When you own a small business, short- and long-term goals are a necessity, but there are factors that can, and should, alter your course.
And while you can change your objectives at any time, there are some circumstances that would indicate you should be doing so, said Michael Pearl, a business professor at Seneca College, school of business management."When you hit a roadblock and you need to readjust, then it's time to change your goals," Pearl said. "Or, when you've lost sight of what you're actually trying to do because it's either too much or too little...or if circumstances change, you should change your goals."One of the main motivators for change is not meeting your sales goals or revenue benchmark. Pearl said when this happens, you have to adjust because you were too enthusiastic in terms of what you thought you would reach."Money, or your lack of it, is a symptom of a problem. It's not your problem, it's what's affecting the money that's the problem. Either it's income or it's outflow," Pearl said. "In any business enterprise your goals are wide-reaching so they have to be specific."Pearl said it's one thing to say, "I want my business to grow," but how is it going to grow? Will growth be attained through more product, more sales and revenue streams, hiring more employees? The more specific your goals are the more likely you are to achieve them.But altering goals doesn't always have to equal a negative circumstance. Pearl said maybe you've done better than anticipated and you need to alter your goals to keep the business growing and yourself challenged."Goals are there to provide incentives, they are motivators so you set goals in order to achieve something, but sometimes we overshoot and as a consequence you may lose your drive and you get discouraged," Pearl said.Be honest about whether you need to, or want to, adjust your goals. Being an independent entrepreneur can be difficult, especially if you are newly in business, so make sure you are altering your course out of necessity, not because you are overwhelmed."Timing is a critical part of that in terms of how long has this been going on," Pearl said. "One hopes that things keep moving in a certain direction...so the question becomes, have you given yourself enough of an incentive to move forward or is this just a lull?" Pearl said there are several circumstances that could merit altering your goals, but either way, the key is not to lose sight of your long-term goals."Even if something happens in the short term, it may be just a bit of a glitch, but it shouldn't alter your medium- and long-term goals," he said. "Keep your eye on the prize, just alter the course to get there."