Real Estate Coaching: Getting those business goals clearly defined will create small "wins" along the way

As discussed in my prior article, we focused on the importance of creating and implementing your business plan as a critical prerequisite for launching a new business or to drive it to a higher level of success. At the heart of all well written business plans are your company strategic goals. These goals create your bull's-eye on what you and your staff should be focusing on. Unfortunately, for many, creating effective goals is not a business skill they have mastered. In some cases, business owners unknowingly will go through the motions of believing they have a robust set of goals only to become frustrated when they can't seem to get any traction. This outcome is exacerbated by the probability that their goals are in fact not robust at all! Just as important, they may lack the "flow-down" of tasks and objectives required to support the higher level goals. As a frequent dialogue I have with my students and business owners, I ask them where they would like their business to be in five years. Generally, most will quickly respond with their "vision" of the future. Then I proceed to ask them, what are you doing tomorrow that will support you getting there? That is when I usually get the blank stare like a deer in headlights! Having "goal clarity" is essential in rolling out your business plan. Without it you will become a victim of the detrimental emotional and financial effects it may cause. These effects may include discouragement, lack of support from your staff, loss of capital, or at the extreme level giving up. In an effort to help mitigate these negative effects, let's focus on creating good goals. There is a great deal of material written about developing effective goals. One method that I have used over the years that has been very effective in educating business owners on this topic is that each goal must pass the SMART goal test. SMART is a acronym for the critical elements of a properly defined goal. Let's take a closer look at these elements: Specific: The goal must clearly state what you are trying to achieve; Measurable: The goal must be measurable so you know how you are doing; Attainable: The goal must be reasonably attainable with the given capital and skill level available; Relevant: The goal must be relevant to the success of your business model; Time-bound: The goal must have a beginning as well as an end. Now that we have well defined high level goals, it is now time to break these goals down into very small tasks and objectives that will be required to support the achievement of your desired goals. Each of these tasks and objectives should be well defined and also conform to the SMART test. As part of your task management, you will need to create and implement a system for tracking all of the actions that you have created. By having a well documented task list, it will set the stage for you and your staff to easily focus on the critical tasks of the day. The method or tools you use for managing your task list is a personal choice. However, make sure it is simple to use and update or otherwise, it may become counter-productive and not utilized. There is no reason this needs to be a complicated process; make it user friendly. When designing your task management system, it is suggested that you include the following information: * Task description; * Task number or category (for example cost reduction, business development, process improvement); * Required start date; * Required completion date; * Who is responsible; * Review period; * Comments. Congratulations! With your higher level goals properly defined and flowed down to the lowest level of detail tasks, there is one more factor that will be necessary for the success of your goals and that is "working the plan." You must realize that even having the best written business plan in hand will fail if you are not diligently working on the tasks that you have developed. Here is where proper management, feedback, and oversight are foundational. Having a task review period mentioned above will hopefully provide you with the visibility if you are on track to your plan. If not, you will need to create a recovery plan. As a word of caution, I have seen many people get overwhelmed and frustrated once they realize just how many tasks they have created once they properly flowed down their goals. Don't get discouraged. Here is where strong time management techniques and effectively managing your priorities will be helpful. In closing, please remember, by implementing this methodical approach, you will create small "wins" along the way which will help fuel the fire and motivate you and your team to continue. I wish you the best of success! Carl Schiovone is president of Carl Schiovone and Associates Real Estate Coaching, Inc., Oakdale, N.Y.