When setting financial goals for a business, ensure they’re precise, realistic, and achievable. Break them down into short-term and long-term objectives and define what steps to take to achieve them.
Financial goals are essential for managing your finances well, making informed decisions, and staying on track.
Below is a curated guide on setting and achieving your business’s financial goals.
Process for Setting and Hitting Financial Goals for a Business
Setting financial goals often equates to defining an action plan that establishes accountability for completing every task. You can achieve this by involving your team throughout the process.
Here’s the process for setting and achieving your business’ financial goals.
1. Identify the Desired Outcome
The first step in setting financial goals is to define your desired outcome. What objectives do you want to achieve? What does your business need to succeed?
For example, does increasing profits require more sales or lower expenses? Or do your operations need to become more efficient? Identifying your desired outcome helps you create the ideal plan of action to achieve your objectives.
2. Set a Timeline
Author Benny Lewis says, “There are seven days in a week, and ‘someday’ is not one of them.” Create a time-sensitive frame for achieving every objective and focus on beating deadlines. Doing so helps you keep the goal on track and ensure consistent progress.
3. Establish a Budget
Budgeting, a written plan for spending your business’s money, is the foundation of all your financial goals.
Startup cash flow often puts young companies in a precarious position, but budgeting can help you manage your cash. A budget should outline the resources you need to achieve your goal and include everything from personnel to materials and other costs such as marketing and advertising.
A budget gives you the confidence to properly allocate your company resources to make the proper steps toward your goal.
4. Set Target Goals
Set target goals that are:
- Measurable
- Achievable within the timeline set
- Realistic given the resources at hand
Breaking down the target goals into small chunks can help you plan and measure the resources necessary for each sub-goal. For instance, if you want to increase sales by 10%, you first calculate customer acquisition costs. Set a deadline and then design the steps you’ll take to achieve this goal.
5. Monitor Progress
After setting measurable, realistic, and achievable financial goals for your business, staying on track requires you to monitor progress regularly. Set up weekly or monthly meetings with your team to review how close you are to achieving your goals.
A consistent review rhythm helps you quickly identify and address any potential issues that arise, as well as any potential opportunities for improvement.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a great way to track progress. Fractional CFO services can help you develop processes and procedures for accurately and consistently calculating and managing your KPIs.
6. Make Adjustments
Life is often full of surprises that sometimes make it hard to stick to our initial financial plans. However, you can stay the course if you’re flexible and prepared for the unexpected. Be ready to adjust your goals, timelines, or budgets to ensure the goal is still achievable.
The first step toward making adjustments is assessing the impact of the unexpected occurrence. Once you’ve calculated the impact on your budget, you can cut back on expenses or shift resources to help you make up for the cost of the uncertainty.
7. Celebrate Success
Many founders and managers get so wrapped up in working hard on their goals that they forget an essential aspect of building a robust business: celebrating wins. Celebrating an achieved milestone motivates and boosts your confidence to tackle the next set of objectives.
An American Psychological Association (APA) survey indicates that although most businesses recognize their achievements, very few felt that their company celebrated company-wide results. But recognition can improve the company’s reputation, increases team productivity, and helps them attract and retain top talent. It can help you build momentum and is even better when you involve your team.
Here’s how you can celebrate your successes:
- Promote or increase the salaries of your team
- Take your team members out for celebratory meals and drinks
- Organize a day for outdoor activities
- Give your team a paid day off
- Set up a hall of fame and showcase star performers
- Buy your team gifts
Reach Your Financial Goals
Setting financial goals is an essential aspect of building a successful business. Precise, measurable, and attainable objectives help you manage your finances better and keep your business moving in the right direction.
But like many aspects of business building, setting and achieving financial goals can feel daunting.
A competent partner who understands the challenges of growing a startup can be crucial in establishing systems for creating and reaching meaningful goals. The financial experts at Founder’s CPA can help. Contact us today to get started.
