Setting and Reaching Goals

I have always been a goal oriented person. It is just how I get things that I want. Remember back when I wanted to sell 1000 bags in a year? Boy that seems like a long time ago! After I surpassed 3000 in a year, I pretty much quit counting bags and started setting financial goals. I was telling a girlfriend the other day how I look at my sales from the past year and think, "How can I turn that $25,000 account into a $30,000 account?". She laughed because as a successful business person, she has never had to do that. And here I thought everybody did that! When failure isn't an option, I feel like I always have to be on my toes and planning for the future.

Honestly, I look at things like that and for example if I want to increase my sales to one of my stores by $5000 for the year, I break it down into what it means for me as far as productivity. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, I figure that I would need to increase my sales by about $100 per week to achieve that particular goal. I then look at the type of bags that I sell to that particular account and figure out how many bags that translates into. It may mean developing a new design that will sell better in a particular location. Or concentrating on bags that require less time to produce since I haven't yet figured out how to extract extra time out of a day. (still working on that one).

Looking back on life, I recall planning for family vacations a year in advance so that we would have the funds to cover hotel, gas, food and fun. Other things in life I really don't like to plan too far in advance. If I have to make an appointment for something a week from now like getting my hair cut, it stresses me out. I don't like having to be someplace at a particular time when I don't know what next week will bring. But when it comes to $$$, I like to plan. That is why I am having a sale in my Etsy store for the next 7 hours. I have monthly goals that I would like to achieve in my own retail sales and this month is nearly over with me being SO close to my monthly goal! So I am giving a 25% discount to all of my facebook friends and fans when they use a code. It will put me over my goal and be a nice "mahalo" to all of my customers. I may be utilizing this sale technique throughout the year when I have a goal I need to reach. So be on the look out towards the end of each month to see what I am offering.

I have lots of goals. Some are business related, others are health and fitness related and some are just related to being a good person. Will I reach them all? Probably not all of them. But one thing is certain. Without setting goals I wouldn't achieve any of them. So as I embark on a new year, I am setting goals and dreaming big.

How about you? Do goals keep you focused? Have you thought about goals you may have for this year? All my best to you.

a hui hou