82: 6 Questions to Help You Crush Your 2025 Business Goals
Ready to make 2025 the year your business dreams finally become reality?
In this episode, Heather guides you through six simple but powerful questions to help you nail down your business goals for the new year. She talks about setting realistic goals, getting clear on your finances, and planning launches that don’t stress you out.
Plus, learn why it’s so important to prepare for potential setbacks (because life happens!) with a solid backup strategy, and identify the next steps for scaling your business.
Grab a notebook, hit play, and get ready to make 2025 your best year yet!
Key Takeaways:
- (02:11) Six Questions to Guide Your Business Goals
- (03:38) Financial Goals and Realistic Expectations
- (06:15) Planning Your Sales and Launches
- (09:10) Adjusting and Scaling Your Business
- (11:42) Achieving Big Goals and Final Thoughts
Listen to Episode 80: Navigating Slow Seasons in Your Business
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Planning a Successful Year: Six Essential Questions for 2025 Business Goals
Here’s a comprehensive guide to aid you in setting and achieving your business goals for the upcoming year. Drawing from personal experience and proven strategies, Heather shares six pivotal questions to guide you through the goal-setting process.
1. Visualize Your Future: What Do You Want Your Business and Life to Look Like?
The first step in setting impactful business goals is envisioning your desired future. What changes would make your life more fulfilling and your business more successful?
Heather emphasizes understanding both what you wish to improve upon and what positives you want to amplify. Reflect on your current dissatisfactions and pin down exactly why these areas need change. Conversely, identify the elements that bring you joy and think about ways to enhance them.
Balancing your professional aspirations with your personal life goals—such as achieving flexibility to prioritize family—sets a comprehensive foundation.
2. Financial Aspirations: How Much Money Do You Want to Make?
Money often drives the feasibility of many dreams. It’s crucial to set financial goals that are ambitiously realistic.
Heather advises against simply picking a pie-in-the-sky figure, instead suggesting a carefully considered amount based on your current business performance and potential growth. For instance, if your business has been steadily generating six-figure profits, aiming to double that amount could be both challenging and achievable.
Remember, setting high but realistic financial goals can fuel your motivation and strategic planning.
3. Path to Revenue: How Will You Make That Money?
Once you’ve set your financial target, the next step is outlining a concrete plan to attain it. This involves clarifying what products or services you will offer and mapping out how often you need to launch or sell these offerings.
If you’re new to launching, you might rely on educated guesses and feedback, but having a well-structured plan significantly enhances your chances of success. Understanding your market and previous performance metrics can inform the frequency and strategy behind your sales efforts.
4. Planning Your Year: When Will You Sell?
Scheduling your sales and launches in advance helps maintain a steady business pace and ensures you aren’t overwhelmed.
Heather suggests using a large wall calendar to mark significant launch dates and vacation periods. For her, avoiding overlapping projects was a key lesson learned in 2024. Planning helps balance work with personal life, making sure you’re working hard during busy seasons and enjoying downtime when needed.
Taking this structured approach ensures that business activities are well-coordinated and sustainable across the year.
5. Contingency Planning: How Will You Adjust If Sales Fall Short?
No launch goes perfectly every time, and having a contingency plan is essential.
Heather emphasizes the importance of flexible planning and adjusting strategies if a launch doesn’t meet financial expectations. Ideas like incorporating flash sales, introducing additional products, or engaging in collaborations can mitigate unforeseen shortfalls.
Scheduling major launches earlier in the year can provide cushion periods to adjust tactics if initial launches underperform.
6. Scaling Up: What’s Your Next Step to Scale?
Growth is an integral part of a thriving business. To scale effectively, it’s crucial to identify your next step, whether it’s hiring your first team member or launching a new product.
Heather encourages having a clear, actionable plan ready for when you feel prepared to scale up. Without this strategic planning, it’s easy to stagnate. For many, scaling means expanding the team to handle increased workload or venturing into new markets.
Determine what scaling looks like for your business and put mechanisms in place to facilitate this growth when the time comes.
Setting clear, actionable goals aligned with your personal aspirations and business capabilities can transform your vision into reality.