How to Set Smart Business Goals for 2021

Pop quiz. Do you recall what your business goals were at the start of 2020? Those goals likely seem like a distant memory after everything owners experienced because of the pandemic. However, it’s still important to revisit this exercise to set smart business goals for 2021.

You might be concerned about making the right choices when setting new business goals after experiencing a shock to the system this year. That’s why it’s important to perform a critical review of your business and team before setting goals. I’ll coach you through this evaluation to help you start on the right path for 2021 and beyond.

Be Realistic About Your Business Goals

Be honest about where you want your business to be in 2021. What’s realistic? What’s achievable? This starts with being honest about yourself as a leader as well as your business as a whole.

• Is everyone aligned with the mission of your business?
• What can you reasonably accomplish with current resources?
• Do you still have a passion or “drive” after the stress of the pandemic?
• Equally important — does your team still have that “drive” to succeed?

Dive as deep as you can into the very iota of your business desires, team capabilities, changes in your market, and opportunities to win project scope. Then, surface from this evaluation with the right attitude to keep yourself and your team motivated throughout 2021.

What’s Your (Real) Market?

Unfortunately, many businesses do not have a clear idea of their target client. They play the numbers game haphazardly responding to RFPs without thinking through whether this is a smart client to engage and pursue.

Without properly knowing your market or knowing what has changed in your market, you’ll just be wasting time and resources in 2021. You need to gather evidence about your market, your customers, and any new business and political issues that have emerged.

After gathering critical pieces of evidence, you will be better equipped to analyze the impact of changes from the start of 2020 to the end of the year. Then, you can use this analysis to help set smart business goals for your firm in 2021.

Do Your Business Goals Align With Customer Changes?

Make sure any business goals are aligned with your ability to align with each target client’s business and political issues. This requires taking a deep dive into what’s changed for target customers.

• What are their struggles?
• What are their opportunities?
• Have they experienced a leadership change affecting internal politics?
• Has the procurement process been restructured?

Don’t assume everything is the same for target customers — find out what’s changed. This way, you’re not assuming that you will win a certain amount of work based on past experience.

For example, an ally that you relied on to champion your solution internally may not be in the picture anymore. Or, their role in the organization may have changed post-pandemic. Dig into these changes to ensure that you have additional connections and opportunities to win project scope.

It’s about developing multiple paths of connection to not only insulate your firm from major organizational changes, but also to build a more robust account relationship. You don’t want to just win the work; you want to win the account.

Why RESET is the Right Coach For Your Firm

We want your firm to experience revenue growth in 2021. It’s a challenging world post-pandemic, which is why it’s important to gain perspective from a business coach on how to look at the 2020 results to set new business goals for the new year.

Our team is ready to help. Through our proven methodology, The Connection Process, we will show you how to identify smart clients to pursue, align with critical business and political issues, and develop many different paths to connection in your target organization. Then, we will show you how to leverage your solution for value and impact, not just get hired.

When you are confident in this approach to client engagement, you will have a better idea of what opportunities can be turned into new project scope in 2021. This will help you set the right goals and keep your team motivated throughout the year.

Contact us today for a free 15-minute consultation. I’d appreciate the opportunity to coach you through changes in your market on the way to a successful 2021.