There’s a famous saying, “Failure to plan, is planning to fail”. It’s a near certainty that if you don’t have clearly defined goals for your business, and a clear plan to achieve them that you won’t succeed. However, many people start an online business without clearly defined goals, and then wonder why they never see the success they desire.

I’m lucky that I was introduced to the concept of goal setting from my time in Network Marketing. I was encouraged to set big goals by my mentor and at the end of my first year in that business I decided to set a goal of £100,000 (approx $200,000 USD) in sales in my second year. Even though I was only running that business on a part time basis, I achieved that goal and more, and I’m positive that without a clearly defined goal, and a well thought out plan to keep me on track, I wouldn’t have come close. I now use the same principles to set goals, and plan for everything I do.

People start online businesses for many reasons. They may already have a business and want to expand into the online realm, it may be a way of earning some extra money in the evenings and weekends around a job, it could be a hobby or past-time which slowly develops into a business, or in some cases, people start a business with the intention of building a long-term residual income.

The problem however, is that more often than not, online businesses are started without a long term goal in mind. And without something solid to focus on, it’s all too easy to lose focus and interest, especially in the early phases of an online business when the income may not be enough to keep motivation up by itself.

Attitude + Skills + Effort = Success

This is true, except that it leaves out one vital component - vision. A person with a great attitude, lots of skills, and who puts in lots of effort can still be knocked off track, lose focus and fail if they don’t have the vision to see a project through to fruition. On the other hand, someone with a massive goal, clearly defined, and the belief that they can accomplish it, will find a way even if they are lacking in skills!

Start with a goal

A goal is a ‘dream with a deadline’ and needs to be large enough to get you through the highs and lows of any business. At the same time, a goal needs to be achievable (remember Napoleon Hill’s words, “What man can conceive, and believe, he can achieve”).

Be specific

“A big house” or “A fast car” are not goals. If you’re a car enthusiast, and driving a big fast car is one of your primary goals then you need to be specific about it. You need to know the model, the colour, what it looks like, and feels like. Our unconscious brain works through vision and feelings, so if you want that big car goal to drive you to success you need to make it real. Many people suggest getting a picture of your goal, and hanging it on the wall where you’ll see it every day. I say that’s not enough - you need to ‘feel it’ not just look at it. Call the dealership and book a test drive, feel the steering wheel in your grip, listen to the engine, smell the leather seats - those are what make it real and will help to program your brain that you can achieve this!

Timely

If you have no deadline on a goal then you have no sense of urgency. Only a goal which has a clearly defined deadline will be of any use to you. I am getting married next year. We have planned the wedding for June, as we have a goal to mountain bike from Banff in Canada, down through the Rocky Mountains to the Mexican border and to catch the weather window we need to leave in August. That’s a pretty big goal as it means taking 3 months off work, and we have a very specific time frame. This should mean that the snows will have melted in the high passes before we reach Colorado, but if we were to leave much later we’d be likely to hit New Mexico in monsoon season. This makes it a perfect goal… We are both passionate about the trip and will do whatever is necessary to make it happen, and due to the timeframe we have a strict deadline to adhere to. Working from that goal backwards, we know how much we need to earn from our businesses before then, and that the business must be automated enough by then that we can safely take 3 months out. (Note: This is a photo of our route map, on the wall of our living room where it acts as a constant reminder of our goal every day!)

Stepping stones

A major long term goal is great, but you need smaller ’stepping stone’ goals along the way. Our trip to the Rockies next year is actually a ’stepping stone’ goal, while our major long term goal is to move to France and buy a chateâu. We also have smaller monthly goals to help keep us on track.

Stepping stone goals

Without these smaller ‘reward’ goals, it’s too easy to lose motivation. By achieving the smaller goals you get a sense of achievement which in turn helps your belief in reaching your main goals. These stepping stones should follow the same basic rules as your bigger goals, in that they need to be something you are passionate about and will drive you, they need to be clearly and specifically defined, and they need to have a clear deadline. The only difference is that they are shorter term and easier to achieve.

Take time to set goals

Spend some time to define your goals properly. Ask yourself why you are building a business online, what are you trying to achieve? What is is that you want out of life? Where do you want to live? What car do you want to drive? Do you want to travel?

The beauty of an online business is that, if planned and executed well, it can give you whatever you want and the flexibility to enjoy it. Don’t be tempted to skip this exercise, it will pay you massive dividends.

If you’re looking for more information on Goal setting then read Jim Rohn’s Seven Strategies for Wealth and Happiness.