5 Small Business Goals to Set for this Quarter

The last quarter might have ended poorly for your business, but the good news about failures or losses is that they give you the lessons needed to help you prepare for the next quarter. Consider the next quarter as another chance to deeply reflect on your business goals or set new goals. 

Setting goals is a crucial part of running a business. Goals provide the direction and motivation needed to help you – the business owner – focus your attention on achieving your desired results, and they set the stage for success. Your business goals are goals that you expect to accomplish over a set period through your efforts and actions. They are what define the purpose of your business.

For this quarter, here are 5 goals you can set for your business:

• Improving customer service: Customer service is key to business growth, and the better your customer service, the more likely your customers will stay with you and even recommend your products/service to others. Your business has a duty to provide its customers a positive service interaction. Build rapport with your customers this quarter and pay close attention to their feedback. 

• Lower business expenses: Your business should have a reliable cash flow and be able to generate revenue. Cutting down on your expenses is one way to increase your cash flow and profit margin. It will also save you more money. We are in an uncertain economy, and every penny or kobo counts. Now is the time to start making smarter choices when it concerns your business funds and budgets. Carefully look at your business practices and see what you need to cut down ( business travels, supply expenses, electricity, equipment, production costs, etc. ), and what new things you could try (free online tools, online marketing, remote work for employees, etc.)

• Increasing performance: Things would get better in your business if you can increase its efficiency. Promoting a culture of open communication between you and your employees, having consistent meetings, automating as many tasks as possible using task management software, monitoring activities and results, and single-tasking instead of multi-tasking will increase the performance of your business this quarter.

• Improve marketing activities: Every day as the world evolves so does marketing changes with new tactics. Monitor and review your marketing activities to see whether they are in tune with your strategy and are achieving your desired outcome. If you plan to run some campaigns or ads on your social media platforms or website this quarter, make use of some free online analytic tools to determine their effectiveness. Also, take a look at your competitors and find out what they are doing to attract and keep their customers. 

• Employee retention: This quarter, work on these employee retention strategies: effective communication, clear directions and expectations, a healthy work environment, transparency, employee appreciation and recognition, check-ins on employees’ progress, and most importantly keep them motivated by providing incentives and benefits.

Remember to use the SMART goals methodology when setting your goals. SMART stands for:

• S = Specific: Set goals that are specific. For example: instead of saying “I want more customers,” you might say, “I’m going to attract 5 new customers within this next quarter.”
• M = Measurable: This helps to clarify and quantify your goals so you measure them.
• A = Achievable: The purpose of this is to check if your goals are practical and within reach.
• R = Relevance: This addresses the relevance of the goal. Do your goals address the challenges you faced in the last quarter? Will they improve your business this quarter?
• T = Timely: Setting a timeframe for your goals will tell you how much time you need to achieve your goals and will keep you focused. 

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Featured image: istockphoto