Business Strategy: How High Should You Aim & How To Accomplish Objectives?

Every business owner or manager knows that in order to succeed and grow the business, some big thinking is often required. But how high should you aim?

The process of setting strategic business objectives is harder than it looks. It takes a lot more than setting stretched goals to actually see any real achievement, and there are often hidden challenges, particularly when it comes down to the execution.

Aiming high helps

If you aim high in business, even if you don't quite make it, you will inevitably end up doing much better than you would have otherwise done. When setting your strategic objectives, thinking differently about goal setting can be a real game changer.

For example, setting a goal to double the size of the business versus one to increase in size by 10%, will push your business much harder. The 10% goal drives thinking about how to stretch the current business, using the existing tools and assumptions. It is merely building on an existing solution that many people have already spent a lot of time thinking about. In contrast, doubling the size of the firm requires a different mindset; one that moves away from the tendency to think in an incremental and linear manner. This opens up new possibilities that would never have been considered otherwise as the business must focus on creativity and innovation - the kind that, literally and metaphorically, can push the business to the next level.

Making strategic goals manageable

Stretched goals or targets are by definition very big. They are risky and can take several years to achieve. The details of how to accomplish these objectives will not be known when they are set.

Odds of success can be improved with a disciplined strategy execution, and a 'small wins' framework can often help. The objective is to break a larger goal down into smaller, manageable but interlinked parts. For each sub-goal, the team must define the various streams of work required, explicit outcomes, key deliverables, due dates, and a single owner for each component. As such, it will allow for visible and measured progress towards the completion of the larger goal while generating consistent action. Regular updates and team meetings will encourage people to be accountable for their part of the project. This will help drive consistent execution of tasks.

What separates great businesses from those that are merely good are not just the stretched target and strategic goals they set themselves to achieve but also the way they think differently about setting those objectives, and the discipline with which they implement them.

How Important is Goal Setting for you and your business!

Nothing else can have the impact that setting goals can have on your business and on your life.

Goal-setting isn’t difficult. So why do so few people do it? Ultimately, it’s because people don’t think goal-setting is that important. But show me a highly successful business owner and I’ll show you his or her goals and the plan to achieve them. EVERY SUCCESSFUL CLIENT WE HAVE USES GOAL-SETTING. Think about that for a moment… there’s a big clue in there!

Quite frankly, if you’re not setting goals, you’re not that serious about building your business and achieving startling results. Just by thinking carefully about your goals, writing them down and then creating a plan to achieve them, takes you to a completely different world than the one you’re probably operating in at the moment.

Setting Goals for you and your Business!

Think about it…

If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there? It’s like sailing a ship without a rudder. But setting in place a number of goals gives you direction. Of course, rarely do you get there in a straight line, but knowing exactly where you want to get to gives you a focus that you won’t have experienced ever  before. As   Zig   Ziglar   said, You’ll never make it as a wandering generality.” Defining specific, precise and clearly set goals gives you purpose, gives you motivation and gives you a path to follow. If you’re just meandering—all that you need to get you back on track is a defined set of goals.  So decide what they are and write them down. Next, because you know what your goals are, you can then put in place a plan to achieve them. 

Make no mistake, this is of course a critical part of achieving your goals. The often unspoken benefit of setting goals is how easy it makes your daily decision-making when running your business. Think about it… the actions and decisions you take each day have an effect on the journey you take.

So when you know where you’re going, making even the smallest decision in line with your goals makes the whole process so much easier AND ensures you get there quicker and without having to take too many wrong turns or detours.