BETTE R BUSI N ESS
October 2019
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IMPORTANT GOALS How you approach the goal-setting process in your financial planning business is fundamental to the success you will achieve as a result of it. But how can you ensure you are doing the right thing and taking the steps that will generate the results you strive for? Brett Davidson of FP Advance has sound practical tips on a process you can follow in order to boost success
T
he outcomes we experience in our businesses are directly correlated to the decisions we make, and the actions we take, on a daily basis.
It’s accepted wisdom that setting goals in business is important. Yet I’ve seen a range of different approaches fail. Let me give you some insight into what works best. There are different types of goals. Who knew?
I find a lot of business owners are intimidated by the BHAG. Here’s my theory on why that is and what to do about it. Lots of financial planning firms I’m working with have just cracked £1m of annual revenue, and at times getting there has been pretty hard. However, at £1m of revenue I believe the next focus needs to be £3m and £5m of annual revenue; even though £2m might seem like the logical next step.
THE BHAG
However, when I suggest this to business owners this is what happens:
First of all, there’s your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). The 10 or 15 years out version that needs to be a big stretch. By definition, this one needs to be about 20% believable.
When I say, let’s aim for £3m, they think to themselves, “If doing £1m of revenue hurts this much, doing £3m will hurt three times as much and I’ll die.” They don’t say this out loud, of course, but I know that’s what’s going through their mind.
Just to be clear, 20% believable is almost unbelievable. It’s barely believable. It’s almost inconceivable. That’s what I mean by 20% believable. If you find that your BHAG is 90% believable you haven’t set a BHAG.
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If you find yourself thinking or feeling something similar, at whatever level of revenue you are doing now, let me explain another way to think about it
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