Catch up on some related episodes:

How to figure out what's a priority (when everything feels like a priority)

Today’s talking points:

How do you know that the action you’re taking is actually moving your business forward? Let me share exactly how you can gain clarity and turn your goals into achievable plans.

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Do you find you often have to throw your 90-day plans out of the window because events come up that throw you off track?

Been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt.

Over the past few years, the world has felt more chaotic than ever. That impacts you as a small business owner, as do the things going on in your personal life.

So how do you turn your yearly goals into actionable plans?

I’ll walk you through the difference between outcome-based goals and habit-based goals, the critical systems you need to make it all work, and examples of where you might need to tighten things up in your business.

We’re going to cover:

The two types of goals you can set for your business and the difference between each one
Questions to ask yourself when it comes to your goals to see if they’re actually going to grow your business
How to do an audit to plug any gaps where your business is leaking
The 3 systems you need dialled in for all of your offers so that you can succeed without burnout
What happens if you don’t implement these key systems in your business before adding new things

There are lots of powerful questions in here so get ready to make notes!

two types of goals

When it comes to goals, let's break it down into two types. First up, we've got habit-based goals – the things you consistently chip away at, integrated into the daily flow. Then there's the one-and-done kind, the outcome-based goals, where you tick the box and move on.

Every day, week, month, and quarter, you're consistently rolling out processes that don't just grow your business but amp it up – without making things more complicated. This is where we draw the line between a habit-based goal and an outcome-based goal.

In my conversations with small business owners about goal setting, the miss often happens. They're caught up in the whole goal-setting focus without building the crucial processes and systems in their business. Without an income growth engine, they end up being inconsistent in marketing, facing irregular sales, and wrestling with client consistency – landing them in the feast-or-famine cycle; which we do not want, boss. At best, it's a frustrating scene where every marketing, sales, or client delivery effort means starting from square one.

It's like hitting a ceiling, and that's why I'm all about teaching goal-setting using my framework. Once you've got the flywheel spinning, systems in place, and the income growth engine secured, it's time to rinse and repeat. That's how you really take your business up a notch.

In many cases, during their annual goal-setting, small business owners usually overlook habits-based goals. Instead, they end up creating an extensive list of outcome-based goals – believing these are the keys to business growth.

Let me give you an example. A goal might be creating an entirely new product, program, service, or event. This is a classic example of an outcome-based goal. Or maybe you want to rebrand, with a new website, photo shoot, messaging overhaul, and fresh copy on the to-do list. All these aspirations fall under outcome-based goals. Don't get me wrong; there's nothing inherently wrong with pursuing such goals. I've pursued them myself at different points.

But the question that I have for you is, if you are looking at your goals, I want you to ask yourself a couple of things…

questions to ask yourself when it comes to your goals to see if they’re actually going to grow your business

Number one, is this move holding me back from growing my business? Is it the fix I need? Like, is this task a must-do for my business to level up?

Let's say you're revamping your website, – hiring copywriters, designers, photographers – you name it. Ask yourself: is this makeover going to make a real difference this year? More than just being consistent with your marketing, sales, and serving your clients or customers? Is your current website really holding you back?

This is a thing I often chat about with my clients. Some of them struggle with planning because the goals they're setting are nice-to-haves, not must-haves. Having solid marketing, sales, and delivery systems in your business is a must-have – it's absolutely crucial. Assess where you are right now in business and what you truly need to move the business forward.

So, ask yourself: Is this goal about building my income growth engine, refining my marketing, sales, and delivery processes to maximise what I already have? Or is it just adding more complexity to my business? That is a big, big question to ask yourself.

How to do an audit to plug any gaps where your business is leaking

Let's dive into the whole idea of habit-based goals versus outcome-based goals, but let's not just talk goals; let's talk about your entire business. Take a quick audit and spot the leaks in your business, especially in your income growth engine.

Attract: If you're not consistently visible in your business, it's a major leak. You might be marketing to the same crowd repeatedly, and you need new eyes to grow. If attract marketing is lacking, it's time to fill that gap.

Engage (Nurture): Check your nurture process. Is it a rinse-and-repeat setup, guiding prospects from website visit to discovery call or proposal? High-touch nurturing, especially for service providers, matters more than just newsletters and social media content.

Invite (Sales): Do you have a clear sales process that's repeatable? All assets—sales page, educational material, proposal template—should be ready to roll for every offer.

Delight (Delivery): Are you still doing everything manually in your delivery process, or have you documented and systematised it? This step is crucial for handling growth efficiently.

When considering new projects, ask yourself two key questions: Can your business handle your dream sales volume tomorrow? If not, focus on building systems. And for each offer, ensure you have marketing, sales, and delivery systems in place. Adding new projects without these systems creates inefficiencies and complexity, hindering growth and customer service. This is one of the key things I tell my clients all the time - you actually have to have those three systems in place.

So, as you set goals for the year, ask the hard questions about whether they're must-haves or just nice-to-haves. These are hard questions to answer for yourself.

What happens if you don’t implement these key systems in your business before adding new things

If you find yourself setting primarily outcome-based goals each year, focused on creating something new without implementing and optimising core systems in your business, you may just be complicating things. Without maintaining these systems for at least six to 12 months, you risk just adding complexity to your business, increasing the chances that life's bumps—be it in health, family, or personal circumstances—escalate into a full-on car crash for your business.

This might sound harsh but it's a common struggle that I see over and over again. Entrepreneurs often gravitate toward new and exciting ideas, the shiny object syndrome in full play here. We’re wired for the big ideas, and the visioning, we like the new and the shiny. There's a huge exciting component of brainstorming new ideas. There's a lot of dopamine that starts to happen when we think of new, it's exciting. Implementing a system optimising the system and maintaining a system is not new and shiny. It's not sexy, it's not sexy at all, I get that. But any business that is really going to be positioned to grow beyond just you as an owner and grow to the point where you now have teams supporting you. People who are actually running your marketing, sales and delivery. As you start to grow that team these systems become even more imperative.

And if you don't implement those systems, you will reach a natural ceiling a natural limit in the growth of your business because it cannot run on just pure willpower. Pure willpower alone cannot sustain a business. You need systems that function as a flywheel, gaining momentum on their own. From personal experience, implementing these systems allowed me to navigate my business efficiently, even during significant life events, like motherhood.

If you neglect these systems, you risk falling into the trap of constantly chasing new projects, ideas, and lists without focusing on the essential structures required for sustainable growth. Building and optimising your income growth engine is so important for long-term success.

P.S. Here is last weeks episode, the fifth and final part of the ‘How To Run Your Business Like a BOSS’ series, in case you missed it - How to run your day like a boss to actually make progress