To be most effective in running a business -any business-you should be a ‘goal-setter.' Your goals are what will give you purpose, direction and energy. A well-written goal is more likely to be achieved. Use the SMART approach for defining your goals. Goals must be...

Specific. A goal stating, "I am going to have a successful bookkeeping service" is too vague. A more appropriate goal would be, "I will have ten clients and be billing $3,000 per month by December 31st."

Measurable. Define the expected outcome. In the previous example, the goal will be met when when he or she has 10 clients.

Attainable. Concentrate on practicalities. Even an otherwise well-written goal is useless if it cannot be achieved within the allotted time. If you're only giving yourself a week to find ten clients, it is probably unattainable. Three to four months would be more like it.

Realistic. Reaching for the stars is an exhilarating way to approach goal-setting. But once you've targeted your dream goal, it's time to ask yourself, "How close can I come to achieving it? Do I need to rethink this and set some smaller, intermediate goals?"

Timed. Your ultimate goal can easily fade into the distant future unless you set a real deadline for achieving it. The same principle applies to all your goals. It's much easier to accomplish a goal if you have a definite time for doing it.

Author: Allen Bostrom, CPA