Finally realizing the dream, finally being your own boss and finally running a promising company - that's what countless career starters and long-established employees wish for. But one thing is clear: no company develops into a major player on the market overnight. A lot of work, stamina, creativity, organizational talent and corporate goals are required here.
In particular, don't forget about pursuing higher-level goals that lead to success. They provide direction and pave the way to a profitable company. Without them, you drift along disoriented instead of taking the future of your company into your own hands. But how do you actually define such business goals and how do you best implement them? You can read about it here!
A corporate goal defines where your company is headed. It defines the target state. Its purpose is to promote your business purpose. In most cases, this is profit maximization, gaining new customers or increasing market share.
I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Too many cooks spoil the broth." Of course, this is no different when it comes to implementing corporate goals. That's why it's important that you use your company's departments as a guide when defining corporate goals. For example, a reasonable goal for the marketing department would be to reach a larger target audience. The accounting department, for example, has little to do with this and thus could not make a valuable contribution to achieving this goal. They, on the other hand, would rather set themselves the goal of minimizing expenses, for example, and thus increasing profits.
Thus, each department in your company has its own unique goals that ultimately contribute to the larger, overarching aspiration: maximizing success and keeping managers and employees happy.
Achieving company goals feels great for you and your employees. On the one hand, of course, that's because your livelihood is secure. But on the other hand, the feeling of pride also plays a role. Together, you have managed to achieve your goals. successful and that strengthens your self-confidence. Success motivates and this naturally also has a positive effect on the implementation of other company goals.
Corporate goals can be divided into three categories:
Let's take a look at what exactly this is all about together.
Most people think of economic goals first when it comes to what a company wants to achieve. The most important thing here is that your company generates as much profit as possible. Profit maximization therefore comes to the fore. If you have just founded your company, however, it will probably be pure cost recovery that you have set as your goal.
The economic goals can also be divided into three groups:
The revenue targets are - how could it be otherwise - about the increase in revenue. For example, if you want to increase your revenues by 15 % in the following year, you have formulated a revenue target. If, on the other hand, you want to increase your market share to 20 %, you have defined a market target and want to secure a permanent place at the table of the big players in the industry.
Performance targets, on the other hand, can be measured less in terms of numbers. Here, it's more a question of compliance with certain quality standards. This does not mean the high quality of the products, but the work of your employees. It is the performance of your team that must be of high quality in order for your company to be successful and, for example, to achieve its revenue targets.
There are two principles that you can use to achieve your economic goals: the minimum and the maximum principle. If you follow the minimum principle, you clearly define the goal, but not the means to achieve it. This gives you the freedom to implement your plan with as few resources as possible.
With the maximum principle, on the other hand, the exact opposite is the case. You have defined exactly which resources you want to use, but you have not defined the goal. You want to get as far as possible with the available resources - for example, in the form of capital, raw materials and employees.
Social goals deal with the interaction with your employees, external service providers and your customers. The focus is on the human aspect. These goals cannot be measured by fixed figures, but by the general satisfaction of all those involved.
Important topics here are, for example, the creation of a pleasant working atmosphere, courteous dealings with customers, but also striving for a certain image of your company. For example, you can market it as a partner for the whole family, a friend in all situations, or perhaps even as an everyday rescuer, thus creating a personal level.
Not every company pursues ecological goals, yet sustainability and environmental protection are probably among the most important topics of our time. Young companies in particular are striving for a green policy, but large, long-established companies are also recognizing its importance more and more and are taking up the cause.
If you also pursue a green policy, you show yourself to be a modern and environmentally conscious manager and can even appeal to a whole new target group. After all, more and more consumers are specifically looking for companies that produce their goods sustainably.
Many companies put ecological goals on the back burner, as their implementation is often associated with a higher capital investment. However, since as a sustainable company you are addressing an additional target group that is often also willing to pay higher prices for the benefit of the earth, ecological and economic goals are by no means mutually exclusive.
Corporate goals can be differentiated not only on the basis of their content. Another way of differentiating is to divide them into qualitative and quantitative goals.
Let's start with quantitative goals. These include all efforts that can be clearly measured using numbers. For example, if you want to achieve certain revenue figures, sell a certain number of products or win customers, you are aiming for quantitative goals.
Qualitative goals, on the other hand, cannot be measured in this way. Here, it is primarily a matter of subjective perceptions, such as the satisfaction of your employees and customers. Scales are a valuable tool for making these business goals measurable. For example, after each interaction, your customers can indicate how satisfied they were and select a value on a scale of 1 to 10. Your business is on a solid seven? Then set yourself the qualitative goal of turning it into a ten!
Why did you start your business? Because you want to be in charge of your own life as much as possible? Or do you want to Assume responsibility? Maybe you want to step out of the shadow of being an employee? Maybe you want to make a name for yourself in the industry? Or maybe all of the above? But you will only succeed if you set yourself concrete business goals.
To run your company successfully, the economic aspect is of great importance. It decides whether your company will survive or not. Thus, the maximization of profit is the overriding goal of any company. However, the achievement of this goal depends on various subgoals.
For example, your marketing department pursues the plan to increase market share. The production aims at not wasting any resources and particularly efficient to work. Accounting, on the other hand, does everything it can to cut unnecessary expenses and keep costs in the company as low as possible. Each department pursues its own goals, which can ultimately be pieced together like a puzzle to form the overarching goal.
If this were not the case and no one knew where the journey should actually go, sooner or later chaos would ensue. Corporate goals determine the path. But if there are none, everyone walks on their own path and it is only a matter of time before the company breaks down.
You think it's easy to formulate a corporate goal - after all, you know where you want to go? You may be able to define it quickly, but that's not the end of the story. Its implementation must be planned and ultimately successfully carried out. We'll show you how to approach your corporate goals in five steps!
Before you think about where the journey should actually go, take a look around in the here and now. What is the current state of your company? What are its strengths and weaknesses? And what is the current state of the market? Which Needs do the customers have and are you currently doing justice to them?
Only when you have analyzed the current state of your company and the market can you see in which direction further development should proceed. These analyses therefore form the basis for your Objectives.
Almost every entrepreneur knows the SMART method. You don't yet? No problem, that's what we are here for! SMART is an acronym for all the requirements that the formulation of a goal should meet so that it is actually feasible:
So formulate your goal very specifically and define a criterion that you can use to measure success. At the same time, it must neither under- nor overburden your team and must be realistically achievable based on the current circumstances. Finally, set a deadline by which the goal should be achieved.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and you won't achieve your big business goal overnight. So break it down into several small goals that will ultimately pave the way to the big picture. This increases at the same time the MotivationThis way, you and your team will always experience partial successes that will encourage you to keep going.
After you have defined your goals and subgoals, it also becomes clear which competencies are necessary to achieve them. Based on this, you now put together your success team. Think carefully about which of your employees have the necessary skills.
If you are still undecided, sit down at a table with everyone who comes into question and discuss the project with them. It will quickly become clear who will jump right into the discussion and be on fire, and who will hold back and contribute little to achieving the goal.
Once you have assembled your team of experts, the journey can begin. To ensure that no one forgets where they are headed and suddenly takes a different path, you should find a way to keep the goal in mind at all times. Hang the goal clearly visible in the office and invite people to regular team meetings. This way, you can check whether everyone is still pulling in the same direction and correct the direction if necessary.
Business goals are the key to the success of your company. With them, you define the direction in which you want to develop and thus ensure that you don't get stuck in place. After all, you don't want to be left behind by the competition, do you? So think carefully about where you want to go, put together your team of experts and start the journey towards success!
