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Remember the business goals you set back in January of this year?

When I look at what I planned to do back then, I have to laugh. COVID-19 capsized everything.

Here we are heading into autumn and the economy is still struggling to recover, so many businesses have closed or are barely hanging on, and back-to-school is a mess of uncertainty.

If you haven’t hit the business benchmarks you set for yourself so many months ago, I can relate. So much of what we thought we could count on to grow our businesses this year has spiraled out of our control.

For me, the stress associated with prolonged uncertainty is exhausting; I think we’re all feeling it in our personal lives.

But there are ways you can give your business a good dose of immunity. Now is actually the perfect time to reboot and set business goals that you can control for the rest of the year.

Keep it real

In more normal times, pushing yourself to reach a “stretch” goal is a good thing. But these are not normal times. When we’re already anxious and worried about the future, it’s important to set business goals that feel achievable. Why make yourself feel worse by setting goals that you know are just too much to tackle right now?

For example, say you set a goal of landing five new clients by the end of October.

If you know it’s going to be a really big push to hit that number within that timeframe, take a few moments to stop and really think about everything that will need to go into that effort.

Will it mean jumping at every possible online networking opportunity, ramping up your social media presence to broadcast your services or products, reaching out to previous and current clients to encourage repeat purchases, and more?

Realistically, do you have the time to invest in this mega marketing over the next 60 days? If you think you do, how much is it going to stress you out?

Keep in mind what else is going on in your life right now. Are you helping your kids with remote learning? Do you have other life priorities to manage? In addition to your business, do you have a full- or part-time job that demands a good portion of your time?

To lower the stress quotient in these crazy times, you need to be brutally honest with yourself about what you actually can and can’t achieve right now.

When you set realistic business goals within the framework of your current circumstances – even if those goals aren’t quite as shiny and impressive as you’d like them to be right now – you set yourself up for a positive outcome.

You want to feel good about what you’re doing, and success always feels good.

Must have vs. nice to have

If you’re beyond the launch phase and have experienced any degree of success in your business, you’ve started to learn which marketing tactics and strategies generate the best results for you.

These approaches will change as your business grows but right now, with so much unpredictability and change around us, your best bet is to focus on the one or two strategies that have worked well for you and that have the greatest potential to attract the most promising customers or clients over the next few months.

Social media content that engages and educates, video tutorials, brand storytelling, blogging, lead magnets, email marketing… whatever has worked and is manageable now within your current schedule… should be your marketing priority.

To hit the goal that you honestly believe is achievable for you at present, put every other marketing strategy and tactic aside – for now.

Seal it with a KISS

Fun fact: back in 1960, the U.S. Navy came up with an acronym to help members of the military fix things quickly in the field, using minimal tools and while in combat conditions: KISS – keep it stupid-simple, or the more uncomplimentary version – keep it simple, stupid.

When it comes to setting business goals under our current COVID “combat” conditions, simplicity is a key ingredient. How to do that? Create simple goals that are measurable by the amount of effort you put in.

A good example: I will email 10 potential clients or customers over the next five business days.

While you do want to qualify prospects, don’t make it overly complicated by applying a lot of rules and restrictions, such as whether the client or customer is someone you have met personally or is someone who follows you on social media. Your goal here is to simply reach out to 10 people who you believe may be interested in your products or services.

Likewise, don’t immediately disregard what could turn out to be a great piece of business by setting up guiderails that are too narrow. Too many self-imposed limitations can limit your success.

Practice persistence and patience

When it comes to rebooting your business goals for the last quarter of an unanticipated year that will go down in history, make it your goal to be as productive as you can under your current circumstances and feel good about what you’re doing.

Instead of beating yourself up for missing a moving target, set realistic, focused, and simple business goals that have a high percentage of certainty baked in and that will move you closer to your idea of business success.

Stick to this approach and be patient. This too shall pass. Let’s hope that 2021 is a better year for all of us!

Do you have questions about how you can succeed in your business and accelerate your journey toward reaching your goals? I invite you to learn more about From Startup to Success coaching packages. Begin with a no-cost 30-minute consultation to discuss where you are with your business and where you want to go.

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