Setting and achieving financial growth goals is essential for any business that wants to chart a path to long-term success. But without a clear plan, companies can quickly find themselves facing financial issues and struggling to make ends meet. As a leader, how do you actually work towards these goals, and go about bringing your vision to fruition?
In this article, we’ll discuss how to set (and achieve) financial growth goals for your company. From setting realistic financial targets, developing a roadmap for achievement, and measuring progress along the way, there are many tools that can be put in place. With an effective plan, businesses can ensure that they reach their financial goals and achieve their long-term strategic objectives.
Define Success for Your Company
Before you can achieve financial success, you must first define it. But what is financial success? In truth, the definition of success varies from company to company, and is dependent on the individual goals and objectives set by the executive leadership team.
Here are some of many examples of what financial success could look like:
- increased revenue
- greater profits
- reduced expenses
- maximized cash flow
- expanded market share
- more access to financing options
Regardless of what success means to you in this stage of your company’s growth, crafting your own definition is key when it comes to setting financial goals for your business. By developing a vision and understanding what success looks like within your organization, you will have much-needed clarity as your company grows.
Having an aim to measure progress against is critical to moving the needle forward. But beyond numbers and data points, developing a clear vision for the future – and sharing it with your team – is also likely to result in increased employee productivity and morale.
Set Achievable Goals
Once you have solidified an overarching vision for success, you can begin to develop the roadmap to get you there. This begins by setting both short-term and long-term goals to help guide your path.
In setting goals for the months, quarters, and years to come, it is critical to ensure that you are setting targets that are both relevant and achievable, with a realistic timeline and doable results.
While setting benchmarks is key, so is allotting regular time to review progress and make adjustments as necessary. At Blueprint CFO, we recommend having routine monthly financial meetings with key players. This helps hold your team accountable, address any notable issues observed within the financial and/or operational data, and allow the team to actively recommit to your vision for success.
Measure Your Progress
Data is key to objectively understanding where your business stands financially and operationally. But when you are bombarded with a ton of data, it can be difficult to sift through the numbers and understand what matters, and what doesn’t.
Defining success is one thing, but understanding how close you are to achieving it is another. In order to achieve the latter, you must link your definition of success to relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
KPIs – or quantifiable metrics that reflect progress towards business objectives – can serve a number of functions. They can…
- give you a current snapshot of how you are performing in key areas
- provide insight to help you identify trends over time
- showcase strengths and areas of improvement
In summary, key performance indicators can help you take your definition of success and define the driving metrics behind it. With a microscope on these data points, you can make tweaks and strategic adjustments that have the potential to make a huge impact on your business.
With data-driven insights in hand, along with a personal definition for success and a roadmap to achieve it, your company can turn hypothetical hopes into attainable plans and achieve your best financial year(s) yet.
Looking for a profitability partner as you work towards your company’s growth goals? Our rockstar team of fractional CFOs and accountants at Blueprint CFO can help. Reach out today!
