What is Your End Goal? Defining Success for your Business

When you know where you want to go, it’s a lot easier to get there. That said, many founders are laser focused on what they want to achieve in the next quarter or next year but don’t always know what their end goal looks like. Have you asked yourself, what does success look like for you and your business? 

What does success look like for you? 

Oftentimes the answer to this question can change over time. Traditionally, the answer to the question has often been people who said they wanted to take their company public, be acquired by a larger company or pass it on to the next generation but there are many other versions of what success looks like and it’s important to find the right one for you. For example, for a solopreneur working from home success may mean that you are consistently able to set profit from your business aside to fund family vacations to exotic locals. For another, success may look like being able to leave an unfulfilling job and transitioning to making enough revenue to sustain yourself part time or full time with your business. Yet again, you may want to be known as THE soap producer in Alberta. Considering your exit strategy from your business can also help you determine what success looks like. For example, ask yourself, do you want to sell one day? Would you be happy to be acquired? Would you want to transfer your business to an employee or family member? 

Looking Deeper- How Could It Fail? 

Once you’ve identified what success looks like for you it’s important to ask, is your goal realistic? Does it rely on others being involved (eg taking over from you). What obstacles might get in your way? In the world of project management, one way to help to think through more complex projects is to go through a Pre-Mortem exercise. This concept was first introduced by Gary Kelin who flipped the idea of a post-mortem, when participants assess what went wrong after a project and what could have gone better, to instead ask at the start of the project what could go wrong in the future. Essentially you are asking yourself, if I failed to meet this goal why would it have happened? By going through this type of exercise you are exposing assumptions that may not be true. (Learn more – How to Conduct a Project Pre-Mortem) Although it may seem strange to focus on why it could fail, doing so will help you to create a more robust plan that helps you to prevent those failures from happening in the first place. 

Reverse Engineer for Success

The other way to think through how to reach your business success story is to use reverse engineering. If you know where you want to go, what will you need to do over the next year, 5 years or 10 years to meet that goal? How will you measure your progress? How will you know if you’re successful? Put specific S.M.A.R.T. Goals in place and consider using Objectives and Key Results (OKR’s) for yourself and your team to make tangible steps towards your end goal. 

Setting Timelines & Creating Off Ramps

It’s key to also ask yourself what timelines you will work within. How long will you give yourself to achieve the goal? When would you call it quits, pivot or change your version of what success looks like? It’s okay to change your mind about what success looks like over time, every business and business owner evolves, and what you thought you wanted at one point in time may no longer be a fit now. Don’t be afraid to consider alternative off ramps or “plan B’s” if things change or you want to reach your goal sooner. Learn about a variety of exit strategies so you don’t fall into the trap of thinking success can only look one way. 

Still feeling confused? It can be helpful to talk through your ideas with someone. Consider booking a coaching session with Flagstaff Crafted to help you walk through your options and receive insightful feedback.