1. Set SMART Goals

Focus your efforts and increase your chances of achieving your goals by the SMART guideline: Specific, Measurable, Achievable (Attainable), Realistic, and Time-Bound.

Start by defining your top three business goals for the next four quarters. Then, with those in mind, do some research to help you decide on the best way to achieve those three goals – and a reasonable timeline for meeting specific targets. 

2. Redefine Your Brand

Is the elevator pitch you used a year ago – even six months ago – still accurate? Unless you are crystal clear on who you are as a construction company, whom you're here to serve, and what you hope to achieve in the next one to three years, it's going to be hard to come up with meaningful goals.

Getting leads and doing the work is only part of the answer. Not answering them and acting on the knowledge is one reason why so many contractors' companies wither and die. They focus on the wrong areas to innovate or improve. They focus on the wrong enemy and threat. As a result, they miss what they could be doing to succeed and prosper over time.

Take a look at your company vision, mission statement, and core values. Next, define the contracting you offer and who your competition is. It may not be the same form, structure, and category that you operate. For example, Home Depot does not see itself as competing in the building supply business but for a share of the home and commercial remodel and repair market. Instead, be that homeowner doing a weekend project, Handyman Contractors, Remodel Contractors, Trade Contractors, and other contractors and House Builders.

If your brand needs tweaking to reflect where your construction business is today and where you want it to go, start there. Then you can move on to setting some beneficial long and short-term goals.

3. Big Picture Planning

Construction business owners dream big—and they should! Thinking big can lead to groundbreaking products and services that become the foundation of innovative, successful companies.

When it comes to goal-setting, thinking big is great, too. But to make those big ideas like "increasing market share" or "growing profits" happen, you need to break them down into smaller, specific goals and strategies tied to a budget and timeline.

For instance, while your overarching objective may be to "grow profits by 50% by December 31", your smaller goals might include:

• Launching a social media campaign the first week of March to attract 2,500 new prospects by months' end; or
• Increasing total sales by 40% by establishing an online presence (Business Website) by August 1. 

Again, the key is to define goals that are measurable and achievable.

4. Define Smaller Goals

Thinking through how you'll achieve your broader objectives can be a fun exercise – one you can turn into a group activity, including your entire team. First, sit down and discuss what you know about your customers. Next, review your historical sales data and look over your current budget and forecasting. 

With all the relevant information at hand and everyone at the table, you can develop strategies that align with your construction company vision, assign deadlines, and get buy-in on what everyone needs to do to see your ideas through to completion.

It is easy to get caught up in the short term and what you have today. You measure your share in the particular segment you operate in and obsess about your immediate competition just as contractors who did not market effectively did years ago. But you need to step back and ask yourself the three key questions and make sure you answer them in a way that will define and liberate your construction company at the same time.

1. What are you offering?
2. Who is your competition?
3. What is your actual competency?

Final thoughts

It's worthwhile to take some time to reflect on your personal goals as you think through your business goals. For example, maybe you've wanted to get involved in mentoring, improve your networking skills, or attend more conferences. Self-development is, in a sense, professional development – and vice versa, so include them in your plans.

Of course, coming up with business goals is just one part of the equation. You'll also need to monitor your progress, note milestones, and share your company achievements with your team regularly. Tracking your results will help your employees stay motivated – and it also gives you the chance to adjust your goals and strategies in time to achieve the best possible results by year's end.

Happy 4th of July!

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