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Business Goals: Your Company’s Compass

Every business should have its own set of goals to help drive your decisions. If you don’t have goals, you risk being unfocused. Opportunity is everywhere. How will you know what decisions to make if you don’t know what you’re working towards?


We cover business goals in depth in my course. You can find it here.


What are Business Goals?

Business goals are the predetermined target that you plan to move towards. They can be short or long-term goals. It's useful to choose goals that build upon themselves, like stepping stones. You can make your goals about getting a certain type of client, increasing your savings, or using new tools.


Why Should I Make Business Goals?

Business goals are incredibly important. If you don’t have a strategy, you’ll have a harder time progressing to wherever you want to be.



Early on, I decided I wanted to work within the regulatory niche. It’s a competitive niche to break into. Every company seems to want 8 years of writing experience in regulatory writing to even get an interview.


So what did I do? I took baby steps over a few years to get my foot in the door. I started by taking a low paying writing job because it was analyzing clinical data for clinicians- something I had never done before. But, it was my first experience with medical writing.


Everyone tells you to not bother with these low-paying jobs. But, I completed a writing test a few months later for a larger publication. The writing test was the same type of deliverable I wrote for the lower-paying client. I aced the writing test, and the larger publication was now paying me much more than I had ever charged before.


And the best part? The new publication was going to teach me regulatory writing. They were open to training me because I was a bit familiar with the concepts already.


When my contract is up with the new publication, I will have a year of experience in regulatory. I can find another publication, sign again with the same publication, or find a regulatory client that will take me. The point is, If I didn’t have a long-term game plan in mind, I may have said no to that lower-paying client.


What Could be a Possible Goal?

It’s your life and your business. You can make your goals whatever you want them to be. It helps to visualize where you see yourself in 5, 10, even 15 years. Then, build backwards and see what you need to do to get there.


Some example goals include:

  • Building automations

  • Increasing finances

  • Writing new deliverables

  • Writing in a new niche



You can talk to your peers if you need help understanding what your goals could be. It may take some practice, but goal writing will be easier with time. Every year, you can either build off of your previous year’s goal or create a new one.


If you think a goal no longer serves you, it’s okay to cross it off your list. Businesses grow and change, and that’s okay. You don’t have to remain static in your goals. You can amend them, too.


How Do I Make a Goal?

Start by asking yourself reflective questions to figure out what’s important for you and your business. Write the answers down on a paper and see if there are any common themes. Does anything jump out at you? That may be a goal.

Here are some reflective questions:

  • What is important to me?

  • What is my business about?

Make sure you sleep on these questions. Don’t just write the first things that pop into your head and make that your goal. Brainstorming can be useful, but it shouldn’t be the final product.



Create goals for different time periods. They should build off of each other, and you should be able to cross them off as you come to them. Make sure they’re attainable and not impossible for the timeframe.


Summary

Goals are the driving force behind any business. You should make goals every single year and revise them as necessary. It’s okay if your goals change, but it’s not okay to avoid making goals.

If you’re not sure what your goals should be, figure out what’s important to you and your business. This answer will be different for everyone. You can make a goal about any part of your new business venture. Goals keep you on-task and focused as you make decisions that affect the trajectory of your business.


Looking for more tips on writing and goals? I dedicate an entire section of my course to goal-writing.


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