By Abdulhafeez Yusuf, Guest Contributor

Let’s get to it.

Set SMART goals: SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Setting smart goals for your business helps narrow your focus and gives you a concise picture of what you want to achieve, making it more achievable. Having clear or vague goals might make accomplishing the goals seem impossible. SMART goals can help you in the following ways.

• Specific: When your goals are vague, you find it hard to perform the actions that will draw you close to achieving them. Particular goals like “save up to $10,000 this year” help you set the path to do the things that will draw you closer to reaching your goals.

• Measurable: Setting measurable goals helps you know when you have reached your goal or are close to it. If your plans are immeasurable, you may be unaware when you are close to it, which will likely kill your motivation, such measurable goals like “increase revenue by 10%” helps you track how far you are coming towards achieving it.

• Achievable: Setting unattainable goals is like setting yourself up for failure. Your attainable goals will depend on your business’s current situation, which may differ from your competitors. You have to ask yourself, “do I have the resources to achieve this goal?”, “has it been done successfully before?”. If your answer is yes, then you can set these goals for your business and stand a better chance of achieving them.

• Realistic: Being realistic with your goals is an excellent way to achieve them. To set realistic goals, you must first ask yourself if you have the time and resources to pursue this goal and how quickly you can reach it if you put in enough effort.

• Time-bound goals: A goal should have a start and finish date to create a sense of urgency and increase speed.

• Have milestones: One of the main reasons we do not achieve our long-term goals is that we do not “aim low enough.” Aiming low enough means setting small milestones that are achievable within shorter periods. Each milestone you hit increases your motivation and draws you closer to the next milestone until you can clear it all up.

• Keep track of your spending budget: When setting financial goals, you must know where money is going and what it is being spent on; this can help you effectively manage your resources and draw you closer to your financial goals.

• Be Flexible: As much as you want to stay focused on your goals, do not be too rigid and get caught up in them. Times may change, and you may need to adjust these goals to meet the current trend and remain competitive.

• Create an action plan: After outlining your goals, you need to create a step-by-step guide on how to achieve them; this includes the actions that will successfully lead you to reach your goals.

In conclusion:

Setting financial goals might seem unimportant, but they are indispensable for achieving financial success for yourself and your business. As the possibility of a global recession increases, business owners, big or small, must arm themselves and prepare for the worst, and setting these goals is an excellent way to start.