Having clear and defined goals is a proven way to ensure that you are on the right path to success and your business is moving forward.

Here are things to keep in mind as you go about formulating your goals:

Evaluate Your Business
Before you can move forward, you have to look at history. How was the last year for you? Have you achieved the goals you set for yourself 12 months ago? What did you enjoy and what caused you trouble? Making an audit of the last year will help you make correct resolutions for the next one. If you struggled in a certain area, what are the steps you took to improve the situation (those which worked and those that didn’t.) You need to know where you are headed before you can devise the correct course.

Set Goals That Will Excite You
Granted, not every step in achieving that goal will excite you, but the direction should be something that you feel strongly about. If you can’t get excited about your own business, why would anyone else?

Make Your Goals Specific
A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Making your goals vague such as “I would like to be successful,” or “I want to make more money” or “I would like to work lesser hours.” Is not enough. The more specific you’ll be, the easier it will become.

To set a specific goal you must answer the six \”W\” questions:
*Who: Who is involved?
*What: What do I want to accomplish?
*Where: Identify a location.
*When: Establish a time frame.
*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

Make Them Attainable
It is great to have dreams about where you see your business in the next few years, but dreams alone will not get you there. Planning combined with goals will. And being realistic about what you can or can’t control is important. You can wish to have new customers, but that is not something that is under your control. What you can do is improve your presentations, improve the customer support, and advertise more. Focus on what your business can do to achieve the goals you want.

Create Milestones
Every goal is attained with putting one foot in front of the other. Have checkpoints along the way to see how far you have come and what still needs to be done. Creating milestones and achieving them, will be a cause for celebration and a sense of achievement to stay motivated and focused.

Time bound
A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there\’s no sense of urgency. If you want to attract 5 new clients, when do you want to attract them? \”Someday\” won\’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, \”by May 1st\”, then you\’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

Make a Plan
How will you achieve your goals? What kind of clients you need in order to achieve that goal? How much money will you need to make your business grow? For every business goal you should create a detailed plan how to get there. The devil is in the details and so is the success.

Not all goals are created equal, but the successful ones include specific, plotted stages that allow you to control the desired outcome and adjust, if necessary

Finally, make sure your goals are written?

Author Bio: Frank Gutta, CPA specializes in providing accounting and tax services to small business owners and professional practices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information, go here: http://www.frankguttaCPA.com/

Category: Business Management
Keywords: accountant, CPA, business advice, business advisor