When you set the right goals for your business, it can really boost your success. However, did you know there are a lot of mistakes you can make when setting business goals?

If you set the wrong ones, it can actually damage the business, rather than help it. So, if you want to ensure your business goals are a success, below you’ll discover 5 mistakes to avoid when setting them.

#1 Not Making Them Specific 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when setting business goals, is making them too vague. It’s crucial you make the goals as specific as possible if you want to make sure they are achievable.

A good example of a vague business goal is where you state you want to increase your profits. While this is certainly a great goal to have, it doesn’t exactly give you much to work with does it? How are you going to increase your profits, how much do you want to increase them by and what steps can you take to do it? These are just some of the things you need to consider to make your goals more specific.

The more specific your goals are, the more likely you’ll be to achieve them.

#2 Setting Unrealistic Goals

You may have lots of great visions of where you want the business to go. However, you need to make sure they are realistic and easy to achieve. This is something that I often struggle with. I always tend to make these big, giant, unrealistic goals at the beginning of the year.

You can make the mistake of both setting an unrealistic type of goal, as well as an unrealistic time frame for completion. The trouble with unrealistic goals, is that they can really damage productivity and motivation. If you don’t achieve them, you’ll become frustrated and it could put you off setting more.

Instead what I do now is set one goal each quarter for the year and then I just focus on the upcoming quarter and really plan out those months realistically. 

#3 Prioritizing The Wrong Things 

It’s a common mistake for entrepreneurs to set any old goal, without really thinking about whether they need it. The key to effective goal setting, is to prioritize your goals.

Think about the areas of your business which need the most work or improvement. While you may want to expand oversees for example, is the business ready?

You’ll need to make sure your company at home is performing well before you even consider expanding overseas. So, before planning to expand, set goals to improve your existing business so that when it does come time to expand, you can focus your efforts on that, rather than having to deal with issues at home too. 

#4 Failing To Review Your Goals 

Setting goals is just one part of the process. However, you also need to make sure you review them frequently. Without reviewing your goals, you’ll have no idea whether or not your efforts are paying off.

It’s important to regularly review and track the progress of your goals to determine whether any changes need to be made. I review my goals weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. That may seem like a lot but the times I did not review as often, were the times I completely fell off and starting working on all of the fires I had to put out in my business. 

#5 Not Being Prepared For Failure 

Finally, just because you’ve set yourself business goals, it doesn’t mean you’ll achieve them. In fact, failure is pretty much guaranteed at some point.

It’s through your failures that you learn how to succeed. So, set your goals and be as realistic and specific as you can, but don’t assume everything will run like clockwork. Be prepared for failure and then be ready to come up with an alternative goal if something does go wrong. This is one of the main reasons that I only fully plan out one new quarter at a time because things do come up and goals change. This seems to work out perfectly for me but please find out and do what works best for you. 

These are just 5 mistakes you can make when setting business goals. By learning from these mistakes, you’ll have a much higher chance of succeeding and ensuring you actually fulfill the goals that you set.

For done-for-you social media graphics, check out my Etsy shop!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase any of the products I have recommended, I may receive a commission at no cost to you.