Every person should have a goal in life. A goal is something a person wants to achieve at all costs. To have a clear, well defined goal will help a person focus all his attention and strive towards its achievement. Sun’s rays can burn paper only when focused through a lens. In business goals are extremely important
You should have a long term goal and a short term goal. The short term goals should be small steps towards the achievement of the long term goal.
If you want to set up a business and get a million dollars in profit, it might not be possible to do it immediately. You should have a clear plan to achieve this goal.
IBM founder Watson said “aim high”. Aiming high is fine. But whether you have the ability to achieve the high goals you have set for yourself has to be thought about. Attaining smaller goals on the road to the ultimate success will give greater satisfaction. If you find that the goal you have set for yourself is not realistic you can target something which is more achievable.
Wanting to make millions of dollars is fine. But you have to ask yourself, how many people have succeeded in doing so. The aim should be to maximize your potential.
You should have the motivation to achieve any goal. You should always think about, your goal. It should be embedded in your sub-conscious mind.
I have found, telling others what you want to do, will drive you towards its achievement. President Charles De Gaulle used to his secretary that he would not smoke on a particular day. He would not smoke because he would belittle himself if he does so.
Some people do not need to set themselves any goal. They are highly motivated individuals, who would drive themselves to achieve things that ordinary mortals find impossible.
By: B.N. Sridhar
Posts Tagged ‘Business Goals’
Business Goals
February 23rd, 2010More than Words – Creating a Useful Business Plan
February 7th, 2010
You’ve heard it a million times: you must have a business plan to succeed. It’s a no-brainer in the world of small business. A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your company’s resume.
But more than that, your business plan should have a way for you to track progress and to identify tactical steps to that your plan is more than just words on paper, it is actually a document that is a part of your living, breathing business.
Sure, it might seem like a boring exercise to define the business you are in. But actually, many owners have gone broke because they never answered that question. Or, they never quite knew why they should or how to develop a business plan.
Let’s start with the basics. A business plan is a tool with three basic purposes: communication, management, and planning. As a communication tool, it is used to attract investment capital, secure loans, convince workers to join and assist in attracting strategic business partners. A complete business plan shows whether or not a business has the potential to make a profit. It requires an honest look at almost every phase of business and allows you to show that you have worked out all the problems and decided on potential alternatives before actually launching your business.
As a management tool, the business plan helps you track, monitor, and evaluate your progress. The business plan is a living document that you will modify as you gain knowledge and experience. By using your business plan to establish timelines and milestones, you can track your progress and compare your projections to actual achievements.
As a planning tool, the business plan guides you through the various phases of your business. A thoughtful plan will help identify obstacles so that you can avoid them and establish alternatives. Many business owners share their business plans with their employees to cultivate a broader understanding of where the business is going.
All three of those purposes are important, but be sure to particularly remember the management and planning aspect. That ensures that you are actively involved with executing your business plan and tracking the goals you’ve set out to achieve.
In Focus: The Useful Business Plan
In order to be a truly usable tool, a business plan should be a work-in-progress. Even successful, growing businesses should maintain a current business plan. It doesn’t need to be fancy, complicated or difficult, it just needs to be clear and manageable.
Remember, your goals are to show your expertise in your business, to “sell” your business to prospective customers (such as investors and employees), and to design a management tool that works for you.
Every successful business plan should include something about each of the following areas:
1. Executive Summary
2. Market Analysis
3. Company Description
4. Organization and Management
5. Marketing and Sales Management
6. Products and Services
7. Financials
8. Appendix
A solid business plan is more than just a few paragraphs on what you want your business to be, it is a step by step plan for how to get there. Start by brainstorming and recording everything you know for each of these areas of your business. Then, identify where you need more information in order to complete the sections.
Finally, include a checklist or table at the end of each section that highlights the main components of the section and allows you to track how you’re performing in each area. Commit to reviewing the plan monthly – either on your own or with other management employees – to track your progress.
For more information on developing your business plan, visit: http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/writeabusinessplan/index.html
By: Andrew Brown
IT Vital to Business Organizations
January 9th, 2010
The bottom line is that information technology plays an important role in the success of a business organization. The reality, however, is that not all companies realize this. Most business organizations see information technology only as an enabler when in fact it can be an effective business driver. They do not believe that information technology does reinforce their business goals. As a result, businesses concentrate only on their core competencies and relegate IT to a supporting role. This is a potentially costly blunder because while a company can stay in business, it needs information technology to be truly competitive.
The solution is to have a well thought-out IT vision. So what are the advantages of this to your business?
Businesses are becoming more and more competitive in their drive to be ahead of the game. Having a unique product or service is no longer enough for a company to achieve longevity. Information technology can help companies strengthen their positions in the market for it plays a key role in addressing the increasing demand for products and services.
It can also improve manufacturing capabilities significantly. Information technology also enables companies to embark into new investments and enter into business tie-ups. Furthermore, an information technology landscape plan can help companies achieve all these while lowering costs.
It is important for companies to have a clear-cut IT vision if it is to compete in an aggressive industry. A sound IT landscape strategy can mean tremendous business growth for a company. Businesses can implement their plan in stages. To begin with, a company can start putting in place improvements for domain functionalities such as R&D and F&D. They can then address transactional requirements, for example, ERP components such as payroll and accounting. Combining these into a single system makes for more efficient operations. They can then move on to content management systems. This component is important because it allows companies to maintain and organize the information exchange.
Workflow systems also need to be given due attention. An efficient workflow system makes for a productive business organization because it can bring about speedy accomplishment of tasks and it streamlines processes. Infrastructural requirements also need to be included in an IT landscape plan. For a business to realize optimum IT solutions, it must put in place the right combination of business software applications and hardware components.
Companies cannot afford to neglect their Integration Route for this is where the IT implementation plan will largely be based on. This part of the plan ensures that all aspects of the business work in proper conjunction with each other.
Businesses will soon realize the benefits of having an information technology strategy firmly rooted in their plans. For instance, they can have automated business processes, proper management of these processes and have an effective means of managing knowledge systems within the organization.
It may not be immediately recognizable but having an IT landscape plan can only mean growth for a company. This is because information technology magnifies efforts, expands capabilities and heightens effectiveness.
By: Benedict Yossarian
