How SMART are your goals?

You may have noticed that I have a love of acronyms. No, I will not LOL, don't do TTFN and as for PMSL, let's not even go there. But I do like an acronym which helps explain a concept and focus the mind. To that end, I'd like you to say Hello to SMART.

What does SMART mean?

• Specific If it's vague, it's meaningless.
• Measurable Are you able to quantify success?
• Attainable Make it too difficult, and you set yourself up for failure. It should be challenging, but achievable.
• Relevant Is it applicable and important to your business?
• Timebound When does it start and finish?

Let's put this into context.

"My goal is to increase sales". Sound familiar? It's certainly something I hear a lot when I ask about business goals. But is it SMART? Whilst it may be relevant, it lacks detail. When do you want to increase sales? By how much? What are you comparing the increase to? When will you assess the success of your goal?

If we take that goal and add a few simple details we can make it something easier to manage and more useful to the business: "I want to increase sales for the month of July by 10% on the previous year."

Is it specific? Absolutely.
Is it measurable? If you keep clear and accurate records of sales, and you have a reliable system which can tell you how much you have taken on a daily basis, then yes, it is measurable.
Is it attainable? Only you know that. If you've been experiencing sales increases of 2% like on like then aiming for an increase of 10% is unrealistic, unless you have special measure in place to boost sales. 
Is it relevant? Sales are always relevant in retailing, so a resounding Yes.
Is it time-bound? We have a start and finish date - the month of July. Again, a resounding Yes.

You can see how the second goal can be measured and reviewed in a way which the first can't. It's important to be able to review the success of your goal: you want to replicate what worked and change what didn't. Without this element of review, you're missing a key tool to develop and grow your business.

The principles of SMART can be applied to pretty much any goal, from redoing the window display to planning for a stocktake. It also has the benefit of taking something vague and overwhelming and making it accessible. For example, by being more specific about what you want to achieve, it makes it easier to think about how you're going to achieve it*. It also enables you to share your goals with your staff in a meaningful way (which WILL increase your sales)*.

SMART and I have become firm friends. I think you'll be smitten, too.

[*Want further information on breaking down goals and sharing them with your staff? If you'd like my next blog post to be about this subject, let me know. Hell, don't be bashful, let me know what you think anyway!]