Blue Ribbon Consulting Newsletter

Blue Ribbon Consulting, LDO, LLC PO Box 435, New Ipswich, NH 03071 603-878-1694 Email: Lisa@horseconsulting.com

Blue Ribbon Business

SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Forging the Trail Ahead: Goal Setting and Achievement

So many great ideas….so little time….I’m sure you’ve felt this way before and perhaps feel it quite frequently. People that run their own horse business are often very creative, which is how you got into running your own business to begin with. And as the days roll by and you see what others are doing out in the industry you have some great ideas of new things you could be offering and doing as well. But you also know that your horse business is very demanding. Unless you are a highly disciplined person, you may feel that some of your ideas and goals are out of reach – that you simply don’t have a way to fit anything new into your day and your life.

One Tool – Many Uses

I was working recently with a group of career coaches and one of them offered a great tool that she uses with clients. The tool has a variety of applications. It can be used for your horse business, horse associations and committees that you are involved with, and in your personal life as well.

We’re going to look at the tool here for a three month timeframe, though it could also be adapted for longer timeframes. The benefit of a three month period is that you’ll be able to see the goals that you set become reality more clearly if you are working in a shorter timeframe. If a project is a long-term project, it can be easier to procrastinate and push tasks off longer, thinking you have time to catch up. So start by trying a three month goal. And then set another three month goal. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish in a year by tackling it this way. Click here to download the Time Management Chart

A Look at the Details

As you can see on the chart, the time period runs across the top of the chart horizontally, and each month is broken into four weeks. The far left column that runs vertically is where you identify core elements of your project or goal. These core elements can change based on your goals, so don’t think that once you establish your core elements that they are then written in stone for every project after that. That’s another benefit to using this tool – the flexibility it offers for adapting to different circumstances. The far right column identifies three goals in each core element that will lead to your ultimate goal. The bottom rows identify three priorities each month. An example has been started here to bring this to life. The goal will be to increase the number of riding lessons you are giving by 5%.

Begin at the end and be SMART

Now the real fun begins. Begin with the end in mind. Core areas to achieve the goal of increasing riding lessons could be: Program Development, Marketing, Resources. Once you’ve identified the core areas, establish the three month goals in each area that will lead to your ultimate goal. Remember to be SMART as you establish your goals. SMART refers to Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. This combination of qualities is the foundation for really turning your goals into reality.

In the example, three month goals for each core area have been established, and we’ll pick one goal in each area to take a look at. A combined strategy to increase lessons is being pursued. It includes acquiring new students, increasing sales to existing students, and adding a new program.

To acquire new students, you’ve chosen to evaluate the students you are currently serving so you can identify market gaps and then increase your push in these gap areas. To increase marketing to new audiences as well as amplify to current clients, a Facebook page is being established. To be sure the stable is ready for the increase in new students, resources are being evaluated to be certain they can accommodate the new population.

After the SMART three month goals have been chosen, work backwards again to fill out each goal on a weekly basis. Ask yourself: Where do I need to start? How many a month will I need to achieve? How many each week? Considerations here are whether you can assume you will achieve numbers right away or is there other groundwork you need to do first. If so, build that in too. Remember, this is supposed to be Attainable and Realistic! By establishing the weekly goals, you have given yourself a way to check in on your progress weekly.

The last step of this process is to complete the Monthly Priorities section. Your chart will be more filled in than this example because you will have also have filled in each week for all 3 goals in each core area. To determine your Monthly Priorities, take a look at each full month of the core area. You should be able to spot one priority from each one. In this example we have chosen: 1) Evaluate current student demographic because this tells a lot about who is already being serve and who isn’t; 2) Survey students as this can combine surveying interests and incentives, accomplishing more than one goal; and 3) Meet with instructors about goals because the instructors can be assigned separate pieces of the weekly goals. These Monthly Priorities give us a snapshot into how goal achievement is proceeding. If these haven’t been accomplished, the end goal is unlikely to be achieved. If you see that you haven’t accomplished these priorities at the end of the month, go back and look at the three month goals you chose and then look at the weekly goals. Were they SMART? If not, revamp them now.

This chart can be tacked up on your bulletin board, by your desk, on your refrigerator or wherever you will see it on a regular basis. Keep it in a spot that will remind you to keep working at it. Each month that you achieve your goals, give yourself a business blue ribbon. And at the end of three months you can celebrate when you have reached your goal! Give yourself a pat on the back, do a happy dance, and give some thought to your next goal.

More Core Elements

The demonstration chart here used Program Development, Marketing and Resources as core elements. More examples of core elements for other goals could include:

Money

Management

Motivation

Professional Development

Horses

Facility

Personnel

Boarding

Lessons

Events

If you have several locations, each location

Horse associations might additionally use:

Committees

Board

Membership

Fundraising

Public relations

As you can see, there are many ways this tool can help to organize your horse business, horse association or your own professional development goals. Ultimately it serves as the guide and strategy as you move forward. Taking the time to think about it and write it down gives it much more power. It is the first step to making your dreams come true.

For Your Consideration:

“It is not the mountain that we conquer but ourselves.” ~ Edmund Hillary

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” ~Karen Ravn

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” ~Diana Scharf Hunt