How to Set Goals When You’re Beyond Busy

A wedding pro’s guide to goal setting (efficiently and effectively)

At the end of every year, you’ll hear a lot about goal setting—for good reason. Because it’s the time of the year, you need to close out your books, run reports, and do a lot of reflection on how the past 365 days went. But, as a wedding pro, it’s also a season that can be full of events, much-needed time off, and—oh—did we mention it is smack dab in the middle of booking season? All of these things can make it hard to find the space you need to do deep thinking about the coming year, and you might convince yourself it is a task you can put off. 

Setting business goals is technically something you can do at any point during the year but making the time to do it at year-end (even when you are terribly busy) is one way you can set yourself up for major success. Because, when you take the time to set your business goals now, you can hit the ground running come January 1. So today, we wanted to encourage you to do just that and give you some guidance to use along the way. Read on for our top tips about how to set goals and be on the path you need to crush them.

SMART Goals

First things first—we have to talk about SMART goals whenever we talk about goal setting. Why? Because it is important to make sure your business goals are actually going to help you grow, they need to be ones that you can objectively track progress on. SMART goals are:

S – Specific, meaning your goal is clear and concise

M – Measurable, meaning you can track your success with insights or data

A – Achievable, meaning it is realistic given the timeframe and resources you have 

R – Relevant, meaning it makes sense for your business at that point in time

T – Time-bound, meaning there is some sort of end date or deadline

Keep these characteristics in mind as you work on forming your goals and frame them around each since it will help you track your success in the future.

How to set goals without wasting time

Now that you’re refreshed on SMART goals, let’s talk about how to set them—this isn’t just about writing your aspirations on a post-it after all. When you are sitting down to do the work, keep in mind that you are setting your course for both the near and long term (since the two are intertwined). 

The first step is to document the goals you have for the coming year. Regardless of what your short-term goals are, write (or type) them down. For example:

• Do you want to book 10 more clients than last year? 
• Do you need to hire 3 new assistants? 
• Do you need to replace equipment or refresh your inventory? 

The next step is to think about how you can build from there. 

• If you do book 10 more clients this year, what does that give you the budget to do?
• If you do hire 3 new assistants, what role do you see yourself growing into? 
• When you do replace your old equipment, will you have what you need to scale your business? 

Write down your long-term goals (3-5 years out) even if you think they might change in the future.

Pro-tip: Want to think even bigger than yearly business goals? Learn more about what goes into creating a 5-year plan for your business.

This process can take as little or as much time as you want to dedicate to it—the point here is to get it done. Just remember that it isn’t a competition, and it is about the quality of the goals you set (not the quantity). So set 3-5 clear business goals and call it a day.

WeddingPro can help! Sometimes reaching big business goals means investing in your business. One way you can do that is by advertising on The Knot and WeddingWire. WeddingPro makes it possible to get in front of better-qualified couples so you can grow your business. It also makes it easy to manage your Storefronts so your potential couples can learn more about your business and start building a relationship with you–even before they’ve reached out. 

If you are interested in learning about how advertising with The Knot and WeddingWire can help your business scale and grow, simply fill out this form and we’ll be in touch!

Types of business goals you can set

If you’re feeling ready to block the time but overwhelmed about where to start, this part of the article is for you! Because we get it—there is a seemingly endless list of goals you can think about setting. But, as we mentioned a moment ago, this is a practice in clarity. Here are the major types of goals you might set:

Goals to help you grow your skills – If you know there is a skill you need to learn or maybe imposter syndrome has got the best of you, setting a goal to prioritize or invest in your education is for you. But don’t make it vague; identify where you can (or need to) do better first. Then you can research ways to invest in yourself and gain the skills—thankfully, our blog, webinars, events, and community are all accessible to you!

Pro-tip: Do you have these important skills every wedding business owner should have?

Goals to help you build your brand – Building a strong and recognizable brand is on almost everyone’s list, but it takes more than just having a beautiful logo. If you want engaged couples and professionals alike to know your work (and your reputation), think about what you need to do on the public relations and marketing fronts to get there. The good news is advertising with The Knot and WeddingWire is a powerful place to put your wedding business and helps associate you with the biggest brand in the wedding industry.

Goals around marketing your wedding business – Whether you want to book more wedding clients or market to higher-end couples, marketing goals are not ones to skip over. Set a goal to finally create a marketing plan or start advertising if you’re not already, and we’ll help you free up some precious time because you have a reliable source of leads. 

Financial goals – What can we say? Financial goals are a huge motivator for a lot of wedding business owners. And whether it is because you want to raise your prices so you make more at the end of the day or need to increase your revenue to be able to afford a new piece of equipment, write down a goal that will help you get your business finances in order.

WeddingPro can help! When you advertise with us, you can get your business on track to hit your financial goals. Because consistent leads=more opportunity to close sales=increased revenue=goals met!

Is building your business at the top of your goals list? Learn more about how you can grow your business with WeddingPro today!

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