Do you work a full day, but feel like nothing got done? Is your life a long to-do list that just keeps getting longer? Do you look back at the end of each month and think, what did I accomplish?
It’s time for you to focus.
This may be a hard conversation to have with yourself. As small business owners, we often wear many hats – by necessity. However, if you find yourself running in circles and not making much progress, it’s time to sit down and get focused.
SET A GOAL: Write down ONE goal for each month. These goals should be specific, reachable, and quantifiable.
- Want to increase your website traffic? Event registration? Brand interaction with a target audience? Profit margin? Product sales? New client acquisition? You may say “YES, my goal is all of those!” but focusing on ALL the things is sabotaging your success. Now read that again.
WORK SMARTER TO GET THOSE GOALS
PRIORITIZE YOUR WORK: There are hundreds of things we would all like to do – go to that networking event, write every blog idea, post videos to Facebook, build a website, send out postcards – but YOU CAN’T do them all right now, there isn’t enough time.
- Work on what is most important – what is going to get you to your goal? Pick a few actionable items that directly relate to reaching your monthly goal, and focus only on those items.
MAKE A PLAN: “A goal without a plan is just a dream.” Not that there is anything wrong with dreaming, but the point here is to make our dreams a reality. Put your plan into a calendar or format you are willing to follow.
- Make a schedule to help you stay on track. Give yourself one actionable item a week, then list the steps you need to take to complete that item.
STICK WITH WHAT YOU KNOW: Staying hyper-focused means using tools you are familiar with or obtaining outside resources to execute your plan.
- You don’t have time to learn new skills or build new business models, staying on task is key to successfully achieving your goals. If part of your plan requires skills you don’t have, hire a specialist to help you out. Investing in resources to achieve your goal is an essential part of the process.