Most entrepreneurs have big dreams for their business—which is great! Big dreams mean you have hope for the future. The trouble is, unless you do something about them, your dreams will just stay up in the clouds. You’ve got to be intentional about running your business in the direction you want it to go—not just letting it run you.

In order to reach your dreams, you have to create business goals. Goals force practical steps into your life to bring your dreams down from the clouds and into reality. They are the boots on the ground that will make stuff happen!

Before you dive in, you need a vision for your business. Without a vision, you could end up setting superficial goals that don’t really matter to you or your dreams. So, you need to start there! Then, get your vision down on paper and turn it into a statement that you can return to time and again. If you need help, you can read all about how to write a vision statement here.

Once you have that vision in place, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work!

How to Create Business Goals

1. Identify your priorities.
   Most creative business owners have a million things they want to do. Sometimes you have to forego a little bit of progress in many areas to gain major progress in the areas that matter the most. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is a great way to identify what you need to focus on right now to get closer to your vision. As you look at these things along with the time and resources you have available, you’ll be able to prioritize what you need to focus on first and then tackle those things one or two at a time.
2. Define what you want to accomplish.
   Vague goals are not goals at all—they’re wishes. You need to get specific about what you want to accomplish, or nothing will ever happen. For example, maybe you want to make more money. Well, how much more? How do you want to do that? A more specific goal would be “I want to increase revenue in my business by 10%.” Now that’s something you can work with and break up into smaller goals to work toward.
3. Set clear KPIs for your goal.
   Make your goals for your business measurable by setting some key performance indicators (KPIs)—these are just metrics that you can keep an eye on to give you an idea of your progress. Measurable progress is called traction, which is what you need to see to keep the foot on the gas day-in and day-out. And when you can observe your movement toward your goals, it pumps you up! Track those metrics to see how your strategy is working. If you aren’t hitting the mark for your KPIs, it might mean you need to try a different approach.
4. Have a time limit.
   The next thing you need to do is set a time limit—this is your deadline. Goals with a time limit can be broken down into micro goals to measure your progress. You want to increase revenue by 10%? Great! By when? Once you have that date, you can break that goal all the way down to daily activities. And make sure your time limit is tight enough to make you and your team hustle for that goal every day but not so unrealistic that it’s overwhelming.
5. Put it in writing.
   If you want your goal to feel real, it needs to be in writing, and it needs to be in a place that is visible to you. Don’t just jot it down in a journal, then throw that journal in your file cabinet. Set up a scoreboard, hang a banner, or have something designed for your desk—get your goal on paper, on purpose.
6. Celebrate milestones.
   It’s easy to move along from one project to the next without stopping to look around at what you’ve accomplished. What gets rewarded is what gets repeated! When you celebrate wins, big and small, you send a signal to your brain that says the action or behavior is worth repeating in the future. So, what are you going to do to celebrate the small wins on the way to your big goal?

Do More Of What Matters, And Let Go Of The Rest

Every year, I purchase Powersheets from Cultivate What Matters to help me in creating intentional goals for my business. This powerful goal planner helps you set, plan, and track progress toward the goals that matter most—big or small. It’ll help you to do more of what matters, and let go of the rest. This is sponsored in anyway.. I just love this planner so much!

Remember, goals are not wishes, dreams, or even visions. Goals bring those things down to earth and create actual action steps to make those things come true. What goals do you want to accomplish this year? Tell me below!