‘Tis the season for making New Year’s Resolutions. Typically, resolutions focus on our personal goals such as losing
weight, spending more time with family or breaking a bad habit, but setting New Year’s Resolutions for your
business is also an important step toward success. Is there a project or initiative that has been on your mind but
you have not found the time to do it? Is there a process or procedure you would like to manage better? Do you
want to try new technology or equipment? Make this the year you get around to those projects by setting SMART
goals.
The reason people fail to reach their resolutions, whether business or personal, is because they fail to create
measureable, relevant and targeted goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and TimeBound. Taking the time to frame your resolution into a SMART format will considerably increase your chances of success. So how do you create SMART goals?
Start with your resolution; for example “I want to promote my leagues more.” Here is how to turn this into a
SMART goal:
1. Make it Specific. Define the who, what and where of the goal. “I will work with location owners to
promote under-performing leagues in Hamilton County.”
2. Make it Measureable. Define how you will know you have met this goal. “I will work with location owners
to implement 3 new promotional tactics to promote under-performing leagues in Hamilton County.”
3. Make sure the goal is Attainable. Don’t decide to implement 10 promotional tactics if you know you will
not have the time, but do stretch yourself to make the goal worthwhile.
4. Think about why this goal is Relevant to you. Add a sentence about why you care about meeting this goal.
Make sure your staff gets on board as well.
The new SMART goal is: “I will work with location owners to implement 3 new promotional tactics by June 30,
2012 to promote under-performing leagues in Hamilton County. Meeting this goal will increase league participation, resulting in more revenue.”
The final step to success is to make this goal part of your everyday life. Put the goal at the top of your staff meeting
agenda or hang it proudly in the office. Take time every week to assess what you have done to accomplish this goal
and define what there is left to do. Soon enough you will be celebrating your success!