Goals and vision

Peter Switzer

When you're setting goals it's important to think big. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't make them measurable.

Show me the money … and happiness too

A business owner in South East Queensland wanted to ramp up his business. He was asked what he wanted to get out of being in business. He came up with the typical response — money — but when he drilled down into the issue, he chose happiness as the endplay.

After some more Q & A, he finally latched a materialistic hook onto his happiness dream. That gave him a chance to connect his big life goal to what is sometimes called a BMG or Big Measurable Goal.

What’s your BMG?

A BMG requires thought and, inevitably, has to be put into words. Experts insist that dreams and goals be put into print and dated, so you have something to shoot for in the future. You need to picture it! Those who believe in visualisation would have you see it happening every day until it gets out of your head and becomes reality.

Aussie breast-stroker Leisel Jones may have had gold at Beijing as her written down goal. (If so, she can tick that one off.) Nicole Kidman might have one with Oscar playing a starring role; while Russell Crowe, more than likely, would have his beloved Rabbitohs winning the NRL competition within three years.

This is all about your vision of what your business looks like. Your BMG creates a target and keeps you committed to your goal.

Okay, that’s enough of dreamland; let’s get back into the land of the living and business.

Seven questions to help reach your goal

1. What do you sell, and how might that change as you grow?
2. How big are you right now? You can measure yourself on indicators such as sales, profit, business value and employees.
3. What’s your current business growth? You can use sales, profits or goods and services sold.
4. How many business locations can you see in the future?
5. How important are you in the market and where do you aspire to be in the future?
6. How long do you need to realise your vision? Some businesses shoot for a 10-year plan while others focus on five years, or an even shorter timeframe.
7. How do you compete now and what will you have to do to make it happen? This goes to the heart of how you make your BMG come true.

 

It takes two

Peter Drucker, the great US business mind, taught us the ultimate lesson that business is essentially made up of two things — innovation and marketing. It’s simple, but spot on: innovate to give yourself an edge, then market the living daylights out of it. Use innovation again to market smartly (and even cheaply) to double ‘wow’ the process.

And you need a plan which has a purple cow ‘wow’ factor.

The purple cow principle

The marketing guru, Seth Godin, says you have to make your business like a purple cow! When we go driving in the country, the first cow is a blast and will thrill young children in particular. However, after 30 minutes cows become a bore, and that’s what happens to many businesses, with everyone touting predictable marketing messages.

A purple cow would really grab a bored traveller’s attention! And that’s what you have to create to make your BMG come true.

All tints and shades of purple

But you don’t only need to purple up your marketing. Take the colour to your products, your employees’ customer service and workplace practices, the look of the business, the efficiency of the operations and so on.

Remember, everything you do in business becomes advertising if a customer sees it — so don’t tolerate anything connected to your business being second-rate.

Look at me!

A great question to make a dream come true is to continually ask: what can I do to stand out from the crowd of my competitors?

Well, try completing this statement, which shows how to put your goal into words:

“In five years time, we will sell ‘x’ products/services, worth over $‘y’ million out of ‘z’ locations. We will be seen as the best business in the industry and our reputation will be the benchmark for all our competitors. However, we will never be complacent.”

Where to find out more

• Growing your business

Tools and templates

• Business plan template

More advice

• Read more practical advice on starting a business.

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• Important information
  As this advice has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should, before acting on the advice, consider its appropriateness to your circumstances. All products mentioned on this web page are issued by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia; view our Financial Services Guide (PDF 59kb) .