Goal Setting: Where will your business be in 12 months?2010!

2010,THE YEAR OF GOALS.


Happy New Year! It’s the year twenty-ten, and while we don’t yet have flying cars and space suits instead of jeans, what we do have is a great opportunity to make this year a highly profitable one! I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and a fun-filled New Year. Most of all, I hope that you are feeling fully refreshed, and ready to get stuck in!



Goal Setting: Where will your business be in 12 months?



I’ve never been one for setting many ‘new year’s resolutions’ but I am a bit of a serial goal-setter. It started when I was young, when my mum would make me clean the bathroom and I would set little goals like getting it done in 20 minutes, so that I could get back outside to my slip ‘n slide.



Anyway, nowadays my goals are a little more future-focused, and are more about preventing me from slipping and sliding into debt or an abyss of unhappiness. Which is why this year, my goal is to make $10k from my online selling ventures. This is to help supplement some of my ambitious financial goals such as buying a new house, saving for a wedding, and paying off all personal debts I accumulated at college.



My plan of attack is pretty straight forward: I’ll earn my $10k by selling products which I have been successfully selling for a few weeks now. I plan to make $200 per week (x 52 weeks = $10,400) by selling 10 items per week, each which will make me $20 per sale after the wholesale price, the shipping and fees. For the last few weeks I have been exceeding this goal, by making around $300 per week, so I am feeling pretty confident that I can achieve this.



So, my question to you, my fellow online selling friend, is what are your goals for 2010? Would you like to make enough sales to buy a new car, become a PowerSeller, perhaps? Or maybe you would like to set a goal of trying out some alternative eBay platforms, or set up your own ecommerce site?



Now as I mentioned earlier, I’m not much of a ‘resolution’ setter. This is because I like setting objectives which I can actually achieve. Most resolutions which are commonly set this time of the year, such as quitting chocolate, going to the gym 6 days per week, or learning Japanese are often a surefire way to fail at something, and that’s so not what The Goal of the Year is all about! So let’s put our realistic hats on, and get planning!



How to Set Achievable Goals (in 5 easy steps)



Step 1. Decide what it is you want to achieve. OK, I’ll let you start big here; if you want to become a full time seller, and quit your "offline job", than that’s OK, because you can break this larger goal down into smaller, more manageable milestones.



Step 2. Make a plan of attack. This is when breaking it down into smaller more manageable tasks is important. Just as I broke down my goal to make $10k in a year, into smaller, weekly goals, you too will need to dissect your goals.



So for example, if you wanted to become a full time seller, you would need to plan out how you could do this. Consider things like: how much will you need to earn to support yourself? (Don’t forget you will be paying taxes.) Can you afford to take a pay cut? (Your expenses will be reduced if you work from home, i.e. no more commuting to work, paid parking, or bought lunches.)



When you know how much you need to make, next think about the execution of this goal. Will you need to expand your product range? Should you sell your items across multiple auction sites? How can you make sure your listings rank well in eBay searches? Think about exactly how you can work towards your goal.



Step 3. Break it down. I’ve talked about my 20 minute rule before, and the reason being, is that it works! Aim to break your goals down into monthly, weekly and daily goals. When you can break it down to daily chucks, you are far more likely to stay on task, and not feel daunted by larger tasks which need attention. Start by doing 20 minutes per day, 5 days per week. You will be surprised at how much you will get done in that time, and within just a few weeks, it will become a habit.



Step 4: Maintain a positive mindset. Goals are fun! Don’t ever set goals that will do nothing but daunt you and cause you stress. You should set goals which get you excited about the results they will achieve.



For example, my goal of working hard to pay off debt isn’t exactly as inspiring, compared to say, saving for a vacation. But, I look at it positively, I think about how great it will feel when I have no credit card bills rolling in at the end of each month. I also love thinking about how nice the mortgage man will be to me when I go to ask him for a big fat home loan, once all my debts are paid.



In short, set goals which get you excited, not ones which make you scared.



Step 5. Write everything down. Ideally you should start this at the beginning of your goal-setting stage. There are three important things to write down: 1. Note exactly what you want, 2. What you need to do to achieve it, and 3. What it will mean to you – what it will feel like – once this goal is achieved.



Are you ready for 2010: The Year of the Goal? Let’s make it a big one, and please let me know what your goals are this year and how you plan to achieve them. If you want to hear more about how I am getting on with accomplishing my goals, let me know by leaving a comment below.