Reviewing Your Goals - 6 months on...

Time flies when you are working hard on your own business! It's hard to believe we are already at the half way mark in 2011. At this point in the year it is a good time to look back and take stock of what goals have been achieved over the last six months. We need to remind ourselves of the goals we set, and we need review them, to see what did and did not go well for us. So, have you achieved the things that you set out to do in 2011? And be honest, did you have a clear idea of what it was that you wanted to achieve in the first place?

What Kinds of Goals are you Setting?

Goal setting is a much tried and tested practice, it minimises distractions and focus's the mind, in fact goal setting is one of the strongest keys to a successful business. There are many important points to consider when setting up your business goals, the easiest way to do this is by following the S.M.A.R.T method - every goal is to be; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. At first the process can seem daunting, but don't worry, it doesn't need to be. The first thing you need to do is give yourself time to go through this process. I would recommend a minimum of half a day. Then ask yourself - for every goal that you want to set, is it specific, can you measure its success, is it realistically achievable, does it have a realistic chance of success, and finally, set yourself a time scale in which to achieve the goals and to review them!

My Own Goals for 2011

For my own business, I had three main goals that I wanted to achieve within the first half of the year. First and foremost my main goal was to make an online sale. Of course in order to reach that point, I would to have done enough to make the whole process work. I had to get my stock in order, my website ready, my payment system set up, just to make 1 sale. I am very proud to say that I achieved that sale in May this year, although it did take me three years of hard slog to get there!

My second goal was to put a sales team together. Again success was achieved, I'm pleased to say that I now have Gaetane and Marcia who both give excellent support to my customers; which is something I could never have achieved without them. Last, but definitely not least, my third goal was to develop my online support for customers. I did this by working on and regularly updating my website, and by developing the information that I offer to my customer base. In addition to this I have regularly updated my blog to keep you all in the loop of what's going on.

Now, I'm considering what I want to achieve for the next six months, and which goals I need to set in order to achieve them.

What goals have you achieved in the last six months, have you had success with them, or did you find it a struggle?