Are you a local small business owner struggling to stay on track with your goals this year? With the current economic downturn, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and uncertain about how to make plans work.

In this video, I will show you why checking in on your goals throughout the year is essential for success and give you tips on how you can still thrive even in tough times.

Stay tuned! As a local small business owner, it can be hard to stay on track with our goals for the year. With the current economic downturn, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and uncertain about how we will make our plans work. We all wanna stand at the end of this year with our goals complete, but if we don't check in on where we are now compared to where we planned to be, then there's no way that can happen.

In this video, I will talk about why checking in on your goals throughout the year is essential and give tips on how to succeed even in these challenging times. So let's get started! We're halfway through the year, and it's time to check in on our goals. It's essential to review our progress and ensure we're on track to achieve our objectives, Even during economic downturns.

With proper planning, hard work, and a little luck, we can prove to ourselves that we can be successful. First, let's look honestly at where we are right now. Are we where we expected to be? Now, look at what didn't work over the last six months. What did you want to accomplish but didn't? Without going into blaming, what got in the way of those accomplishments?

It's OK to say you didn't do something; that's owning your part. Just keep the emotion out of it. That's where the blaming comes in. And if you want to be effective here, never blame someone, or something, else. Always look at where you can take ownership or what you can take ownership of and what can you take away as learnings?

I like to stop here, take a breath, and then let all of that go. You might even do something ceremonial to fully signify letting it all go, like shredding the paper you wrote it on. Now it's time to acknowledge what got accomplished. Look at what worked over the last six months. What did you accomplish? What did you learn? How can you incorporate these learnings into your next plan.

Taking stock of our strengths and weaknesses is critical to making the right decisions and achieving our goals. Doing this involves analyzing what has been accomplished and understanding why particular objectives were achieved over others. It's crucial to identify growth and improvement areas to stay on track with your vision and goals. One way to take stock of your strengths and weaknesses is to look at your past successes and failures.

Identify patterns or trends that may have directly contributed to the outcomes. For example, if you made a goal to increase sales by 10% over the last six months, consider what strategies worked best for achieving that target - what was it? Increasing market efforts, providing better customer service or launching a new product or service? Once you understand what tactics have worked, you can use those same principles when setting future objectives.

Another way to take stock of your strengths and weaknesses is to evaluate the internal resources available within your business. What skills do you have in-house that could help you reach your goals? Are there any gaps that need filling through external partners or employees? Taking inventory of available resources will help create an actionable plan for success, focusing on how those resources can be used most effectively.

By taking stock of both successes and failures, we can better understand how our local small business functions within the current economic climate and make more informed decisions moving forward. This will ensure we can achieve our goals despite any downturns we may face throughout the year. We can evaluate whether we took advantage of external resources to accomplish our goals.

For example, training programs that are available to us, like the three Dangerous Pitfalls that All Small Business Owners Face that keep them overwhelmed, putting out fires and chain to their business web class that you can attend for free, simply by clicking the link in the description and registering today. To ensure that we are successful and reach our goals for this year, our next step is actually to put ourselves into the future stand in the future. At the end of the year, your goal is complete. How do you feel?

What are you most proud of? Now, look back three months to the end of August. Where were you that made it a done deal that you got to this place? I know this isn't always easy to do. We're not used to doing planning like this. We're wired to always look forward. But think of it like this.

If you're standing at the base of the mountain looking up to the top, it seems pretty daunting, right? But, once you're at the top looking down, it's obvious how you got here. This is what I'm asking you to do. Stand at the top of the mountain, at the end of the year, and look back at the course you took to get there.

Now that we are clear where we were at the end of August step back in time to that point, and again get yourself grounded there. You have achieved those goals. How does it feel? What are you most proud of now? What accomplishment happened at the end of July that made it a done deal that you got here to your achievements at the end of August? This way, we have created milestones for our journey to our goal to the end of the year!

Success is not just about achieving the biggest goals, but also about celebrating the small wins along the way. By taking stock of all of our accomplishments so far, we can identify where our successes have come from and use that knowledge to set more achievable goals for the rest of the year. Small wins can be anything from making our first sale, to receiving a positive customer review on social media to launching a new product or service.

These successes are worth acknowledging and celebrating, no matter how big or small! Looking back at our past successes also allows us to strategize better for future goals. For example, if you launched a successful marketing campaign this summer that drove an increase in sales, consider what tactics works best for achieving that target - did you use email campaigns? Social media ads? Word-of-mouth referrals?

By understanding what elements were successful in your plan, you can repeat or build on those tactics next time. Additionally, staying open to new ideas throughout the year is essential. Keep an eye out for trends or changes in technology and consumer behavior that could impact your business, and take advantage of them when possible. This could include attending seminars or webinars related to your industry or maintaining connections with other local small businesses.

Networking with like-minded peers is a great way to share knowledge and stay current on industry news and developments. By staying focused on short-term goals while keeping an eye on long-term objectives, we can ensure that our local small business will remain successful even in difficult economic times. Each month, Take time to reflect on what has been achieved so far. It's essential for staying inspired and motivated throughout the year!

Let's also remember that we don't have to do it alone and that help is available when needed. Remember, you don't have to do everything by yourself. If you need assistance, there are people who can provide it. ActionCOACH Team Sage is here to give you the necessary guidance and support to ensure that your small business can reach its goals, no matter the economic conditions.

Take this time to reevaluate your goals and identify where you can make adjustments. With ActionCOACH Team Sage on your side, there's no limit to what your small business can achieve! We can stand at the end of the year, look back where we are today, and feel proud of our accomplishments. If we want to ensure our business is thriving as we near the end of the year, then it's essential to learn the these three pitfalls and how to avoid them.

So, if you're a local, small business owner ready to prove to yourself that you can be successful, register for our free web class on the three Dangerous Pitfalls All Small Business Owners Face. We'll teach you the strategies you need to ensure your local business is thriving, and you can look back in December with pride.

Click on the link in the description to register now! Entrepreneurs, we've come this far; Let's ensure we reach our goals! If you have had experiences with the importance of goal-setting and achieving your small business success even in challenging economic times, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below this video sharing your insights and experiences-both good and bad-to help others.

Please share any of the strategies you found helpful or any mistakes you made and learned from so that other entrepreneurs can benefit from them. For example, did getting help from an external source such as ActionCOACH Team Sage give you the boost you needed to reach your goals? What specific tactics helped you gain traction or increased sales? Providing concrete details and facts will help others learn more about this topic.

Would you like to learn more about business planning or other topics regarding business success?

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I'm Doug Barra. I believe it takes great courage to own a local small business.

For the last 16 years, I've ensured that business owners like yourself get the time, money, and freedom you deserve.

Thanks for watching, and I can't wait to see you on the web class.