If you’ve ever set out to create an effective goal that you can actually achieve, you’ve probably come across the concept of a SMART goal.
A SMART goal is a goal that follows the SMART acronym: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. While this is a great place to start, your financial goal-setting plan shouldn’t end here.
The SMART acronym works for anyone and everyone’s goal but you aren’t just anyone and everyone! You need to take it one step further and create a goal more personalized to you and your business.
Specifically, you want to start any goal you make with your overall vision. What do you envision for your business in the coming year? Do you see a growth in customers? Do you imagine becoming more efficient? Do you see a growth in staff, allowing you to take more time off? Hone in on what you’re aiming for and then fit it into the acronym.
Let’s say you want to grow your staff. Here’s how you might make that into a SMART goal:
S – What positions will you be hiring for?
M – By how many people do you want to grow?
A – How will you go about the hiring process?
R – How will hiring more people help you get closer to your vision for your business?
T – How long will you give yourself to hire a certain number of people?
Now personalize it with your numbers! How much will it cost to put out a hiring bulletin? Where will you post? How many interviews will you conduct and how much time will that take you?
The hiring process itself, as well as training your new hires and keeping them productive and satisfied, will both cost you and bring in more money. You will need to calculate both the expenses and the possible income so that your financial goal is ultimately realistic.
My overall message is this: your financial goals need to start first with a non-financial goal. That way it is based on a larger intention and anchored in factual numbers. When you create a SMARTer goal like this, you’re much more likely to actually achieve it!