Business Plan Purpose
Setting Goals and Objectives for the Entrepreneur
Written by Kathryn Lang for Gaebler Ventures
Goals and objectives create direction for the entrepreneur. Setting sound goals and objectives starts with an understanding of what they are and how they work.
Driving the direction of your entrepreneurial endeavor starts with defining the goals and objectives that will steer the journey.
Understanding what goals and objectives are is the first step. With this knowledge in hand, you will have the tools you need to begin the process.
Goals
Goals for the entrepreneur are some of the steps that are gleaned from the broad and rather abstract ideas that formulate the vision and mission statements created in the business plan. The route to success as an entrepreneur begins with set purposes that will be obtained over a period of time. Most goals are laid out in five, ten or twenty year segments.
Setting Goals for the Entrepreneur
Where do you want to go as an entrepreneur? The mission and vision statements you created in your business plan will help you determine the direction that your business will move.
What outcomes do you want to achieve through your entrepreneurial actions? Reaching a particular level in the industry or earning special rewards are achievement goals that will help guide decisions for your business.
Are there specific actions that can be implemented to obtain the goal that you desire? Ideas are great, but action is the key to success. You must be able to reach the goal that you set.
A solid goal plan will include five to ten goals that you want for your entrepreneur business. Make the list and then use the next process for objectives to hone those goals.
Objectives
Objectives give the momentum for reaching a goal. Each objective should be measuarable and established over a limited (and short) amount of time. Objectives need to also be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timed.
Is the objective that you are setting specific to your entrepreneurial business? Each action you take towards a goal should be focused on the mission and vision of your business.
Can you measure the success of your objective? There needs to be a way to gauge the progress you are making towards each objective.
Will the objective be acheiveable? You should use the objectives to push your actions but the objectives need to be founded in reality.
Is the objective relevant to the mission and vision of the business plan and the subsequent goals that you have set? The actions you take must be focused around the plans that you have made to give you the most forward progress towards your success.
Did you set a time limit for each objective? Set a deadline for each objective. Times need to be specific and limited when it comes to reaching an objective.
Each goal that you have set will need three to five objectives to make them complete. Start writing your objectives by setting them on the deadline date and working back to the beginning. At the end of the goals and objectives process you will have a schedule to guide you to entrepreneurial success.
Kathryn Lang is a professionial writer and motivational speaker. She enjoys writing about a wide variety of business topics including youth businesses and finance.
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs
Conversation Board
We greatly appreciate any advice you can provide on this topic. Please contribute your insights on this topic so others can benefit.