What is the best way to define a company objective?
How often should objectives be created?
What’s the difference between an objective and a goal?
At the beginning of the year, many business owners experience a new fiscal year starting. A fresh start requires a new plan of attack based upon the historical data from the previous fiscal year. As you are in the midst of compiling tax information for your accountant, take a moment to pause, analyze and forecast a new vision for 2023.
Objectives, goals, strategies and measurements are all critical to a business.
Let’s first define each of them.
OBJECTIVES:
Defining an overarching breakthrough vision. It is clear, succinct, and linked to the company mission. In the midst of volatility in the marketplace a well written
objective will become a company’s northstar. Limit to 3-5 annual objectives.
STRATEGIES:
The choices and actions you plan to make to achieve the defined objective. Where do you plan to focus your resources (time, money, people, etc.)? A well written strategy for each objective will clarify where to deploy a company’s limited resources.
GOALS:
Stepping stones to achieving the higher level objective. They should be
S.M.A.R.T. That means specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound and aligned with an objective. Goals should not be generic (ex: grow sales in 1st quarter).
MEASURES:
Numerical benchmarks to track progress. KPIs (key performance indicators) are used as checkpoints to determine if strategies are performing. As a business owner, determine the K.P.I’s that are needed for your business.
As an example an insurance agent will track policy retention, renewals and/or dollar amount of premiums. A hair stylist will track the number of bookings and/or products sold. K.P.I. 's will vary by industry.
Measures are the mile markers that let business owners know they are on track to achieve their outlined objectives.
Which one are you struggling to create for your business?
Are you finding it hard to elevate from the day to day operations?
Do you create time weekly for "big" thinking?
What plan have you mapped out for 2023?
As an owner starts creating the objectives for 2023 solicit feedback from leaders within your organization. If you are a solopreneur, book a session with
DPI or utilize SBA resources (SCORE, Women Business Centers, Small Business Development Centers, etc.) to gain an expert opinion.
The first step of building any strategic plan is reflecting on past performance. Gain clarity on where you've been in the past year. Utilize metrics and historical information to understand patterns within your business model. Reflect on customer reviews to see the consistency in their responses.
Employee feedback surveys are also effective in understanding gaps in skills for a team. All of this type of information becomes a springboard to the next chapter in the company’s history.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER EXAMPLE:
Let's imagine we own a pet grooming company called Malik Groomers. The owner has been in business for three years. There are multiple types of clients.
The company vision is to be the local pet grooming, boarding, nutrition, and pet well-being establishment where customers always want to return and bring their pets.
However, they noticed during a S.W.O.T. (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis that the majority of their customers are over 40 years old. Local demographics show that most new pet owners are between the ages of 18-25 years of age. At the start of the year, Malik Groomers decided to make a change to capture the younger segment.
Defined Objective:
Grow the number of customers in the 18-25 age group
Strategy:
Identify the key needs and pains of the puppy pet segment in the geographical area.
Analyze what options 18-25 year old pet owners are using. Identify keywords that have a high search volume on social media.
Create a content library to be used in social media and have dedicated keywords to optimize for
Goal:
Create 12 online & store grooming classes (3 per quarter) by the end of 2023 so that young customers learn about Malik’s Groomers puppy pet grooming and nutrition services.
Measurements:
Analyze monthly keyword search volume, track ad budget spent, review video views/view time, organic search volume, sales conversions
This example showcases one objective for this pet grooming business. Every strategy, goal and measurement mapped back to the mission and vision of the company.
If you need assistance, please schedule a complimentary discovery call with
DPI. It takes time to develop a strategic plan but it is worth it.
Happy New Year!