We know it’s important to set goals for our small business. We really intend to do it, we know that achieving goals is like grabbing onto that next boulder and pushing yourself up to the top, one boulder at a time. The ideas of goals float around in our heads but the day to day, swallows us whole and goal setting is pushed forward to another time. It’s not a skill most of us have mastered. But it should be. Working out our goals and achieving them should be in our skill set if we want to run our businesses consciously.
Skills become skills by practicing. One of the ways to practice this skill is to start with setting your personal goals. Working out your personal goals first will help you in doing that work for your business later. And if you want to run a business that aligns with your personal views and ideas, it’s a great place to start because some of the goals might be similar or even the same.
In the Building Better Businesses Circle (BBBC) we learn to run businesses that are connected to our values. This is the first step to achieving our mission. Setting goals is another big part of succeeding in our missions. Once you’ve got a good idea about what your values are and how they align with your business values, (I’ve written about this HERE) it’s easier to work on your goals.
First you have to have a good idea of what goals actually are before you can define them. Ryder Carrol, the inventor of Bullet Journalling wrote an excellent article on what goals are. He’s talking about the difference between resolutions, intentions, plans and goals.
In short: A goal is a definition of an outcome.
I have achieved -a particular target- with these criteria …
Example: I have collected enough recipes to make a week menu of balanced meals that I can cook within 30 minutes and that my whole family loves.
Target: make a week menu / Criteria: healthy, balanced, all family members must love, quick to make (30 mins)
The proces of defining goals can be done in detail by going trough the steps of different models that have been developed over the years. Once you’ve defined your goals then the most important work is to regularly go back to them and review them. If you have to, revise them and go through the process again. It’s a flywheel and a practice.
START: ask yourself; what do you WANT or NEED to achieve?
THEN: define your goals
REVISE: Think about what needs to change and what should stay the same.
BACK TO START.
So for now you can write down what you want or need in your personal life, align those wants and needs with your values and underline the ones that can transfer into your business. In the timeframe that you set schedule two moments where you look at those goals and review them. If you haven’t achieved them. Why not, what needs to change? And repeat…
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☞ In the Building Better Businesses Circle Program (the BBBC) I mentor small creative business owners and guide them to a more organized, structured and focussed way to grow their business. My specialties include connection, branding, marketing, communication, goal setting and building community. With gentle, guiding influence, a sense of humor and a burning passion to stop the fast fashion industry I’ve started to invest my skills and energy to help small, independent businesses in the craft and textile industry to build a strong and holistic base that aligns with their personal life, building a business that is fun and easy to run so the conscious consumer can continue to choose better products and materials.
As a trained artist, marketer and business owner I have experienced first hand that passionate artists and artisans don’t often start with a business, sales or marketing education. I am here to bridge that gap and show you that these are not dirty words and that it can actually be fun and easy to level up and grow your business.
The BBBC offers a curriculum that is made to help busy business owners succeed. It consists of 4 modules with written and audio chapters, video’s and a workbook with exercises that -when completed- will be your future toolkit and roadmap. Weekly online meetups and accountability groups will motivate you to actually do the work. These meetings offer the most value of the program, connection and the power of community in a group of people that will become your board of trustees, your mastermind. The value of this program expands well into the future.
SIGN UP for the next cohort here!