When running a startup, each day brings new surprises. For some entrepreneurs, that insecurity can make goal-setting a little futile.
With so little predictability about what the year would bring, it gets hard to make plans. However, you can create goals that actually account the spontaneity and flexibility required to run a company in order to help future-proof your startup plan.
Here are a few things you could incorporate in your startup plan:
Examine your intentions
In today’s world, almost every sector is hyper-competitive and it’s easy to look at accomplishments that look like success on the outside but may not be beneficial to your business as much as we think.
It might be a feature on the press, an award or a particpating in a high-profile conference.
Aiming for any of these isn’t an issue, however, as you gradually set your goals, you ought to look at what appears to be the most impactful of them all.
More importantly, do you consider yourself working towards your goal? It is not just having them well scripted in black and white.
Learn something new
When setting goals, it is imperative to identify objectives that require you learning a new skill. Give yourself permission and mandate to thrive outside of your comfort zone.
Sign up for accreditations and coursework, learn to do ad buying, immerse yourself in new design software or attend at least one networking event a month.
Expanding your thinking and skill sets by staying plugged in is the idea.
Ask yourself who your goals will impact
Businesses aren’t designed to exist in a bubble. The goal you set will impact not just your personal life, but also your community and the team members who work with you alongside.
For instance, if you have the intention of carry out expansion operations this coming year, be sure to account for the effects it will have on the people around you.
Have conversations with partners and colleagues about what to expect from another.
You need to evaluate how your growth might impact your community socially and economically, inform and improve your workplace culture and influence customer perception.
Leave room for spontaneity
Sometimes, it can be tempting to over predict a point of landing once the planning-ahead gears start to turn.
We might feel having a watertight plan makes the business stable and secure, almost like we’ve accomplished everything on our list before we’ve even begun.
But we miss out on unexpected opportunities when we become too rigid. As you set your goals, it’s okay to include broad placeholders.
Gray areas aren’t entirely bad. It is important for you to communicate the importance of flexibility to your team in order to consider emerging opportunities together and also encourage different ways of thinking.
This would give employees permission to chase de-risking the business, rather than encouraging the pursuit growth at all costs.
Plan to celebrate along the way
In this coming year, I advise we change the attitude of not reflecting or celebrating a win or accomplishment and moving on to the next agenda.
It is important to reflect on lessons learned, but it is equally important to recognize unexpected wins along the way, too.
Celebrate and make room in your budget for a reward for yourself ahead of time. At the end of a busy month, take the time to journal on your accomplishments and reflections and schedule a damn vacation for yourself.
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