“When you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time” – Zig Ziglar

This is the quote that reminds me to set my business goals, and that includes financial goals.

Some entrepreneurs are a bit timid in setting income goals because they just want to sell as much as possible. Others set super stretch goals that they will never reach with the belief that “if you aim for the moon and miss, you will land among the stars.“

I understand both approaches. I want to offer you an approach that falls somewhere in the middle.

If you don’t typically set goals right now

How much money do you want to make, and in what timeframe? That can feel like such a loaded question.

Does reading that have you thinking, “What if I set it wrong? Too low or too high? Am I going to be disappointed? What if I miss it?” right away.

I hear you. The fact is goals don’t have to be arbitrary or decided by throwing a dart at a bunch of numbers. Here are a few questions to help you narrow down a good goal.

1. What am I offering, how much does it cost?

How many can I sell? This question will help you look at your capacity to make more money. This may be limited by your time, by your production model, or by your own working guidelines.

If you don’t know the maximum that you can comfortably make with each offer in a month, you can’t begin to set a goal, because you can’t figure out what to sell and how many.

2. What is my best sales month ever?

What made it so good? Was it a new ad? Did you host a challenge? What was it?

These questions can help you to examine what you did in your best sales month, and whether you can duplicate it or do more now. What are you available to do to hit your goal this month?

3. What is the purpose for the money?

Having a purpose can definitely help you gain clarity on your goals. If you to make $3,000.00 so you can launch a new thing,  then that’s a pretty clear purpose for the money.

Get laser focused on what you want the money for and what it is going to do for you and your business when it is earned.

If you set arbitrary goals that you always miss

First, follow the questions above! And check on your capacity, availability, and purpose for the money and the goal.

Then ask yourself if it would be better to keep the lofty goal as a “best” goal, but add in a “good” and a “better” goal that is more attainable.

For example, if you set your goal at $10k for the month, but your best month has been $2k and you don’t have the availability to do more than $6k, you can set a “good” goal at $3k (attainable) and a “better” goal of $6k, the “best” (or stretch) goal of $10k.

There is a real psychological boost to you as an entrepreneur as you reach your financial goals. For each of the three goals, make sure you have a clear purpose for the money.

It takes just a few minutes to set your financial goals. It can be for the week, month, quarter, that is up to you. But make sure you have something to aim at and then define the availability and steps you need to take to hit your mark.

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Wishing you the best with your business goals!