What’s that well-known quote? “A goal without a plan is just a wish”? Yes, I think that’s right.
Let’s talk about how goal setting took me from working in this small home office to growing my team, designing $10m homes, tripling my revenue, and finding personal fulfillment in my business.
Even worse than not making a plan to achieve your goals is not writing down your goals at all. Being five years into owning my business, yearly goal setting has been one of the best things I have consistently done to help grow my business in both profitability and personal fulfillment. As a business owner, it’s important to define your personal goals and your business goals and how they work together. Do you want to work less hours? Spend more time with family? Take home more money? All of these personal life goals are impacted by the goals and actions you take within your business. As the owner, the benefit to being the boss is building the life of your dreams on your own terms and timeline.
Flashback to being a small business owner in 2015
Back in 2015, I was a year into owning my business, and I decided to take an entire day to evaluate where I was and where I wanted to go. I called it my Professional Development Day, and it was one of the best traditions I established for myself and my business. Then 27 years old, I’m actually quite impressed by the foresight I had in taking that step, and here’s what I took away from that day. I realized I was DOING IT ALL WRONG. While my Goal Setting Worksheet has evolved over the years, I took myself through a similar series of questions that made me realize I had been in survival mode for the past 12 months. I was working on 17 homes, and of those 17 homes, only 4 of them were my ideal client. Sound familiar? Being new to owning a business, I happily grasped onto any project that came my way. The benefit was consistent cashflow for the first year. The downside? I was overly busy with the wrong kind of work. I had started Fuchsia Design with a specific vision for my business and this was not it. Even worse, I realized that if the ideal client did come along, I was too busy to take their project because of the 13 other homes I was working on that didn’t fit my long-term goals and strengths. I also realized that I was severely undercharging for my services in fear that no one would hire me which lead to clients who didn’t value my talents or my time.
I left my very first Professional Development Day deciding to start saying, “no” to projects unless they fit my longterm goals, and to triple my hourly rate to be more in tune with industry standards (talk about terrifying.). Within 8 months, I had a fully booked schedule entirely with the right types of clients, I was able to grow my team, I tripled my yearly gross revenue, and I was less overwhelmed at the end of each day. I had intentionally curated a list of clients that made me feel fulfilled in my work and who were fully benefiting from the wide-range of expertise my company offers.
When I say this goal setting exercise is powerful, I mean it. Putting together these questions and reflecting on my goals each year has allowed me to continue to grow and stay intentional in my business, and today I want to share this exercise with you.
Below is a free download for 5 Steps to Achieving the Business You Want. Take a day to do the exercise, and then tell me: What lightbulb moments did you have while going through this exercise? Comment below - I’d love to hear!