat,” quipped Nancy. “Just make sure that achievingthose 2013 business goals makes you some money to cover your bills!”

Business goals are part of your business/marketing plan. If you need help writing them, I’d love tohelp. Contact me today. Don’t waste another day. Be ready for business in 2013 with SMART 2013business goals.

Mary

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About maryhabres

Mary Habres is a small business marketing consultant located in Jacksonville, Florida.She creates ef f ective individualized marketing, branding, and communications strategies to increasecustomer growth f or companies across the U.S. Her specialty is providing marketing assistance to real-estate and interior design-related small businesses. She is dedicated to “Making Your Business the Star” !Connect with her on Google+

About the author

maryhabres

Mary Habres is a small business marketing consultant located in Jacksonville, Florida. Shecreates ef f ective individualized marketing, branding, and communications strategies to increasecustomer growth f or companies across the U.S. Her specialty is providing marketing assistanceto real-estate and interior design-related small businesses. She is dedicated to "Making Your Business theStar" ! Connect with her on Google+