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Atricle Dump - Setting Business Goals-Use the SMART Method to Achieve Dramatic Results
Your trade show exhibit staff can make the difference between your trade show exhibit being successful or being an unproductive exercise. The Center for Exhibit Industry Research (CEIR) says that 80% of what visitors remember most about their visit to a trade show booth is their interaction with the exhibit staff. In fact, CEIR sites that 75% of the effectiveness of any trade show is traceable to the performance of the exhibit staff.Although you can find almost any information today on a company’s website, trade shows are popular because,
Measurable - The statement, "…reducing the time it takes her clients to pay" is not measurable. Simply stopping here would make it difficult to achieve success. What
1) Fighting attritional battles—a common practice of giant corporations is to start a price war to drive down profits. With more capital, they can afford a loss for longer than their smaller competitors. Incorrect Response—when smaller businesses cut prices it actually helps the corporation because their greater resources eventually insure they’ll win. Correct Response—avoid the attritional battle by selling different items, bundling equivalent products with other merchandise and setting diverse price structures.2) Building a superstruct
For many entrepreneurs, goal setting is not always the easiest endeavor. Most business owners are so focused on their daily operations that they may often confuse tasks with goals. To be clear, goals are used to directly support a strategic objective or business plan. Tasks are short-term activities that keep the business running. Finally, goals consist of a series of actionable tasks to achieve the desired results.
To help in the goal setting process, most successful businesses follow the S.M.A.R.T ("SMART") methodology. This handy acronym helps simplify the process of goal setting and ensures that objectives are defined in the most effective manner possible. When following the SMART process, all goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-limited. How does this work? Let us take a simple business example and walk through each of the SMART steps.
Sophie is an entrepreneur who owns and manages an architectural design firm. Her business is growing rapidly. She has grown from four employees to 15 in less than two years. She has a solid client base with several concurrent projects. Despite her firm's growth, her cash flow is a concern. Several of Sophie's clients rarely pay on time. This delinquency, if left unchecked, could cause a financial burden when trying to cover fixed costs such as salaries and office rent.
To help improve her cash flow situation, Sophie uses the SMART methodology to assist her in defining a cash flow improvement goal.
Specific - The statement, "Improving cash flow" is not a specific goal and would not prove useful to anyone trying to accomplish this objective. The goal must include more specific and actionable language. In this instance, Sophie wants to improve cash flow by reducing the time it takes her clients to pay.
Measurable - The statement, "…reducing the time it takes her clients to pay" is not measurable. Simply stopping here would make it difficult to achieve success. What
Signs, Signs, Everywhere there’s signs, these lyrics recorded by Telsa reminded me what separates exceptional leaders from the average leaders -- the ability to find and read signs. This awareness to signs allows these leaders to think both creatively and strategically.First, what makes an exceptional leader? In the book Fail-Safe Leadership, the authors Linda Martin and Dr. David Mutchler in 100 pages boil leadership down to the ability to get results within clearly articulated core values. The how of getting results or what
To help in the goal setting process, most successful businesses follow the S.M.A.R.T ("SMART") methodology. This handy acronym helps simplify the process of goal setting and ensures that objectives are defined in the most effective manner possible. When following the SMART process, all goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-limited. How does this work? Let us take a simple business example and walk through each of the SMART steps.
Sophie is an entrepreneur who owns and manages an architectural design firm. Her business is growing rapidly. She has grown from four employees to 15 in less than two years. She has a solid client base with several concurrent projects. Despite her firm's growth, her cash flow is a concern. Several of Sophie's clients rarely pay on time. This delinquency, if left unchecked, could cause a financial burden when trying to cover fixed costs such as salaries and office rent.
To help improve her cash flow situation, Sophie uses the SMART methodology to assist her in defining a cash flow improvement goal.
Specific - The statement, "Improving cash flow" is not a specific goal and would not prove useful to anyone trying to accomplish this objective. The goal must include more specific and actionable language. In this instance, Sophie wants to improve cash flow by reducing the time it takes her clients to pay.
Measurable - The statement, "…reducing the time it takes her clients to pay" is not measurable. Simply stopping here would make it difficult to achieve success. What
There are few things more frustrating for a headhunter than asking a person basic questions that revolve around what you as a job hunter are looking for in a job and being given uncertain answers. I’m not talking about salary; that’s a question where a wise person states a target objective and is flexible enough to let the market decide their value.I’m speaking about these basic questions:1. What is your current compensation? The three wrong answers are: (1) a lie (A lie will be found out generally after you’re hired. You know what h
Sophie is an entrepreneur who owns and manages an architectural design firm. Her business is growing rapidly. She has grown from four employees to 15 in less than two years. She has a solid client base with several concurrent projects. Despite her firm's growth, her cash flow is a concern. Several of Sophie's clients rarely pay on time. This delinquency, if left unchecked, could cause a financial burden when trying to cover fixed costs such as salaries and office rent.
To help improve her cash flow situation, Sophie uses the SMART methodology to assist her in defining a cash flow improvement goal.
Specific - The statement, "Improving cash flow" is not a specific goal and would not prove useful to anyone trying to accomplish this objective. The goal must include more specific and actionable language. In this instance, Sophie wants to improve cash flow by reducing the time it takes her clients to pay.
Measurable - The statement, "…reducing the time it takes her clients to pay" is not measurable. Simply stopping here would make it difficult to achieve success. What
“Norman” was experiencing sticker shock. After years of career success in the corporate world, he had accumulated a healthy nest egg.But now Norman faced a midlife career crisis. He had just learned his division would be shutting down. To keep his job, he would have to relocate to a distant part of the country. Finding a new job meant fighting age discrimination.So, Norman thought, why not launch an Internet marketing business? He began exploring and collecting information.Norman first encountered sticker shock when
To help improve her cash flow situation, Sophie uses the SMART methodology to assist her in defining a cash flow improvement goal.
Specific - The statement, "Improving cash flow" is not a specific goal and would not prove useful to anyone trying to accomplish this objective. The goal must include more specific and actionable language. In this instance, Sophie wants to improve cash flow by reducing the time it takes her clients to pay.
Measurable - The statement, "…reducing the time it takes her clients to pay" is not measurable. Simply stopping here would make it difficult to achieve success. What
I was recently reading a Harvard Business School case study on Starbucks. Being one of the few people who do not drink coffee, I am not the most frequent Starbucks customer. But, the wireless internet access and Chantico drinking chocolate have gotten me in there regularly. But I digress ...The study talked about many facets of the success of Starbucks. The part that interested me most was the difference between satisfied customers and highly satisfied customers. For ages, many businesses have aimed for customer satisfaction. However,
Measurable - The statement, "…reducing the time it takes her clients to pay" is not measurable. Simply stopping here would make it difficult to achieve success. What amount of time is Sophie trying to reduce? After studying industry benchmarks, she quantifies her improvement goal. She wants to reduce the average payment cycle time from the current 45 days to a goal of 35 days.
Achievable - Is this goal achievable? Can she work with her clients and somehow encourage them to pay more quickly? After doing some analysis Sophie determines that part of the payment delay is the infrequency with which she sends out invoices. She also rarely calls her clients to follow up on past-due bills. A significant portion of this goal is within her immediate control. As such, Sophie feels this goal is clearly achievable.
Realistic - How realistic is it to expect a reduction in payment cycle time by 10 days? Again, using her research and industry benchmarks, Sophie feels that this amount of time is quite realistic. Besides, the payment term included in all of her project contracts is 30 days!
Time-limited - Finally, Sophie needs to place time limitations around her goal. A goal that lingers is not useful. Expectations must be set around when the objective is to be accomplished. Establishing time limits also helps business owners prioritize and plan for goals throughout the year. In this example, Sophie decides that she wants to achieve the reduction in client payment cycle time within six months.
Using the above process, Sophie's formal goal reads as follows: Within six months, reduce the average time it takes clients to pay invoices from 45 to 35 days.
Using the SMART approach to goal setting, business owners can set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited objectives. While the process may seem difficult at first, it quickly can become second nature. This method ensures consistency across goals and helps business owners and employees alike clearly understand what is expected to accomplish
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