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Going From Thinking To Setting Goals

Do you have a goal for your business? Do you have a long-held dream for your company that you hope to accomplish someday? If so, you’ve probably given it a lot of thought. In fact, you’ve probably thought about it, overanalyzed it and then thought about it some more. However, there’s a big difference between thinking about something and setting goals to accomplish it.

Taking a thought and turning it into a goal makes it more real because now you’re setting a timeline and creating an action plan for something that’s been floating around in your head for a long time. In fact, if you want to up the ante for yourself, talk to someone you trust about your goal and ask him or her to hold you to it. This is a great way to add motivation and hold yourself accountable.

As you start formulating specific goals, start weeding out negative thoughts. Setting goals with the thought of failure looming over your head won’t start you off on the right foot. Is failure possible? Sure. But should that possibility influence how you set goals for yourself? Probably not. Take on a mentality of problem-solving instead of negativity.

When you’re working to take your thoughts and dreams and make them a reality, go ahead and get comfortable with the thought of hard work. It’s simply an inevitable part of achieving any type of success. When you’re setting goals, don’t shy away from challenging yourself. Anything worthwhile requires a little sweat equity and a willingness to keep going when things get difficult.

Finally, be kind to yourself. It’s not likely that you’ll accomplish every single goal you set — and that’s okay! Celebrate every success, and be comfortable with the possibility of not getting everything you hope you will. These are great opportunities for growth and ingenuity, and you can always adjust and make changes when setting goals for the next thing you want to accomplish.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Succession Planning For Your Small Business

As an entrepreneur, you put a lot of time, energy and effort into running your small business. You probably also remember quite well how difficult those first few months and years were just getting the company off the ground and taking only a few small steps forward at a time. When your company is still young or you believe you have several good years of entrepreneurship left in you, what will happen to your company after you step away is probably not on the forefront of your mind. Whether it’s through your passing or your retirement, something will happen to the business you worked so hard to build — and you have the right and ability to decide what will happen next through succession planning.

Succession planning for small business is often overlooked, but it’s extremely important. It’s more than just including a few lines in your estate plan. It involves creating a plan that will allow you to decide who will run your business next or what steps will be needed in the event of a sale of the company. As the owner, you can decide what will happen and how it will happen, down to even the small details. This is also important if you plan on selling at some point in the future. Your planning and future perspective when creating plans for your business can make it seem more appealing to potential buyers.

Whether you want to retire to a beach someday or hope that your son or daughter will follow in your footsteps down the road, you can start today by planning your business succession strategy. In the day-to-day operations of your business, it’s easy to overlook this important step, but you would be wise to put some protections and contingency plans in place for your own peace of mind, as well as for your successors and beneficiaries.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Keeping Gossip To A Minimum Is Good For Business

Most employers are aware of why it’s so important to strive for and maintain positive work environments. When they can achieve this, they will have better, happier employees who are more dedicated to working hard and accomplishing goals. But how can one cultivate a more positive environment? This involves much more than just being friendly with each other. It’s about building genuine respect and relationships, starting with eliminating gossip. The rumor mill and spreading gossip is a part of virtually every workplace, and it can be incredibly damaging. While employers cannot control every action and word of their employees, they can strive to make it very clear that disrespect for coworkers is not acceptable.

People often justify gossip by saying they were simply “venting” to someone who was willing to provide a listening ear. Employers can encourage their workers to discuss their frustrations by going directly to the person with whom they have a problem or allowing workers to speak directly with them without fear of punishment. It’s always better to deal with interpersonal issues head-on instead of turning to the rumor mill when things get difficult. After the initial frustration gets repeated a few times, the entire situation is typically misrepresented and inflamed to the point where it’s not reflective of what actually happened.

Employers can take strides to encourage employees to speak positively with and about one another. This does not mean that people cannot be honest or genuine with each other, but it does mean that even the most negative of issues are dealt with in a positive manner. Employees should also be encouraged to help each other, refuse to repeat negativity and even speak out when someone is repeatedly the source of negative and defamatory language.

One of the most important jobs that an employer has is to protect his or her employees. This includes protecting them from vicious and negative words and providing them with a work environment that is respectful and safe. Reducing gossip is not only a mark of a mature company with mature employees, it is good for the emotional and mental health of everyone who works there.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Why You May Need To Simplify Your Business Goals

If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? This is true both in life and in business, which is why it’s important to have clear and specific goals for both. You probably have professional goals for your career or your business, but it’s always smart to revisit those goals from time to time to make sure you’re on track. A careful and honest assessment of your goals and objectives for the future of your business may reveal the need to simplify your business goals.

Over time, it’s easy to lose track of why you started off in a specific direction or started pursuing a specific end goal. Business and life are complicated, and what worked originally may not be accurate or reasonable now. The same holds true for your goals — there is no harm or shame in adjusting your goals for your business. In fact, one of the most important changes that you can make is to simplify your business goals. For some, incremental goals may work, but it can also muddy the waters too. If you’re chasing too many things at once or you are having trouble articulating exactly what you hope to accomplish, it may be time to revisit some things.

It may be more beneficial and effective to set one big goal for your company. Setting several smaller goals may seem more feasible, but a simple objective that pertains to the entire team may help keep your people (and yourself) on track, allow you to streamline tasks and allow everyone to have a personal stake in reaching that one goal. The smaller things you will have to achieve to reach your main goal will flow naturally from that single benchmark.

If you need to simplify your business goals, you may want to start by taking an honest look at the goals you originally set for your company and where you are now. Do these goals still work? Are they still meaningful to yourself and your team? Do they still make sense in light of what your company has accomplished so far? These are just a few questions that can help you see the right way forward with your goal-setting process.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

What Do You Need To Be Your Best Self?

No one is perfect, and even the most successful people have flaws and shortcomings that often stand between themselves and their goals. There are times when you will find that external factors are impeding your success, but other times, it may actually be YOU that is standing between yourself and your goals. How can you know when you’re standing in your own way? There are a few things you can do to develop habits of self-improvement and to maintain a goal of becoming your best self.

Your best self not a perfect person — no one can ever attain this goal. However, like everyone else, there are probably some things you can work on in your effort to improve, grow and succeed. Allowing yourself to change and develop is not always an easy process. In fact, growth can be quite painful. One thing you can do to become a better version of yourself is to try new things. It’s amazing what you can learn simply by allowing yourself to engage in a new experience. Complacency is the enemy, so think of a few things you need to do or have been wanting to try and go for it. 

Being the best version of yourself also means not giving up on your dreams. Maybe you’ve left some of your long-held hopes for the future on the wayside because they seemed too out of reach or crazy. Maybe it’s time to revisit those dreams, and with a little tweaking and reimagining, you can start pursuing those goals again. This means setting aside your fear and doubts, but this is good for your personal development.

Your best self also means treating others well. It’s easy to get caught in a “me first” mentality when it comes to your career and professional life, but don’t get stuck there. Be kind. Respect the voices and talents of others. Be honest in all of your business dealings. Try hard and work diligently, even when you don’t think anyone is watching. As counterintuitive as it may seem, being the best that you can be may actually mean putting others before yourself.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC