Goal Setting: The Importance of Setting Achievable Goals

If you’re a sign shop owner, print shop owner, or the owner of any kind of shop, you need to set goals for yourself. It doesn’t matter how big or small those goals are; what matters is that you are always working toward something with your business. Now, what exactly is a goal in business? What does it look like? A business goal may be wanting to franchise your shop after 10 years. It could be wanting to hire a salesperson in your second year in business, move your marketing in-house rather than outsourcing, building up a certain team by five members, or acquiring that coveted print shop software for your business by this or that time. You must set these types of goals for yourself before you even begin day 1 of your business operations. We are going to explain in this post why effective goal setting is so important. We’ll also cover how to ensure that your goals are attainable and how to go about actually achieving those goals.

The goal provides a roadmap for everything that you do in your business

Our first point is that business goals provide roadmaps for literally everything you do in your business. Goals are what guide you. They keep you focused. Goals are also there to help guide everyone else around you. They align your employees, staff, and management with all the same objectives so that everyone is consistently working toward the same thing. Only when your entire business is focused on the goals you have set do you stand a chance of achieving them.

Know your “why”; it can be anything you want

In the introduction, we mentioned some examples of business goals you might set for yourself. The truth is that your goals, and your “why,” can truly be anything you want. Keep in mind that your “why” is your reason for existing as a business. It is your purpose in getting up in the morning. It’s the reason you wear your company emblem and head to work every day to make action plans, tackle whatever problems might arise, and ideally, achieve the day’s goals. As the sign shop owner or any other kind of business owner, your “why” for doing all of this must be: to attain your goal, whatever it may be. Recall that your goal need not be gigantic or overly ambitious. Maybe you simply want to succeed enough to buy a Ducati motorcycle. Perhaps you want to hire more people, open new locations, franchise your business, or even just reach and help more customers with their needs. Check out the shopVOX print shop software for help with that last goal. Whatever your “why” is, let it drive you to succeed every single day.

Using your “goal” and your “why” together brings true self-fulfillment

It’s true: self-fulfillment will come to you if you can bring your goals and your “why” together. There is no more gratifying feeling than knowing you have accomplished your goal and that you did it through hard work. All those days of toiling, grinding, and maybe getting a little discouraged here and there - it all finally means something when you achieve your goal. It only spurs you on perhaps to set even higher goals for yourself. If you start small and succeed in those areas, that should be all the motivation you need to keep setting your sights higher for your business.

Goal Example

Now that we’ve discussed goals and why they’re important, let’s look at an example of a business goal so you can see how the process might work for your sign shop. This will be an example of how you can allow your business to help you achieve your goal. Imagine that your goal for your sign shop is to gross $500,000 annually. Depending on the type and size of a sign, you know you want to offer your products for somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000 each to stay affordable. For this example, assume an average retail price of $2,000.Using the numbers above, we know that you would need to make 4.8 transactions per week to reach your $500,000 goal. We know the number of customers you need, then. Now, you must answer three questions:

• What is your sales goal for your first year in business?

• Is this goal feasible based on your location, competition, and market conditions?

• What market and sales strategies will you employ to make those 4.8 weekly transactions?

Once you know all this information, it should be easy to establish your budget for getting your desired sales. You know your cost per lead, your marketing costs, and so on. Knowing how all these numbers break down is vital to understanding how you are going to get up to $500,000 annually or whatever your unique goal is. Remember, you can always learn more about how shopVOX’s sign shop software can help you to run your shop more efficiently. Being organized in this way could make the difference between you hitting or missing your performance goals. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about how our technology can help your business to thrive!