business plan long term goals

How To Set Business Goals (+ Examples for Inspiration)

Updated: March 11, 2024

Published: October 24, 2023

You’re a business owner — the captain of your own ship. But how do you ensure you’re steering your company in the right direction? 

Without clear-cut goals and a plan to reach them, you risk setting your sails on the course of dangerous icebergs. 

The best way to steer clear of wreckage is to map out exactly where you want your business to go. This is what makes setting business goals so important. If you’re not already using them to guide your ship, then now’s a great time to start.

Table of contents:

• What are business goals?

Why business goals are important

How to set business goals, tips to achieve business goals, business goals examples, what are business goals .

Business goals are the desired outcomes that an organization aims to achieve within a specific time frame. These goals help define the purpose and direction of the company, guiding decision-making and resource allocation. They can be short-term or long-term objectives , aligned with the company’s mission and vision.

Operating a business using your gut and feelings will only get you so far. If you’re looking to build a sustainable company, then you need to set goals in advance and follow through with them. 

Here’s what goal setting can do to make your business a success:

• Give your business direction. Business goals align everyone toward a common purpose and ensure all efforts and resources are directed toward achieving specific outcomes.
• Keep everyone motivated to keep pushing forward. Goals provide employees with a sense of purpose and motivation. According to research from BiWorldwide, goal setting makes employees 14.2x more inspired at work and 3.6x more likely to be committed to the organization.
• Create benchmarks to work toward (and above). Goals provide a basis for measuring and evaluating the performance of the organization. They serve as benchmarks to assess progress, identify areas of improvement, and make informed decisions about resource allocation and strategy adjustments .
• Prioritize activities and allocate resources effectively. Goals help you identify the most important initiatives, ensuring that time, money, and effort are invested in activities that align with the overall objectives.
• Make continuous organizational improvements. Goals drive continuous improvement by setting targets for growth and progress. They encourage businesses to constantly evaluate their performance, identify areas for refinement, and implement strategies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

Nothing creates solidarity among teams and departments like shared goals. So be sure to get everyone involved to boost camaraderie. 

Setting business goals requires careful consideration and planning. By defining specific and measurable targets, you can track progress and make necessary adjustments along the way.

Here are the steps to effectively set business goals.

Step 1: Identify key areas to improve in your business

Start by assessing the current state of your organization. Identify areas that require improvement or growth. This could include increasing revenue, expanding your customer base, improving employee satisfaction, or enhancing product offerings.

Step 2: Choose specific and measurable goals 

Setting clear and specific goals is essential. Use the SMART goal framework to ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, instead of setting a vague goal like “increase revenue,” set a specific goal like “increase revenue by 15% in the next quarter.”

Step 3: Prioritize which goals to tackle first

Not all goals are equally important or urgent. Evaluate the impact and feasibility of each goal and prioritize them accordingly. By ranking your goals, you can focus your efforts and resources on the most critical objectives.

Step 4: Break down your goals into smaller milestones

Breaking down each goal into smaller, manageable tasks makes them more attainable. Assign responsibilities and set deadlines for each step. This approach helps track progress and ensures accountability.

Step 5: Decide what your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to measure progress toward your goals. Set realistic and relevant KPIs that align with your objectives. For example, if your goal is to increase customer acquisition, a relevant KPI could be the number of new customers acquired per month.

Now that you have set your business goals, it’s time to take action and work toward achieving them. Here are some tips to help you stay on track:

1. Write down your action plan 

Develop a detailed plan of action for each goal. Identify the necessary resources, strategies, and milestones to achieve them. A well-defined action plan provides a road map for success.

2. Foster a culture that’s goal-oriented

Encourage your employees to embrace and contribute to your goals. Foster a culture that values goal setting and achievement. Recognize and reward individuals or teams that make significant progress toward the goals.

3. Regularly track and evaluate progress

Monitor the progress toward each goal and make adjustments as needed. Use project management tools or software to track and visualize progress. Regularly review and evaluate your performance to ensure you’re on the right track.

4. Seek feedback and adapt

Gather feedback from employees, customers, and stakeholders. Their insights can provide valuable perspectives and help you refine your goals and strategies. Adapt your approach based on feedback to increase your chances of success.

5. Stay focused and motivated (even when you fail)

Staying motivated to achieve goals is difficult, especially when you come up short or fail. But don’t let this set you back. Continue pushing forward with your goals or readjust the direction as needed. Then do whatever you can to avoid distractions so you stay committed to your action plan.

Also, remember to celebrate small wins and milestones along the way to keep your team motivated and engaged.

To provide inspiration, here are some examples of common business goals:

1. Revenue growth

Revenue growth is a business goal that focuses on increasing the overall income generated by the company. Setting a specific target percentage increase in revenue can create a measurable goal to work toward.

Strategies for achieving revenue growth may include:

• Expanding the customer base through targeted marketing campaigns
• Improving customer retention and loyalty
• Upselling or cross-selling to existing customers
• Increasing the average order value by offering premium products or services

Example: A retail company sets a goal to increase its revenue by 10% in the next fiscal year. To achieve this, it implements several strategies, including launching a digital marketing campaign to attract new customers, offering personalized discounts and promotions to encourage repeat purchases, and introducing a premium product line to increase the average order value.

2. Customer acquisition

Customer acquisition focuses on expanding the customer base by attracting new customers to the business. Setting a specific goal for the number of new customers helps businesses track their progress and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

Strategies for customer acquisition may include:

• Running targeted advertising campaigns
• Implementing referral programs to incentivize existing customers to refer new ones
• Forming strategic partnerships with complementary businesses to reach a wider audience

Example: A software-as-a-service (SaaS) company aims to acquire 1k new customers in the next quarter. To achieve this, it launches a social media marketing campaign targeting its ideal customer profile, offers a referral program where existing customers receive a discount for referring new customers, and forms partnerships with industry influencers to promote its product.

3. Employee development

Employee development goals focus on enhancing the skills and knowledge of employees to improve their performance and contribute to the organization’s growth. By setting goals for employee training and skill development, businesses can create a culture of continuous learning and provide opportunities for career advancement.

Strategies for employee development may include:

• Offering training programs
• Providing mentorship opportunities
• Sponsoring professional certifications
• Creating a career development plan for each employee

Example: A technology company aims to have 80% of its employees complete at least one professional certification within the next year. To achieve this, it offers financial support and study materials for employees interested in obtaining certifications, provides dedicated study time during working hours, and celebrates employees’ achievements upon certification completion.

4. Product development

Product development goals focus on creating and improving products or services to meet customer needs and stay competitive in the market. Setting goals for product development can prioritize your efforts and so you can allocate resources effectively.

Strategies for product development may include:

• Conducting market research to identify customer preferences and trends
• Gathering customer feedback through surveys or focus groups
• Investing in research and development to create new products or enhance existing ones
• Collaborating with customers or industry experts to co-create innovative solutions

Example: An electronics company sets a goal to launch three new product lines within the next year. To achieve this, it conducts market research to identify emerging trends and customer demands, gathers feedback from its target audience through surveys and usability testing, allocates resources to research and development teams for product innovation, and collaborates with external design agencies to create visually appealing and user-friendly products.

5. Social responsibility

Social responsibility goals focus on making a positive impact on society or the environment. These goals go beyond financial success and emphasize the importance of ethical and sustainable business practices. Setting goals for social responsibility allows businesses to align their values with their actions and contribute to causes that resonate with their stakeholders.

Strategies for social responsibility may include: 

• Implementing sustainable practices to reduce environmental impact
• Donating a percentage of profits to charitable organizations
• Supporting local communities through volunteer programs
• Promoting diversity and inclusion within the organization

Example: A clothing retailer aims to reduce its carbon footprint by 20% in the next two years. To achieve this, it implements sustainable practices, such as using eco-friendly materials, optimizing packaging to minimize waste, and partnering with ethical manufacturers. It also donates a percentage of its profits to an environmental conservation organization.

Setting and achieving goals is what it takes to be successful in business. By following the steps outlined in this article and incorporating the tips provided, you can effectively set and work toward your goals. Remember to regularly evaluate progress, adapt as necessary, and celebrate milestones along the way.

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Business Goals 101: How to Set, Track, and Achieve Your Organization’s Goals with Examples

By Kate Eby | November 7, 2022

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Learning how to set concrete, achievable business goals is critical to your organization’s success. We’ve consulted seasoned experts on how to successfully set and achieve short- and long-term business goals, with examples to help you get started.

Included on this page, you’ll find a list of the different types of business goals , the benefits and challenges of business goal-setting, and examples of short-term and long-term business goals. Plus, find expert tips and compare and contrast business goal-setting frameworks.

What Are Business Goals?

Business goals are the outcomes an organization aims to achieve. They can be broad and long term or specific and short term. Business leaders set goals in order to motivate teams, measure progress, and improve performance.

“Business goals are those that represent a company's overarching mission,” says David Bitton, Co-founder and CMO of DoorLoop . “These goals typically cover the entire business and are vast in scope. They are established so that employees may work toward a common goal. In essence, business goals specify the ‘what’ of a company's purpose and provide teams with a general course to pursue.”

For more resources and information on setting goals, try one of these free goal tracking and setting templates .

Business Goals vs. Business Objectives

Many professionals use the terms business goal and business objective interchangeably. Generally, a business goal is a broad, long-term outcome an organization works toward, while a business objective is a specific and measurable task, project, or initiative. 

Think of business objectives as the steps an organization takes toward their broader, long-term goals. In some cases, a business objective might simply be a short-term goal. In most cases, business goals refer to outcomes, while business objectives refer to actionable tasks. 

“Business objectives are clear and precise,” says Bitton. “When businesses set out to achieve their business goals, they do so by establishing quantifiable, simply defined, and trackable objectives. Business objectives lay out the ‘how’ in clear, doable steps that lead to the desired result.”

For more information and resources, see this article on the key differences between goals and objectives.

Common Frameworks for Writing Business Goals

Goal-setting frameworks can help you get the most out of your business goals. Common frameworks include SMART, OKR, MBO, BHAG, and KRA. Learning about these goal-setting tools can help you choose the right one for your company.

Here are the common frameworks for writing business goals with examples:

• SMART: SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This is probably the most popular method for setting goals. Ensuring that your goals meet SMART goal criteria is a tried and true way to increase your chances of success and make progress on even your most ambitious goals. Example SMART Goal: We will increase the revenue from our online store by 5 percent in three months by increasing our sign-up discount from 25 to 30 percent.
• OKR: Another popular approach is to set OKRs, or objectives and key results. In order to use OKRs , a team or individual selects an objective they would like to work toward. Then they select key results , or standardized measurements of success or progress. Example Objective: We aim to increase the sales revenue of our online store. Example Key Result: Make $200,000 in sales revenue from the online store in June. 
• MBO: MBO, or management by objectives , is a collaborative goal-setting framework and management technique. When using MBO, managers work with employees to create specific, agreed-upon objectives and develop a plan to achieve them. This framework is excellent for ensuring that everyone is aligned on their goals. Example MBO: This quarter, we aim to decrease patient waiting times by 30 percent.
• BHAG: A BHAG, or a big hairy audacious goal , is an ambitious, possibly unattainable goal. While the idea of setting a BHAG might run contrary to a lot of advice about goal-setting, a BHAG can energize the team by giving everyone a shared purpose. These are best for long-term, visionary business goals. Example BHAG: We want to be the leading digital music service provider globally by 2030. 
• KRA: KRAs, or key result areas , refer to a short list of goals that an individual, department, or organization can work toward. KRAs function like a rubric for general progress and to help ensure that the team’s efforts have an optimal impact on the overall health of the business. Example KRA: Increase high-quality sales leads per sales representative. 

Use the table below to compare the pros and cons of each goal-setting framework to help you decide which framework will be most useful for your business goals.

Types of Business Goals

A business goal is any goal that helps move an organization toward a desired result. There are many types of business goals, including process goals, development goals, innovation goals, and profitability goals.

Here are some common types of business goals:

• Growth: A growth goal is a goal relating to the size and scope of the company. A growth goal might involve increasing the number of employees, adding new verticals, opening new stores or offices, or generally expanding the impact or market share of a company. 
• Process: A process goal , also called a day-to-day goal or an efficiency goal , is a goal to improve the everyday effectiveness of a team or company. A process goal might involve establishing or improving workflows or routines, delegating responsibilities, or improving team skills. 
• Problem-Solving: Problem-solving goals address a specific challenge. Problem-solving goals might involve removing an inefficiency, changing policies to accommodate a new law or regulation, or reorienting after an unsuccessful project or initiative.
• Development: A development goal , also called an educational goal , is a goal to develop new skills or expertise, either for your team or for yourself. For example, development goals might include developing a new training module, learning a new coding language, or taking a continuing education class in your field. 
• Innovation: An innovation goal is a goal to create new or more reliable products or services. Innovation goals might involve developing a new mobile app, redesigning an existing product, or restructuring to a new business model. 
• Profitability: A profitability goal , also called a financial goal , is any goal to improve the financial prospects of a company. Profitability goals might involve increasing revenue, decreasing debt, or growing the company’s shareholder value. 
• Sustainability: A s ustainability goal is a goal to either decrease your company’s negative impact on the environment or actively improve the environment through specific initiatives. For example, a sustainability goal might be to decrease a company’s carbon footprint, reduce energy use, or divest from environmentally irresponsible organizations and reinvest in sustainable ones.
• Marketing: A marketing goal , also called a brand goal , is a goal to increase a company’s influence and brand awareness in the market. A marketing goal might be to boost engagement across social media platforms or generate more higher-quality leads. 
• Customer Relations: A customer relations goal is a goal to improve customer satisfaction with and trust in your product or services. A customer relations goal might be to decrease customer service wait times, improve customers’ self-reported satisfaction with your products or services, or increase customer loyalty.
• Company Culture: A company culture goal , also called a social goal , is a goal to improve the work environment of your company. A company culture goal might be to improve employee benefits; improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across your organization; or create a greater sense of work-life balance among employees. 

What Are Business Goal Examples?

Business goal examples are real or hypothetical business goal statements. A business goal example can use any goal-setting framework, such as SMART, OKR, or KRA. Teams and individuals use these examples to guide them in the goal-setting process. 

For a comprehensive list of examples by industry and type, check out this collection of business goal examples .

What Are Short-Term Business Goals?

Short-term business goals are measurable objectives that can be completed within hours, days, weeks, or months. Many short-term business goals are smaller objectives that help a company make progress on a longer-term goal.

The first step in setting a short-term business goal is to clarify your long-term goals. 

“My practice is to start with an aspirational vision that is the framework for my long-term goals and to compare that ‘better tomorrow’ with the realities of today,” says Morgan Roth, Chief Communication Strategy Officer at EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases . “Once that framework of three to five major goals is drafted and I have buy-in, I can think about how we get there. Those will be my short-term goals.”

Bitton recommends using the SMART framework for setting short-term business goals to ensure that your team has structure and that their goals are achievable. “Determine which objectives can be attained in a reasonable amount of time,” she adds. “This will help you stay motivated. Your organization may suffer if you try to squeeze years-long ambitions into a month-long project.”

Short-Term Business Goal Examples

Companies can use short-term business goals to increase profits, implement new policies or initiatives, or improve company culture. We’ve gathered some examples of short-term business goals to help you brainstorm your own goal ideas. 

Here are three sample short-term business goals:

• Increase Your Market Share: When companies increase their market share, they increase the percentage of their target audience who chooses their product or service over competitors. This is a good short-term goal for companies that have long-term expansion goals. For example, a local retail business might want to draw new customers from the local community. The business sets a goal of increasing the average number of customers who enter its store from 500 per week to 600 per week within three months. It can meet this goal by launching a local advertising initiative, reducing prices, or expanding its presence on local social media groups. Small business owners can check out this comprehensive guide to learn more about setting productive goals for their small businesses.
• Reduce Paper Waste: All businesses produce waste, but company leaders can take actions to reduce or combat excessive waste. Reducing your company’s paper waste is a good short-term goal for companies that have long-term sustainability goals. For example, a large company’s corporate headquarters is currently producing an average of four pounds of paper waste per employee per day. They set a goal of decreasing this number to two pounds by the end of the current quarter. They can meet this goal by incentivizing or requiring electronic reporting and forms whenever possible. 
• Increase Social Media Engagement: High social media engagement is essential for businesses that want to increase brand awareness or attract new customers. This is a good short-term goal for companies with long-term marketing or brand goals. For example, after reviewing a recent study, a natural cosmetics company learns that its target audience is 30 percent more likely to purchase products recommended to them by TikTok influencers, but the company’s social media team only posts sporadically on its TikTok. The company sets a goal of producing and posting two makeup tutorials on TikTok each week for the next three months.

What Are Long-Term Business Goals?

A l ong-term business goal is an ambitious desired outcome for your company that is broad in scope. Long-term business goals might be harder to measure or achieve. They provide a shared direction and motivation for team members. 

“Long-term planning is increasingly difficult in our very complex and interconnected world,” says Roth. “Economically, politically, and culturally, we’re seeing sea changes in the way we live and work. Accordingly, it’s important to be thoughtful about long-term goal-setting, but not to the point where concerns stifle creativity and your ‘Big Ideas.’ A helpful strategy I employ is to avoid assumptions. Long-term planning should be based on what you know, not on what you assume will be true in some future state.”

Tip: You can turn most short-term goals into long-term goals by increasing their scope. For example, to turn the “increase market share” goal described above into a long-term goal, you might increase the target weekly customers from 600 to 2,000. This will likely take longer than a few months and might require expanding the store or opening new locations.

Long-Term Business Goal Examples

An organization can use long-term business goals to unify their vision, motivate workers, and prioritize short-term goals. We’ve gathered some examples of long-term business goals to guide you in setting goals for your business. 

Here are three sample long-term business goals:

• Increase Total Sales: A common growth profitability goal is to increase sales. An up-and-coming software company might set a long-term goal of increasing their product sales by 75 percent over two years. 
• Increase Employee Retention: Companies with high employee retention enjoy many benefits, such as decreased hiring costs, better brand reputation, and a highly skilled workforce. A large corporation with an employee retention rate of 80 percent might set a long-term goal of increasing that retention rate to 90 percent within five years. 
• Develop a New Technology: Most companies in the IT sphere rely on innovation goals to stay competitive. A company might set a long-term goal of creating an entirely new AI technology within 10 years.

Challenges of Setting Business Goals 

Although setting business goals has few downsides, teams can run into problems. For example, setting business goals that are too ambitious, inflexible, or not in line with the company vision can end up being counterproductive. 

Here are some common challenges teams face when setting business goals: 

• Having a Narrow Focus: One of the greatest benefits of setting business goals is how doing so can focus your team. That said, this can also be a drawback, as such focus on a single goal can narrow the team’s perspective and make people less able to adapt to change or recognize and seize unexpected opportunities. 
• Being Overly Ambitious: It’s important to be ambitious, but some goals are simply too lofty. If a goal is impossible to hit, it can be demoralizing. 
• Not Being Ambitious Enough: The opposite problem is when companies are too modest with their goal-setting. Goals should be realistic but challenging. Teams that prioritize the former while ignoring the latter will have problems with motivation and momentum.
• Facing Unexpected Obstacles: If something happens that suddenly derails progress toward a goal, it can be a huge blow to a company. Learn about project risk management to better manage uncertainty in your projects. 
• Having Unclear Objectives: Goals that are vague or unquantifiable will not be as effective as clear, measurable goals. Use frameworks such as SMART goals or OKRs to make sure your goals are clear. 
• Losing Motivation: Teams can lose sight of their goals over time, especially with long-term goals. Be sure to review and assess progress toward goals regularly to keep your long-term vision front of mind.

Why You Need Business Goals

Every business needs to set clear goals in order to succeed. Business goals provide direction, encourage focus, improve morale, and spur growth. We’ve gathered some common benefits of goal-setting for your business. 

Here are some benefits you can expect from setting business goals:

• More Clarity: Business goals ensure that everyone is moving toward a determined end point. Companies with clear business goals have teams that agree on what is important and what everyone should be working toward. 
• Increased Focus: Business goals encourage focus, which improves performance and increases productivity. 
• Faster Growth: Business goals help companies expand and thrive. “Setting goals and objectives for your business will help you grow it more quickly,” says Bitton. “Your potential for growth increases as you consistently accomplish your goals and objectives.”
• Improved Morale: Everyone is happier when they are working toward a tangible goal. Companies with clear business goals have employees that are more motivated and fulfilled at work. Plus, measuring progress toward specific goals makes it easier to notice and acknowledge everyone’s successes. 
• More Accountability: Having tangible goals means that everyone can see whether or not their work is effective at making progress toward those goals.
• Better Decision-Making: Business goals help teams prioritize tasks and make tough decisions. “You gain perspective on your entire business, which makes it easier for you to make smart decisions,” says Bitton. “You are forming a clear vision for the direction you want your business to go, which facilitates the efficient distribution of resources, the development of strategies, and the prioritization of tasks.”

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How to set up and achieve long term goals for a business

What are long-term goals for business?

Long-term goals for business are the high-level goals of your strategy that you aim to achieve in the next 3-5 years or even longer. They are the objectives that, once reached, bring you closer to your vision.

They are the milestones for your vision.

They tend to be resilient to environmental changes like technological, political and others. Long-term goals determine the direction of your company and solidify your strategy regarding your position in the market and the industry. In other words, they outline the high-level objectives you choose to accomplish to bring your vision to life.

Why it’s important to set long-term goals

They provide clarity ..

A business with weak or non-existent long-term goals is like a leaf in the wind.

It moves in no particular direction and is subject to every and any change in the environment. It jumps from trend to trend without understanding what causes them, trying to get as much benefit out of them as possible. Sometimes it succeeds, others not so much. As a result, its performance is a roller coaster and its future unpredictable and uncertain. These kinds of businesses move fast towards nowhere.

A business with no long-term goals is in reactive mode .

On the other hand , organizations with long-term goals deriving from their vision have a more steady course. They have clarity on what they wish to become in the next 3-5 years, which guides their decisions. It’s easier for them to spot meaningful trends and take advantage of them in the short term to succeed in the longer term.

Clarity in the organization’s future state, when combined with a concise view of its current state , is a powerful tool. It enables an accurate gap analysis and the grounding of the strategy in reality.

A business with solid and aligned long-term goals is in proactive mode .

How short-term and long-term goals differ

Long-term goals differ from short-term goals in four key traits:

• Short-term goals are malleable .
• Short-term goals are specific .
• Short-term goals are measurable .
• Short-term goals are sacrificable .

Short-term goals change often. As they should. They correlate to the tactics you choose to pursue your strategic objectives. And your tactics change when the environmental circumstances change, e.g., your competitors launched a new product, a global pandemic came out of nowhere, your country leaves a state union , or a new tech disrupts your industry. All of these changes force you to adapt your short-term expectations and tactics. Your long-term goals are more resilient to these changes.

Short-term goals love specificity. This is goal setting 101. Remove ambiguity and make sure that everybody interprets the goals the same way. Make your language simple and your description longer if you have to. Clarity in goals informs decisions. Of course, long-term goals should be clear, as well, but they don’t have to be so specific. 

Short-term goals have numbers in them. They are not metrics or KPIs because they’re lagging indicators of your progress. But they are indicators nonetheless. They inform you whether you and your people did a good job to achieve them. Long-term goals don’t need numbers if they don’t make sense. For example, “Dominate our category” could be accompanied by a number like “Own 70% of the market”, but that doesn’t exactly sum up what “dominating a category” really is.

Short-term goals are sacrificed for the company’s greater good. We’re past the time where quarterly numbers are the holy grail of strategy. Leadership with a clear vision recognizes that sometimes you have to make short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term success. It’s how you build sustainable and stable growth. The reverse is what creates soaring short-term results but destroys the culture and leads to ethical fading.

How long are short-term and long-term goals

The scale is relative.

A colossus like Amazon can’t really keep up and survive with a strategy shorter than 3 years . The bigger the organization (and its market cap), the longer the span of its long-term goals. Planning for so long ahead allows the company to manage its resources efficiently and direct its effort towards the most promising big move.

In his book “Invent & Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos,” Jeff Bezos says that each quarter is baked three years earlier .  Not three months. Not three quarters. Three years. Which means that the numbers of the latest quarter indicate the quality of the company’s 3- year-old strategy. And it makes sense. It’s impossible to coordinate over a million employees if you change the company's direction with every small trend you spot.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the strategy doesn’t adapt to environmental changes.

Complacency is the enterprise killer . Large organizations might be more resilient to threats, but they can become irrelevant very fast, remember Blockbuster and Kodak. However, with size comes one huge advantage. Data. Large organizations have access to huge amounts of data that can generate market insights, spot trends and almost “predict the future.”

Short-term and medium-term goals are decided based on those findings. Due to their dependence on environmental conditions, short-term goals can’t be yearly . Even longer than quarterly is stretching them. In a time of a crisis, short-term goals could be as short as daily and in more peaceful circumstances as long as quarterly.

Long-term goals examples

The further you look into the future, the more uncertain it becomes. The closer your milestones are to your vision, the less specific they become.

Let’s take, for example, The Walt Disney Company . Disney’s vision statement is:

“To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.” When Bob Iger took over as Disney’s CEO, his strategy was summed up in three priorities, 3 long-term goals :

• Create content of the highest quality
• Adopt cutting-edge technology to create content & connect with the customers
• Expand globally

These goals are specific enough to guide the decisions of everyone inside the company and are vague enough for everyone to interpret them differently. In other words, they are contextualizing the content of the rest of the strategy.

Other long-term goals examples are:

• Dominate our category
• Create a community-like culture
• Lead the sustainability transformation in our industry
• Create the most comfortable/cheapest/easiest to use [product]
• Digitize our processes

Short-term goals examples

Short-term goals are very specific.

Each department, team and individual has its own short-term goals to meet. What’s important is to have all of them aligned, some shared between teams and people and none isolated. Choosing short-term goals is the last step of your strategy’s implementation and should derive naturally from your strategic priorities.

Here is a list of short-term goals:

• Increase our revenue by 15% by the end of Q1 owned by Jane Doe.
• Reduce safety incidents by 70% by the end of Q1 owned by John Doe.
• Increase customer retention by 30% by the end of Q2 owned by John Doe.
• Hire 5 new salespeople by the end of the month owned by Jane Doe.
• Increase ad conversion by 10% by the end of the next month owned by Jane Doe.

How to set long-term goals

Long-term goals have 3 important components:

• Duration (NOT deadline)
• Specificity to dictate choices
• They are memorable

They don’t have a specific deadline. They have an estimated duration. You don’t “Dominate your category” by Dec 31, 2025. You “Dominate your category” in the next 3 years. If in 3 years you haven’t achieved your goal, then something went wrong. That’s how you should think of your long-term deadline, not as a hard date but as an estimated duration.

They dictate choices. Long-term goals outline the company’s strategy and inform every employee’s decision-making process. Ideally, when a team leader needs to make a decision, crucial or not, they can easily align it with the company’s strategy simply by visiting the long-term goals. That’s why they can’t be overly specific because they will only inform certain types of decisions and be useful to only a limited part of the organization. Thus, creating a big risk of internal misalignment.

They are easy to remember. If your people need to check the company’s long-term priorities every time they make a decision, they won’t. Make sure everyone understands and is on board with your priorities by simply making them memorable. In the end, you want the priorities to provide context, not represent all of your strategy’s details.

Benchmark the duration of your goals externally

Take as much guessing as possible out of the process. Have a hard look at your industry’s history and how long it took certain players to achieve their long-term aspirations. Find out what were their strengths, weaknesses and mistakes . Contrast them to yours and then make an educated estimation of your goal’s duration.

Do better than “best”

Shy away from generic goals like “be the best/first/most innovative.” Nobody perceives these the same way. For example, specify your ideal customer so your people know who NOT to target. Specify your product’s niche , e.g., “perfect scale models” instead of “just toys.” In essence, provide a context to decisions that will dictate a clear set of choices on every organizational level.

Write them for 5-year-olds

If a young child can’t understand your long-term goals, chances are your people will have a hard time remembering them. Simplify the language, avoid jargon, use verbs and be specific in your adjectives . Go beyond 3 goals and you risk giving your people contradicting priorities. Clarity unifies collective effort towards one direction .

How to achieve long-term goals in business

With shorter-term goals.

When you write your strategic plan , start from the end and work your way backward from your vision towards your current state. Here’s how to think about your plan:

• Your vision is your destination.
• Your long-term goals are your milestones.
• Your shorter-term goals are your odometer.

Your strategic plan also contains your Focus Areas and your strategic objectives . They break down your direction even further. 

Starting with the end in mind gives your shorter-term goals a predictive power

So basically, your strategic plan works like a roadmap towards your long-term goals. Here’s how to think about tracking your progress: if you complete all of your strategic objectives, will you have achieved your long-term goals? If you haven’t achieved at least an 80% progress towards them, your tracking is off. You need to revisit your strategic objectives.

This tracking process cascades from the top of the strategic plan to the bottom. Check out how Cascade brings this strategic model to life and aligns your people’s day-to-day work with your company’s vision as a goal management software .

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How to Set Strategic Planning Goals

• 29 Oct 2020

In an ever-changing business world, it’s imperative to have strategic goals and a plan to guide organizational efforts. Yet, crafting strategic goals can be a daunting task. How do you decide which goals are vital to your company? Which ones are actionable and measurable? Which goals to prioritize?

To help you answer these questions, here’s a breakdown of what strategic planning is, what characterizes strategic goals, and how to select organizational goals to pursue.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the ongoing organizational process of using available knowledge to document a business's intended direction. This process is used to prioritize efforts, effectively allocate resources, align shareholders and employees, and ensure organizational goals are backed by data and sound reasoning.

Research in the Harvard Business Review cautions against getting locked into your strategic plan and forgetting that strategy involves inherent risk and discomfort. A good strategic plan evolves and shifts as opportunities and threats arise.

“Most people think of strategy as an event, but that’s not the way the world works,” says Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen in the online course Disruptive Strategy . “When we run into unanticipated opportunities and threats, we have to respond. Sometimes we respond successfully; sometimes we don’t. But most strategies develop through this process. More often than not, the strategy that leads to success emerges through a process that’s at work 24/7 in almost every industry."

Related: 5 Tips for Formulating a Successful Strategy

4 Characteristics of Strategic Goals

To craft a strategic plan for your organization, you first need to determine the goals you’re trying to reach. Strategic goals are an organization’s measurable objectives that are indicative of its long-term vision.

Here are four characteristics of strategic goals to keep in mind when setting them for your organization.

1. Purpose-Driven

The starting point for crafting strategic goals is asking yourself what your company’s purpose and values are . What are you striving for, and why is it important to set these objectives? Let the answers to these questions guide the development of your organization’s strategic goals.

“You don’t have to leave your values at the door when you come to work,” says HBS Professor Rebecca Henderson in the online course Sustainable Business Strategy .

Henderson, whose work focuses on reimagining capitalism for a just and sustainable world, also explains that leading with purpose can drive business performance.

“Adopting a purpose will not hurt your performance if you do it authentically and well,” Henderson says in a lecture streamed via Facebook Live . “If you’re able to link your purpose to the strategic vision of the company in a way that really gets people aligned and facing in the right direction, then you have the possibility of outperforming your competitors.”

Related: 5 Examples of Successful Sustainability Initiatives

2. Long-Term and Forward-Focused

While strategic goals are the long-term objectives of your organization, operational goals are the daily milestones that need to be reached to achieve them. When setting strategic goals, think of your company’s values and long-term vision, and ensure you’re not confusing strategic and operational goals.

For instance, your organization’s goal could be to create a new marketing strategy; however, this is an operational goal in service of a long-term vision. The strategic goal, in this case, could be breaking into a new market segment, to which the creation of a new marketing strategy would contribute.

Keep a forward-focused vision to ensure you’re setting challenging objectives that can have a lasting impact on your organization.

3. Actionable

Strong strategic goals are not only long-term and forward-focused—they’re actionable. If there aren’t operational goals that your team can complete to reach the strategic goal, your organization is better off spending time and resources elsewhere.

When formulating strategic goals, think about the operational goals that fall under them. Do they make up an action plan your team can take to achieve your organization’s objective? If so, the goal could be a worthwhile endeavor for your business.

4. Measurable

When crafting strategic goals, it’s important to define how progress and success will be measured.

According to the online course Strategy Execution , an effective tool you can use to create measurable goals is a balanced scorecard —a tool to help you track and measure non-financial variables.

“The balanced scorecard combines the traditional financial perspective with additional perspectives that focus on customers, internal business processes, and learning and development,” says HBS Professor Robert Simons in the online course Strategy Execution . “These additional perspectives help businesses measure all the activities essential to creating value.”

The four perspectives are:

• Internal business processes
• Learning and growth

The most important element of a balanced scorecard is its alignment with your business strategy.

“Ask yourself,” Simons says, “‘If I picked up a scorecard and examined the measures on it, could I infer what the business's strategy was? If you've designed measures well, the answer should be yes.”

Related: A Manager’s Guide to Successful Strategy Implementation

Strategic Goal Examples

Whatever your business goals and objectives , they must have all four of the characteristics listed above.

For instance, the goal “become a household name” is valid but vague. Consider the intended timeframe to reach this goal and how you’ll operationally define “a household name.” The method of obtaining data must also be taken into account.

An appropriate revision to the original goal could be: “Increase brand recognition by 80 percent among surveyed Americans by 2030.” By setting a more specific goal, you can better equip your organization to reach it and ensure that employees and shareholders have a clear definition of success and how it will be measured.

If your organization is focused on becoming more sustainable and eco-conscious, you may need to assess your strategic goals. For example, you may have a goal of becoming a carbon neutral company, but without defining a realistic timeline and baseline for this initiative, the probability of failure is much higher.

A stronger goal might be: “Implement a comprehensive carbon neutrality strategy by 2030.” From there, you can determine the operational goals that will make this strategic goal possible.

No matter what goal you choose to pursue, it’s important to avoid those that lack clarity, detail, specific targets or timeframes, or clear parameters for success. Without these specific elements in place, you’ll have a difficult time making your goals actionable and measurable.

Prioritizing Strategic Goals

Once you’ve identified several strategic goals, determine which are worth pursuing. This can be a lengthy process, especially if other decision-makers have differing priorities and opinions.

To set the stage, ensure everyone is aware of the purpose behind each strategic goal. This calls back to Henderson’s point that employees’ alignment on purpose can set your organization up to outperform its competitors.

Calculate Anticipated ROI

Next, calculate the estimated return on investment (ROI) of the operational goals tied to each strategic objective. For example, if the strategic goal is “reach carbon-neutral status by 2030,” you need to break that down into actionable sub-tasks—such as “determine how much CO2 our company produces each year” and “craft a marketing and public relations strategy”—and calculate the expected cost and return for each.

The ROI formula is typically written as:

ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100

In project management, the formula uses slightly different terms:

ROI = [(Financial Value - Project Cost) / Project Cost] x 100

An estimate can be a valuable piece of information when deciding which goals to pursue. Although not all strategic goals need to yield a high return on investment, it’s in your best interest to calculate each objective's anticipated ROI so you can compare them.

Consider Current Events

Finally, when deciding which strategic goal to prioritize, the importance of the present moment can’t be overlooked. What’s happening in the world that could impact the timeliness of each goal?

For example, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the ever-intensifying climate change crisis have impacted many organizations’ strategic goals in 2020. Often, the goals that are timely and pressing are those that earn priority.

Learn to Plan Strategic Goals

As you set and prioritize strategic goals, remember that your strategy should always be evolving. As circumstances and challenges shift, so must your organizational strategy.

If you lead with purpose, a measurable and actionable vision, and an awareness of current events, you can set strategic goals worth striving for.

Do you want to learn more about strategic planning? Explore our online strategy courses and download our free flowchart to determine which is right for you and your goals.

This post was updated on November 16, 2023. It was originally published on October 29, 2020.

About the Author

What Are Long-Term Goals? (+50 Examples & Tips to Achieve Them)

Learn all you need to know about setting long-term goals and how to achieve them. Plus, a list of 50 long-term goal examples you can use as inspiration.

Setting long-term goals is important if you want to succeed in your life and career.

In fact,  over 1,000 studies  have found that setting lofty, specific goals is linked to higher levels of performance, motivation, and persistence.

But what exactly are long-term goals? How can you set them? And most importantly, how can you achieve them?

Let’s look at long-term goals, why they’re important, and how you can make them a reality. We’ll also give you a list of 50 long-term goal examples so you can be inspired to aim high when setting your goals.

What are long-term goals?

Put simply, a long-term goal is an objective you want to achieve in the future — but one that’ll take a fair amount of effort and time. They’re not something you can achieve in a week or even a year; long-term goals are big goals that concern your health, finances, or career.

To achieve long-term goals, you need to:

• Plan carefully to make sure each goal is realistic and achievable
• Include different milestones to ensure progression
• Consistently put in the work (even if the results are taking longer than expected)
• Remain focused and accountable throughout the process

Difference between long and short-term goals

While both long and short-term goals have end objectives, their scales and the time frames required to achieve them are different.

Short-term goals can take anywhere from a few days to a year to complete, whereas long-term goals can take five years or longer.

Long-term goals are also often made up of short-term goals or smaller milestones that help you stay accountable and measure your progress.

For example, if your long-term goal is to buy a house, you may have several short-term goals to help you afford the property, such as getting a promotion, investing in stock, or taking out a loan.

Since long-term goals are achieved over a long period, they’re more flexible than short-term goals. This is because circumstances that are out of your control (such as inflation when saving to buy a house) may change, and you may need to adjust your overall objective or timeframe as a result.

On the other hand, short-term goals are more specific and often list specific tasks that need to be completed over relatively short periods.

Why is it important to set long-term goals?

Without setting long-term goals, it’s impossible to know where you want to go — let alone how you’ll get there.

In 2018, John Doeer, an American investor with a net worth of over  $4 billion , spoke at a  TED conference  about the importance of goal setting. He went so far as to say that the “secret” to success is setting the right goals.

Not only do long-term goals give you a long-term vision, but they also inspire and motivate you to take deliberate, small actions to help meet them.

They help you stay focused and “keep your eyes on the prize.” As a result, you’ll be better able to organize your time, projects, and resources to achieve the things you truly want.

According to  Positive Psychology , setting goals can also help trigger new behaviors that’ll help you gain momentum in your life.

Long-term goal setting can even promote a sense of self-mastery since your goals will push you to step out of your comfort zone and do things you never thought you were capable of.

Examples of long-term goals

You can set different types of goals for the business, career, personal, and financial areas of your life.

Here are some examples of what these goals could look like:

Long-term business goals

• Grow a successful business
• Reach a monthly revenue of X amount
• Expand your business to a new country or region
• Hire a skilled team of workers
• Travel the world while managing your company remotely
• Rebrand your business
• Increase employee satisfaction and retention
• Leave a legacy
• Develop a personal brand
• Acquire a competitor company
• Grow your customer base to X amount
• Increase shareholder value
• Become a public speaker

Long-term career goals

• Find your dream job
• Improve your work-life balance
• Master a new job skill
• Become a company executive
• Work internationally
• Retire from full-time work
• Shift to a new career path
• Experience career stability
• Achieve a salary of X amount
• Expand your professional network
• Mentor other employees
• Pursue further education
• Become an expert in your industry

Want to set better goals for your career? Read our  ultimate guide to setting professional goals .

Long-term personal goals

• Buy a house
• Live abroad
• Go on your dream vacation (such as a two-week trip to Hawaii)
• Achieve your ultimate fitness level and weight
• Learn to cook like a chef
• Complete a difficult event, such as a marathon
• Have or adopt a child
• Maintain your ideal weight
• Find your life partner
• Become a better parent
• Become a better spouse
• Emigrate to a different country
• Learn to play an instrument

Long-term financial goals

• Become a millionaire
• Improve your credit score
• Pay off your large debts
• Grow your savings account balance
• Invest in something big
• Build an emergency fund
• Saving for a college fund for your kids
• Pay off your car
• Fund your retirement
• Invest money in stock or properties to get X amount of return on investment
• Become financially independent

According to a 2022 Hearts and Wallets research report, long-term financial goals matter to  82%  of American households.

How to set and achieve long-term goals

Setting long-term goals can be tricky and sometimes even overwhelming. Here are some general guidelines you can follow to make it easier:

1. Think of where you want to be in 10 years

You need to visualize your “perfect” future before you even think about creating long-term goals.

Remember that long-term goals require commitment and take several years to achieve. So, you don’t want to end up setting a goal that doesn’t fit into your life or business.

If you’re setting a long-term personal or career goal, it needs to align with your values and be something that matters to you. On the other hand, if you’re setting a business goal, ensure that it aligns with your company’s mission, vision, and values.

Having something to aim for that’ll really impact your life or business will help you stick to your goal — even during uncertain times.

2. Write SMART goals

The SMART goals framework is a popular method used for setting long-term goals. It focuses on helping you set goals that aren’t only suited to you and what you want but that are also realistic and achievable.

SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

When setting SMART goals, ask yourself the following questions:

• Specific:  What exactly is it that you want to achieve? Make the goal as specific as possible. For example, if you’re setting a financial goal, include a specific monetary amount.
• Measurable:  How will you know whether you’ve achieved your goal? Set up key performance indicators that’ll make it clear whether your goal has been met or not.
• Attainable:  Is your goal possible to achieve? Make sure it’s realistic and can be reached within the specified time frame.
• Relevant:  Does your goal contribute to your overall personal, career, or business growth? Ensure you set a goal that fits into your dream life or career. It needs to be focused on what you truly desire.
• Time-bound:  When do you want to achieve your goal? Choose a day you can use as a deadline. The more specific with it you get, the better.

3. Reverse-engineer your goal

Long-term goals can be overwhelming since they’re far more complex than short-term goals. They leave room for you to become demotivated since they can sometimes seem unattainable.

That’s why they should be broken down into short-term, bite-sized, less intimidating goals.

In other words, you need to create a more manageable action plan.

You can do this by reverse-engineering the objective. Start at the end and work backward to determine the smaller tasks that need to be completed for you to attain your ultimate goal.

Like long-term goals, each short-term goal should be based on the SMART framework.

For example, if your long-term goal is to grow a successful business, your short-term goals might include things like the following:

• Writing a business plan
• Gaining funding
• Opening a business bank account
• Hiring your first employee

4. Prioritize your goals

You can use a planning system such as  Motion  to prioritize your tasks and manage your schedule — and in doing so, make it easier to achieve your long-term goals.

‎Motion allows you to use  time-blocking  to set aside a specific amount of time to complete different tasks. This helps you to be more productive and get the work done!

With Motion, you can also merge your personal and professional goals — making it possible for you to work on home and work responsibilities on the same day without feeling overwhelmed.

You can also move tasks around whenever emergencies arise so you don’t forget about them — and rest assured that your tasks will be completed no matter what.

5. Make a plan to track your progress

This is where the “measurable” part of your SMART goal comes in. You need to make sure that your long-term and short-term goals are measurable.

For example, if you have a short-term goal of improving your networking and communication abilities, you could measure it through the tasks you complete.

Thus, your tasks may look something like this:

• Reaching out to three new people in your industry per day via email
• Taking a one-week communication course
• Going to a networking event
• Communicating more during work meetings

Completing each of these subtasks with the help of a tool like Motion could help you move toward completing your bigger goal. You can set the urgency of each task, its due date, and much more.

6. Be willing to make changes

As mentioned above, unexpected obstacles sometimes arise. And often, these obstacles are out of your control.

It’s important to remember that things change — and that’s okay.

When you’re aiming for a long-term goal, it’s completely normal for things to occur that knock you off track or for your long-term goal to shift. After all, a lot can happen in 5–10 years!

Rather than becoming demotivated when things change, maintain a mindset of flexibility. If you focus too much on a fixed outcome, you might miss out on other opportunities.

For example, if you’ve set a goal to emigrate to a specific country, but that country’s financial state declines dramatically — no longer making it a viable option — be willing to shift your goal. Look into other countries that could be better options.

Ready to set ambitious long-term goals?

Now that you know how to set your long-term goals, you can get to work setting business and personal goals that resonate with you and your dream life.

Setting these goals may take some soul-searching, but once you have them in mind, you can start working on your plan to get there.

Be sure to use a  to-do list app , as this will help you measure your progress toward your goals much faster.

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11 Tips for Creating a Long-Term Strategic Plan

7 min. read

Updated October 29, 2023

Strategic planning is a management tool that guides your business to better performance and long-term success.

Working with a plan will focus your efforts, unify your team in a single direction, and help guide you through tough business decisions. A strategic plan requires you to define your goals, and in defining them, enables you to achieve them—a huge competitive advantage.

In this article, we’ll discuss 11 essentials for creating a thorough and effective strategic plan. Each tip is a critical stepping stone in leading your business toward your goals.

• 1. Define your company vision

You should be able to define your company vision in 100 words. Develop this statement and make it publically available to both employees and customers.

This statement should answer the key questions that drive your business: Where is your company headed? What do you want your company to be? If you don’t know the answer to these questions off the top of your head, then you have some thinking to do! If you have the answers in your head, but not on paper—get writing.

If you have them written down, congrats! You’ve completed the first and most critical step in creating a long-term strategic plan.

• 2. Define your personal vision

While your personal vision is just as important to your strategic plan, it does not need to be shared with your team and customers.

Your personal vision should incorporate what you want your business to bring to your life—whether that’s enormous growth, early retirement, or simply more time to spend with family and friends.

Aligning your personal vision with your company vision is key to achieving your personal and professional goals. Just as with your company vision, have your personal vision written down in a 100-word statement. Know that statement inside and out and keep it at the forefront of your decision making.

• 3. Know your business

Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. By knowing where your business is now, you can make more informed predictions for how it can grow.

Questions such as “Why is this business important?” and “What does this business do best?” are a great place to start. A SWOT analysis can also help you plan for making improvements.

Questions such as “What needs improvement?” and “What more could the business be doing?” can help guide your strategic plan in a way that closes gaps and opens up opportunities.

For more on completing a SWOT analysis, see our SWOT analysis guide.

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• 4. Establish short-term goals

Short-term goals should include everything you (realistically) want to achieve over the next 36 months.

Goals should be “S.M.A.R.T.” (specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, and timely).

An example of S.M.A.R.T. goals include “building out a new product or service within the next year” or “increasing net profit by 2 percent in ten months.” If you’ve already conducted a SWOT analysis, you should have an idea of what your business can reasonably achieve over a specified period of time.

• 5. Outline strategies

Strategies are the steps you’ll take to meet your short-term goals. If the short term goal is “build out a new product or service,” the strategies might be:

• Researching competitor offerings
• Getting in touch with vendors and suppliers
• Formulating a development plan
• Outlining a marketing and sales plan for the new offering
• 6. Create an action plan

An action plan is an essential part of the business planning and strategy development process. The best analysis, in-depth market research, and creative strategizing are pointless unless they lead to action.

An action plan needs to be a working document; it must be easy to change and update. But, must also be specific about what you’re doing, when you will do it, who will be accountable, what resources will be needed, and how that action will be measured.

Action plans put a process to your strategies. Using the previous example, an action plan might be: “CMO develops competitor research packet for new offerings by 9/1. Review packet with the executive team by 9/15.”

When The Alternative Board, Bradford West  Director Andrew Hartley was responsible for designing and delivering a three year, $10m environmental business support program, a full and detailed action plan was required for funding.

“That action plan allowed me to 1.) manage and measure the evolving program, 2.) ensure resources and staff were where they needed to be, and 3.) track whether the design of the program was working and delivering the level of results we were contracted to deliver,” says Hartley.

“Even I was surprised about how helpful that action plan was,” he says. “I cannot image approaching any significant project or business without one.”

• 7. Foster strategic communication

To align your team, you must communicate strategically. Results-driven communication focuses conversations and cuts out excessive meetings. Every communication should be rooted in a specific goal.

Include the how, where, when, and most importantly why every time you deliver instructions, feedback, updates, and so on.

• 8. Review and modify regularly

Check in regularly to make sure you’re progressing toward your goals. A weekly review of your goals, strategies, and action plans can help you see if you need to make any modifications.

Schedule time in your calendar for this. Weekly check-ins allow you to reassess your plan in light of any progress, setbacks, or changes.

• 9. Hold yourself accountable

Having a business coach or mentor is great for this. If you have a hard time sticking to your plans, you’ll have an equally hard time meeting your goals.

According to The Alternative Board’s September 2015 Business Pulse Survey, the number one reason business owners choose to work with mentors is accountability.

“Having a close—but not too close—space for advice and accountability is really valuable,” says TAB Member Scott Lininger, CEO of Bitsbox. “Someone who is too close to your business (such as board members) often have a perspective that’s too similar to your own. Over time, your coach comes to know your team, your product, and your business, and they help you work through all kinds of challenges in a way that’s unique.”

“All too often I find that leaders accept underperformance against their strategic plan too easily,” adds Hartley. “A coach can rekindle the resolve and ambition of the leader, resulting in a recovery of lost margins, sales, or output.”

According to Hartley, a coach can build accountability by questioning what’s working, making sure everything’s on track, pointing out areas of underperformance, and asking what corrective action needs to be pursued.

• 10. Be adaptable

Remember: You can’t plan for everything. Just as challenges will arrive, so too will opportunities, and you must be ready at a moment’s notice to amend your plan. Weekly reviews will help enormously with this.

“A strategic plan will likely need to be changed very soon after approval because nobody can accurately predict anything but the very near term future,” says Jim Morris, owner and President of The Alternative Board, Tennessee Valley. “You stay adaptable by monitoring the plan every day. The wise leader will be constantly looking for opportunities to exceed the strategic plan by being opportunistic, creative, and by exploiting weaknesses in the competitive market.”

By doing this, Morris was able to exceed forecast results of every strategic plan he ever approved. “The times when I needed to be flexible were when we met strategic plan goals ahead of time and had to rewrite the plan to keep it current and relevant.”

It’s important to be adaptable because nothing stays the same. “It’s more important to be agile and take advantage of opportunities that weren’t foreseen and make adjustments,” says Morris. “This and a continuous improvement mindset is the best way to exceed plan goals.”

• 11. Create a strategic planning team

As a business owner, you should never feel like you have to do everything alone.

A strategic planning team can help with every phase of the process, from creating a company vision to adapting your strategy week-to-week. Compose your team of key management staff and employees—some visionaries and some executors.

If you think you’re “too busy” for start strategic planning, then you need strategic planning more than you know. Having a focused plan allows you to focus your energies, so you’re working on your business, rather than in it. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to steer the ship, not put out day-to-day fires.

Yes, creating a strategic plan is challenging, and it’s certainly time-consuming, but it will make all the difference in achieving your long term goals. You’ll avoid making bad decisions and expending more effort than you need.

Try these 11 tips to get started, and then be flexible in your ongoing approach. You’ll be amazed at how much more streamlined your business processes will become when you are working with a long-term strategic plan.

Jodie Shaw is The Alternative Board (TAB)’s Chief Marketing Officer. She brings over 20 years of B2B marketing and 10 years in franchising to the role. Prior to to her work with TAB, Jodie served as the CEO and Global Chief Marketing Officer of an international business coaching franchise, serving more than 50 countries.

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What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. In this article, we'll guide you through the strategic planning process, including why it's important, the benefits and best practices, and five steps to get you from beginning to end.

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. The strategic planning process informs your organization’s decisions, growth, and goals.

Strategic planning helps you clearly define your company’s long-term objectives—and maps how your short-term goals and work will help you achieve them. This, in turn, gives you a clear sense of where your organization is going and allows you to ensure your teams are working on projects that make the most impact. Think of it this way—if your goals and objectives are your destination on a map, your strategic plan is your navigation system.

In this article, we walk you through the 5-step strategic planning process and show you how to get started developing your own strategic plan.

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What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization’s mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives. The product of the planning cycle is a strategic plan, which is shared throughout the company.

What is a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is the end result of the strategic planning process. At its most basic, it’s a tool used to define your organization’s goals and what actions you’ll take to achieve them.

Typically, your strategic plan should include: 

Your company’s mission statement

Your organizational goals, including your long-term goals and short-term, yearly objectives

Any plan of action, tactics, or approaches you plan to take to meet those goals

What are the benefits of strategic planning?

Strategic planning can help with goal setting and decision-making by allowing you to map out how your company will move toward your organization’s vision and mission statements in the next three to five years. Let’s circle back to our map metaphor. If you think of your company trajectory as a line on a map, a strategic plan can help you better quantify how you’ll get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in a few years).

When you create and share a clear strategic plan with your team, you can:

Build a strong organizational culture by clearly defining and aligning on your organization’s mission, vision, and goals.

Align everyone around a shared purpose and ensure all departments and teams are working toward a common objective.

Proactively set objectives to help you get where you want to go and achieve desired outcomes.

Promote a long-term vision for your company rather than focusing primarily on short-term gains.

Ensure resources are allocated around the most high-impact priorities.

Define long-term goals and set shorter-term goals to support them.

Assess your current situation and identify any opportunities—or threats—allowing your organization to mitigate potential risks.

Create a proactive business culture that enables your organization to respond more swiftly to emerging market changes and opportunities.

What are the 5 steps in strategic planning?

The strategic planning process involves a structured methodology that guides the organization from vision to implementation. The strategic planning process starts with assembling a small, dedicated team of key strategic planners—typically five to 10 members—who will form the strategic planning, or management, committee. This team is responsible for gathering crucial information, guiding the development of the plan, and overseeing strategy execution.

Once you’ve established your management committee, you can get to work on the planning process. 

Step 1: Assess your current business strategy and business environment

Before you can define where you’re going, you first need to define where you are. Understanding the external environment, including market trends and competitive landscape, is crucial in the initial assessment phase of strategic planning.

To do this, your management committee should collect a variety of information from additional stakeholders, like employees and customers. In particular, plan to gather:

Relevant industry and market data to inform any market opportunities, as well as any potential upcoming threats in the near future.

Customer insights to understand what your customers want from your company—like product improvements or additional services.

Employee feedback that needs to be addressed—whether about the product, business practices, or the day-to-day company culture.

Consider different types of strategic planning tools and analytical techniques to gather this information, such as:

A balanced scorecard to help you evaluate four major elements of a business: learning and growth, business processes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

A SWOT analysis to help you assess both current and future potential for the business (you’ll return to this analysis periodically during the strategic planning process). 

To fill out each letter in the SWOT acronym, your management committee will answer a series of questions:

What does your organization currently do well?

What separates you from your competitors?

What are your most valuable internal resources?

What tangible assets do you have?

What is your biggest strength? 

Weaknesses:

What does your organization do poorly?

What do you currently lack (whether that’s a product, resource, or process)?

What do your competitors do better than you?

What, if any, limitations are holding your organization back?

What processes or products need improvement? 

Opportunities:

What opportunities does your organization have?

How can you leverage your unique company strengths?

Are there any trends that you can take advantage of?

How can you capitalize on marketing or press opportunities?

Is there an emerging need for your product or service? 

What emerging competitors should you keep an eye on?

Are there any weaknesses that expose your organization to risk?

Have you or could you experience negative press that could reduce market share?

Is there a chance of changing customer attitudes towards your company? 

Step 2: Identify your company’s goals and objectives

To begin strategy development, take into account your current position, which is where you are now. Then, draw inspiration from your vision, mission, and current position to identify and define your goals—these are your final destination. 

To develop your strategy, you’re essentially pulling out your compass and asking, “Where are we going next?” “What’s the ideal future state of this company?” This can help you figure out which path you need to take to get there.

During this phase of the planning process, take inspiration from important company documents, such as:

Your mission statement, to understand how you can continue moving towards your organization’s core purpose.

Your vision statement, to clarify how your strategic plan fits into your long-term vision.

Your company values, to guide you towards what matters most towards your company.

Your competitive advantages, to understand what unique benefit you offer to the market.

Your long-term goals, to track where you want to be in five or 10 years.

Your financial forecast and projection, to understand where you expect your financials to be in the next three years, what your expected cash flow is, and what new opportunities you will likely be able to invest in.

Step 3: Develop your strategic plan and determine performance metrics

Now that you understand where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to put pen to paper. Take your current business position and strategy into account, as well as your organization’s goals and objectives, and build out a strategic plan for the next three to five years. Keep in mind that even though you’re creating a long-term plan, parts of your plan should be created or revisited as the quarters and years go on.

As you build your strategic plan, you should define:

Company priorities for the next three to five years, based on your SWOT analysis and strategy.

Yearly objectives for the first year. You don’t need to define your objectives for every year of the strategic plan. As the years go on, create new yearly objectives that connect back to your overall strategic goals . 

Related key results and KPIs. Some of these should be set by the management committee, and some should be set by specific teams that are closer to the work. Make sure your key results and KPIs are measurable and actionable. These KPIs will help you track progress and ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

Budget for the next year or few years. This should be based on your financial forecast as well as your direction. Do you need to spend aggressively to develop your product? Build your team? Make a dent with marketing? Clarify your most important initiatives and how you’ll budget for those.

A high-level project roadmap . A project roadmap is a tool in project management that helps you visualize the timeline of a complex initiative, but you can also create a very high-level project roadmap for your strategic plan. Outline what you expect to be working on in certain quarters or years to make the plan more actionable and understandable.

Step 4: Implement and share your plan

Now it’s time to put your plan into action. Strategy implementation involves clear communication across your entire organization to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and how to measure the plan’s success. 

Make sure your team (especially senior leadership) has access to the strategic plan, so they can understand how their work contributes to company priorities and the overall strategy map. We recommend sharing your plan in the same tool you use to manage and track work, so you can more easily connect high-level objectives to daily work. If you don’t already, consider using a work management platform .  

A few tips to make sure your plan will be executed without a hitch: 

Communicate clearly to your entire organization throughout the implementation process, to ensure all team members understand the strategic plan and how to implement it effectively. 

Define what “success” looks like by mapping your strategic plan to key performance indicators.

Ensure that the actions outlined in the strategic plan are integrated into the daily operations of the organization, so that every team member's daily activities are aligned with the broader strategic objectives.

Utilize tools and software—like a work management platform—that can aid in implementing and tracking the progress of your plan.

Regularly monitor and share the progress of the strategic plan with the entire organization, to keep everyone informed and reinforce the importance of the plan.

Establish regular check-ins to monitor the progress of your strategic plan and make adjustments as needed. 

Step 5: Revise and restructure as needed

Once you’ve created and implemented your new strategic framework, the final step of the planning process is to monitor and manage your plan.

Remember, your strategic plan isn’t set in stone. You’ll need to revisit and update the plan if your company changes directions or makes new investments. As new market opportunities and threats come up, you’ll likely want to tweak your strategic plan. Make sure to review your plan regularly—meaning quarterly and annually—to ensure it’s still aligned with your organization’s vision and goals.

Keep in mind that your plan won’t last forever, even if you do update it frequently. A successful strategic plan evolves with your company’s long-term goals. When you’ve achieved most of your strategic goals, or if your strategy has evolved significantly since you first made your plan, it might be time to create a new one.

Build a smarter strategic plan with a work management platform

To turn your company strategy into a plan—and ultimately, impact—make sure you’re proactively connecting company objectives to daily work. When you can clarify this connection, you’re giving your team members the context they need to get their best work done. 

A work management platform plays a pivotal role in this process. It acts as a central hub for your strategic plan, ensuring that every task and project is directly tied to your broader company goals. This alignment is crucial for visibility and coordination, allowing team members to see how their individual efforts contribute to the company’s success. 

By leveraging such a platform, you not only streamline workflow and enhance team productivity but also align every action with your strategic objectives—allowing teams to drive greater impact and helping your company move toward goals more effectively. 

Strategic planning FAQs

Still have questions about strategic planning? We have answers.

Why do I need a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is one of many tools you can use to plan and hit your goals. It helps map out strategic objectives and growth metrics that will help your company be successful.

When should I create a strategic plan?

You should aim to create a strategic plan every three to five years, depending on your organization’s growth speed.

Since the point of a strategic plan is to map out your long-term goals and how you’ll get there, you should create a strategic plan when you’ve met most or all of them. You should also create a strategic plan any time you’re going to make a large pivot in your organization’s mission or enter new markets. 

What is a strategic planning template?

A strategic planning template is a tool organizations can use to map out their strategic plan and track progress. Typically, a strategic planning template houses all the components needed to build out a strategic plan, including your company’s vision and mission statements, information from any competitive analyses or SWOT assessments, and relevant KPIs.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. business plan?

A business plan can help you document your strategy as you’re getting started so every team member is on the same page about your core business priorities and goals. This tool can help you document and share your strategy with key investors or stakeholders as you get your business up and running.

You should create a business plan when you’re: 

Just starting your business

Significantly restructuring your business

If your business is already established, you should create a strategic plan instead of a business plan. Even if you’re working at a relatively young company, your strategic plan can build on your business plan to help you move in the right direction. During the strategic planning process, you’ll draw from a lot of the fundamental business elements you built early on to establish your strategy for the next three to five years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. mission and vision statements?

Your strategic plan, mission statement, and vision statements are all closely connected. In fact, during the strategic planning process, you will take inspiration from your mission and vision statements in order to build out your strategic plan.

Simply put: 

A mission statement summarizes your company’s purpose.

A vision statement broadly explains how you’ll reach your company’s purpose.

A strategic plan pulls in inspiration from your mission and vision statements and outlines what actions you’re going to take to move in the right direction. 

For example, if your company produces pet safety equipment, here’s how your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan might shake out:

Mission statement: “To ensure the safety of the world’s animals.” 

Vision statement: “To create pet safety and tracking products that are effortless to use.” 

Your strategic plan would outline the steps you’re going to take in the next few years to bring your company closer to your mission and vision. For example, you develop a new pet tracking smart collar or improve the microchipping experience for pet owners. 

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. company objectives?

Company objectives are broad goals. You should set these on a yearly or quarterly basis (if your organization moves quickly). These objectives give your team a clear sense of what you intend to accomplish for a set period of time. 

Your strategic plan is more forward-thinking than your company goals, and it should cover more than one year of work. Think of it this way: your company objectives will move the needle towards your overall strategy—but your strategic plan should be bigger than company objectives because it spans multiple years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a business case?

A business case is a document to help you pitch a significant investment or initiative for your company. When you create a business case, you’re outlining why this investment is a good idea, and how this large-scale project will positively impact the business. 

You might end up building business cases for things on your strategic plan’s roadmap—but your strategic plan should be bigger than that. This tool should encompass multiple years of your roadmap, across your entire company—not just one initiative.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a project plan?

A strategic plan is a company-wide, multi-year plan of what you want to accomplish in the next three to five years and how you plan to accomplish that. A project plan, on the other hand, outlines how you’re going to accomplish a specific project. This project could be one of many initiatives that contribute to a specific company objective which, in turn, is one of many objectives that contribute to your strategic plan. 

What’s the difference between strategic management vs. strategic planning?

A strategic plan is a tool to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the process of creating a plan in order to hit your strategic objectives.

Strategic management includes the strategic planning process, but also goes beyond it. In addition to planning how you will achieve your big-picture goals, strategic management also helps you organize your resources and figure out the best action plans for success. 

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How to Set Professional Long Term Goals…And Actually, Achieve Them

Your ability to set and pursue short-term goals and long-term goals significantly influences the success and profitability of your business administration, your enterprise, and your personal life.

Top executives, renowned for their achievements, share one trait: they’re long-term thinkers.

These visionaries project themselves five years into the future, envisioning their positions and responsibilities, all to fulfill their long-term aspirations and prioritize goals. Their continuous quest wondering how to set goals and refine strategic planning propels their business achievements.

Understanding Long-Term Goals

Long-term personal and professional goals are the pinnacle of your professional advancement, requiring substantial time and dedication. Swift achievements aren’t the goal here; meticulous planning and resolute commitment are vital. These objectives might span months or even years.

But remember, even the grandest goals can be broken into manageable portions. A technique called chunking aids this process, dividing the long-term intention into smaller tasks or segments.

Applying this approach enhances any undertaking. Say you aspire to become a bestselling author to elevate your professional network and business profile. Where do you begin?

Start with the ultimate goal—landing on the bestsellers list—and scaffold it with intermediary objectives. Your initial aim might be as simple as learning how to write a book.

Once you’ve studied the techniques employed by successful authors, you can outline milestones along your journey. These stepping stones encompass planning, writing, editing, designing, marketing, and ultimately publishing your book.

In this manner, the short-term goals become scaffolding for your overarching objective of becoming a bestselling author.

Long-term Goals vs. Short-term Goals

Long-term objectives serve as the guiding stars that help crystallize your ambitions. Within them, reside the seeds of short-term objectives – the stepping stones that usher you toward monumental accomplishments.

Consider your long-term triumphs as constellations in the night sky, while your short-term goals function as the guiding lights that illuminate your path.

Picture your team conceiving a groundbreaking app poised to garner a million views annually within two years. These objectives serve as the rudders steering your choices and delineating the destiny of your application. Envision the incremental strides necessary to ascend toward loftier achievements – these are the essence of your short-term and long-term career goals.

Navigating Business Goals vs Personal Goals

It’s imperative to navigate the distinctions between long-term goals for your business, your team, and your personal growth.

While certain goals might align—such as financial or professional achievements—others are tailored exclusively to personal aspirations, like achieving a better work-life balance, honing your time management skills, or laying the groundwork for a comfortable retirement. Recognizing and differentiating between these different types of goals is essential.

Goals for your whole business might pertain to business growth or revenue growth. Team goals could involve communication skills or adding more employees to your roster.

Sometimes these goals might overlap with your personal goals.

But it’s good to have goals for yourself that are completely separate from your business, too. For example, quantifiable goals for improving your time management, becoming a better parent or life partner, a healthy diet, or saving for retirement. These goals are intended for personal growth.

Why Set Long-Term Goals?

Before we talk about some examples of long-term goals, make sure you understand why these types of goals are so crucial and how they can help.

The act of setting definitive long-term career goals catalyzes elevating your performance and bolstering your self-assurance. It’s a reflection of the unwavering belief you hold in your capacity to acquire knowledge and leverage it for your betterment.

Every stride you take towards self-improvement invariably enhances your job performance. Furthermore, goals possess the remarkable potential to augment your workplace contentment through the refinement of your day-to-day objectives.

Sustain Focus and Motivation

Long-term goals emerge as beacons amid the routine challenges of each day. They bestow a sense of direction upon your endeavors, infusing purpose into your actions.

By persistently advancing new skills in the areas that genuinely matter, these objectives provide intrinsic motivation and a positive mindset that propels you forward. The achievement of short-term milestones en route to your ultimate goal fuels an enduring sense of determination.

Uphold Your Vision

As the operational intricacies of daily tasks accumulate, the clarity of your original business dream can sometimes waver.

Long-term goals rekindle the passion that initially fueled your dream country or venture’s inception. Functioning as a bridge between mundane daily responsibilities and your aspirational vision, these goals make your dream palpable and attainable.

Enhance Your Business Operations

Continuous refinement of your day-to-day business operations is a linchpin for sustainable growth. The more streamlined your processes, the higher your overall performance.

In this context, long-term goals are akin to a compass, guiding you toward operational optimization and amplification of revenue streams. They provide a framework to systematically identify areas of improvement, innovate, and thereby elevate the efficiency and effectiveness of your business operations.

Incorporating personal or professional development objectives, such as obtaining a professional certification, attending a leadership course, or honing public speaking skills, into your long-term goals can empower you with the tools to lead with authority and navigate complex challenges effectively.

Ultimately, weaving the threads of long-term goals into the fabric of your business and personal aspirations not only shapes a successful career path but also nurtures a life imbued with meaningful achievements.

How To Set Your Long-Term Business Goals

There’s a simple five-part formula for developing a sense of direction that you can use for both your personal and your personal or professional advancement goals for the rest of your life.

It’s called the GOSPA Formula .

The letters in the word GOSPA stand for G oals, O bjectives, S trategies, P riorities, and A ctivities.

First, the formula starts with setting your own goals first. A goal is a specific place where you want to end up, at the end of a specific time. For example, your goal could be a certain volume of sales, or a certain level of profitability at the end of a quarter or the end of a year.

Every goal you set should be SMART. A SMART goal is:

• Specific . A specific goal is not vague–it outlines exactly what you are trying to do.
• Measurable . Use quantifiable metrics to help you measure when you’ve reached the end goal.
• Achievable . This might not be the time to shoot for the stars. You don’t want to end up discouraged if you can’t reach your goal. Challenge yourself, but make sure the goal is within the realm of possibility.
• Relevant . Every goal you set should be relevant to what’s going on in your business.
• Timely . Finally, a SMART goal will have a deadline. Specify a date by which you need to achieve this goal.

An example of a SMART business goal might be, “Double your monthly revenue within the next three years.”

For a personal goal, you could set a goal such as, “By the end of the year, I want to be able to run five miles.”

Setting SMART goals is helpful because they outline a clear vision with an actionable plan. You’re more likely to reach a goal that adheres to these parameters.

The letter O stands for objectives. These are the sub-goals that you’ll need to accomplish to achieve your long-term goal.

Breaking up your big goals into smaller ones is one of the best goal-setting tips I can give you.

Long-term goals are ideal for your big picture, but if you only focus on your major goals, you’re likely not going to reach them as easily. Instead, you want to take that goal and split it into several smaller achievable goals that will ultimately lead you to the big one.

Once you have a long-term goal in place, medium-term goals should come next, and then short-term goals.

If your long-term goal will take years to complete, consider using months as a time reference for your medium-term and long-term goals examples and weeks or days for your short-term goals.

Maybe your long-term goal is to launch a new product in the next two years. Within a certain number of months, less than a year, you may want to create and test a prototype.

Short-term goals, like research, testing, or gathering materials, will help you reach the prototype stage and help you get to your bigger goal.

The third letter in GOSPA stands for strategies. Your strategy is the method you use to accomplish the objectives of your goals.

For example, if we look at sales, your strategy could be to build an internal sales force or you could outsource all sales to a professional organization. Within this could have numerous sub-strategies within your overall, single sales strategy.

Next in the GOSPA formula is setting your priorities. Not all goals are alike. You may need to start working on some of your goals right away. But others might be able to simmer on the back burner until you’re ready for them.

The million-dollar question is how can you decide which goal or goals to work toward first?

To help you decide, make a list of all your business and financial goals first. Physically write them out with a pen and paper.

Next, figure out how important each goal is to you. Consider creating a value system, such as 1-5, and assigning each goal a number based on importance. You can also rank your goals based on urgency.

If you’re getting external pressure from someone else about a certain goal, or if that goal needs to be completed within a certain timeline for any reason, it might be more urgent than the others.

From there, you can decide which goals you want to prioritize the most. But this list doesn’t have to be set in stone. It’s okay to come back to your goals–say, once a month–and reevaluate. You can always change your strategy for setting long-term goals in the future.

The final letter in the GOSPA Formula is A, which stands for activities. These are the specific daily functions that are delegated to individuals with standards of performance and set deadlines.

If you’ve thought out this process completely, each activity will be determined by the current priorities. Each achievement of your priorities will lead to the accomplishment of the strategy.

When your strategy is carried out, you’ll achieve your objectives and at the end of the period, you’ll reach your goals for a specific level of sales or profitability.

One of the primary qualities of executives in high-profit businesses is that they are continuously going through the strategic planning process. They are always playing down the board. They’re always thinking about the future and about the different things they can do, and how to set up realistic timelines and goals to make their desired future a reality.

Track Progress

Once you’ve performed the GOSPA formula on your goals, all that’s left to maintain your growth is to track your progress.

This step is essential—most successful people regularly check in on their progress, considering the actionable steps they’ve been taking to help them achieve long-term goals.

The method you use to track your progress might vary depending on the nature of a certain goal. At a basic level, however, you want to make a note of everything you do to help reach those long-term goals. Then set time aside to sit down and review.

How much time did you spend last week working toward your goal?

What short-term goals did you check off?

Have you run into any obstacles or roadblocks that might alter your overall timeline?

By carefully tracking your progress as you head toward the finish line, you’ll get valuable firsthand insights that you can use to inform your strategy throughout the entire process.

5 Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals

Do you feel ready to start setting some long-term personal goals, but unsure of where to start? Take a look at these examples of long-term business goals.

Launch A New Product

Launching a new product or service could make an excellent business goal. Depending on the product specifications, it could take anywhere from a few months to several years to bring the product to the market.

This isn’t a process you want to rush–you want any new product or service that you offer to be as high-quality as possible.

Increase Your Sales And Earnings

Increasing your revenue could also serve as a long-term goal for your company. Choose a specific number and a time frame so you’ll know when you’ve reached this goal. For example: “We want to see $XXX in monthly revenue by this month and this year.”

Then figure out what smaller goals you need to set to see the sales numbers you want to see.

Grow Your Social Media Presence

Numbers aren’t everything on social media. The amount of followers you have is important. But engagement is extremely important, too–and so is your overall company reputation and what people are saying about you online.

If you decide to set a long-term goal that relates to social media, consider which metrics are most relevant to your other business goals (for example, your click-through rate will likely have a big impact on your revenue). Then include those in your goal.

Expand Into A New Market

Another example of a long-term goal is to expand into a new market. This can be a great way to pull ahead of your competition. Smaller goals to help you reach a new market could include conducting market research, getting feedback from your current customers, and figuring out what kind of timeline this goal will require.

Hire A Larger Team

Hiring more employees can help grow your business as you bring new perspectives and new skill sets into the room. But don’t hire just for the sake of hiring–hire strategically, figuring out which positions will be the most helpful. If you’re trying to grow your social media presence, a new social media manager might be in order.

Final Thoughts

Goal setting isn’t always easy. But setting long-term goals is the best way to build your dream job or company and advance your career plan, taking concrete steps toward whatever success means for you.

Looking for more goal-setting advice to help you get started? Check out my 14-Step Goal-Setting Guide. This free ebook outlines the strategies you need to avoid common mistakes and succeed with your goals.

If you’re ready to invest in your own business and your personal life like never before, this is the resource for you–my best goal-setting tips all in one place.

Download the ebook for free!

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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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How to Create a Long-Term Business Strategy in 7 Steps

RELATED TAGS:

goal setting , plan execution , Strategic Planning , strategy execution

Navigating the dynamic B2B landscape requires a clear vision and a well-defined roadmap. Building a long-term business strategy is the cornerstone of sustainable growth, guiding your organization toward its ultimate goals. This guide explores a 7-step framework to help you chart a course for long-term B2B success.

Step 1: Articulate Your Vision – Crafting a Compelling Vision Statement

A robust vision statement serves as the guiding star for your organization. It encapsulates your aspirations, core values, and the impact you aim to make within the B2B ecosystem. Consider these prompts to ignite your vision crafting:

• What specific problem are you addressing within the B2B landscape?
• Who are your ideal clients, and how do you empower their success?
• What unique value proposition sets you apart from competitors?
• What lasting legacy do you aspire to leave on the B2B world?

An effective vision statement is clear, concise, and inspiring, resonates with your team and stakeholders, and propels them toward a shared future.

Step 2: Conduct a SWOT Analysis – Gaining Strategic Self-Awareness

Before embarking on your journey, a thorough SWOT analysis is essential. This exercise provides a realistic assessment of your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) within the B2B market.

• Strengths : Identify your organization’s unique skills, resources, or competitive advantages that position you for success.
• Weaknesses : Acknowledge internal limitations that hinder your growth and areas requiring improvement.
• Opportunities : Explore external trends, emerging market gaps, or potential partnerships that can be leveraged for your benefit.
• Threats : Analyze potential obstacles, competitive pressures, or economic factors that could pose risks to your organization.

By honestly evaluating the state of your business, you gain valuable insights to capitalize on strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities, and mitigate potential threats.

Step 3: Setting SMART Goals – Transforming Vision into Actionable Objectives

Your vision provides the ultimate destination, but achieving it requires a defined roadmap. SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound – bridge the gap between your vision and actionable steps. These goals translate your long-term aspirations into tangible objectives for different departments and timeframes.

For instance, instead of aiming for “increased brand awareness,” a SMART goal for your B2B marketing team could be: “Enhance website traffic by 20% within the next quarter through targeted LinkedIn advertising campaigns.”  This goal is specific, measurable (20% increase in website traffic), achievable within a realistic timeframe (next quarter), relevant to the department’s responsibilities, and time-bound.

To create effective SMART goals, start by clearly defining the objective. What do you want to achieve? Then, consider how you will measure success. Is it through increased sales? Website traffic? Customer satisfaction ratings? Next, assess if the goal is achievable within a certain timeframe and whether it aligns with your overall vision and objectives. Be realistic about what can specifically contribute to the goal and set a specific deadline.

By setting SMART goals, you provide your team with clear direction and focus. It also allows for tracking progress and celebrating accomplishments along the way. Additionally, it helps identify potential roadblocks or areas that may need additional attention.

Step 4: Develop Strategic Initiatives – Translating Goals into Action

Now, let’s move into the execution phase. Based on your SWOT analysis and SMART goals, brainstorm strategic initiatives that act as the building blocks for achieving your desired outcomes. These initiatives should be specific actions or projects undertaken by various departments to drive progress toward your goals.

Consider these questions to guide your brainstorming:

• What resources are required to execute each initiative effectively?
• Who will be responsible for leading and implementing these initiatives?
• How will you measure the success of each initiative using relevant KPIs?

Remember, strategic initiatives should be aligned with your overall vision and goals, have a clear timeline, and possess the necessary resources for successful execution.

Once you have identified your strategic initiatives, it’s time to assign roles and responsibilities. This step is crucial in ensuring that each initiative has a designated leader who will drive its progress and hold team members accountable. Consider the skills and strengths of your team members when assigning roles, as well as their availability and workload.

With roles assigned, it’s important to create a detailed action plan for each strategic initiative. This should include specific tasks, timelines, and deadlines for completion. Be sure to involve all relevant departments or team members in the planning process to ensure alignment and collaboration.

As you begin executing your strategic initiatives, make sure to regularly track and measure progress using key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics will help you assess the effectiveness of your initiatives and make any necessary adjustments to ensure their success.

Step 5: Foster a Winning Team – Aligning and Empowering Your People

The success of your long-term strategy hinges on the capabilities and dedication of your team. Effective communication and team alignment are crucial for seamless implementation. Ensure everyone understands the company’s vision, goals, and their individual roles in achieving them.

• Organize regular team meetings to discuss progress, address challenges, and celebrate successes.
• Invest in training and development opportunities to equip your team with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.
• Cultivate a culture of open communication and encourage feedback to ensure everyone feels valued and heard.

A motivated and empowered team is the driving force behind any successful long-term B2B strategy.

Listen to The Strategy Gap

A podcast about the space between savvy strategy and practical execution, including everything that can go wrong on the way. 

Step 6: Embrace Continuous Improvement – Monitoring, Adapting, and Evolving

The B2B landscape is inherently dynamic. Therefore, your strategy shouldn’t be static. Regularly monitor your progress, analyze results, and be prepared to adapt as needed. This continuous improvement mindset will ensure your strategy remains relevant and effective in the ever-changing business landscape.

One way to monitor your progress is by setting measurable goals and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). These could include metrics such as lead generation, sales conversion rates, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth. By regularly reviewing these KPIs, you can identify areas that need improvement and make necessary changes to your strategy.

In addition to monitoring progress, it’s also important to stay up-to-date with industry trends and advancements. This will allow you to identify new opportunities or potential challenges that may impact your B2B strategy. Stay informed through industry publications, attending conferences and networking events, and keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing.

• Track your KPIs and assess the effectiveness of your strategic initiatives.
• Conduct periodic reviews to evaluate overall progress towards your vision and goals.
• Remain receptive to feedback and be willing to adjust your approach based on market shifts or unforeseen circumstances.

Also read: You Shouldn’t Spend More Than a Few Days on Your Strategic Reporting

Agility and adaptability are key to ensuring your long-term strategy remains effective and relevant in the ever-changing B2B landscape. Embrace continuous improvement to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive edge.

Step 7: Celebrate Milestones and Sustain the Momentum

Building a successful B2B organization is a marathon, not a sprint. Take time to acknowledge and celebrate milestones along the way. Recognizing achievements boosts morale, reinforces team spirit, and maintains the momentum required to achieve your long-term goals.

Additionally, it’s important to sustain the momentum once you’ve reached a milestone. Use these moments as opportunities to reflect on what has worked well and where there is room for improvement. Keep communication channels open with both your team and clients to continue building strong relationships and ensure continued success. By fostering a culture of recognition and appreciation, you can sustain the motivation and commitment necessary to navigate the long-term journey toward B2B success.

Remember, this 7-step framework is a starting point. The specific details of your long-term business strategy will depend on your unique industry, company goals, and market dynamics. But by following these core principles and adapting them to your specific context, you can chart a course for sustainable growth and long-term achievement.

Want to learn more about AchieveIt ?

Meet the Author   Chelsea Damon

Chelsea Damon is the Content Strategist at AchieveIt. When she's not publishing content about strategy execution, you'll likely find her outside or baking bread.

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10 Examples of Long-Term Business Goals to Set Now

December 15, 2023, identify, set, and achieve long-term business goals for success.

Today I want to share examples of long-term business goals with you. Because thinking long-term about your business is key to its success.

One of my former bosses had a good saying. And I think it applies to long-term goals for a business.

My boss used to tell us this. “In the long run, we are only limited by our thoughts. Don’t hold back. Think big!”

So, let’s dive in and think big about our businesses…

Disclosure: At no cost to you, I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals

First of all, here you will find today’s examples of long-term business goals list for your consideration:

• Expand into a new geographic market
• Market through a new channel
• Penetrate a new demographic
• Broaden product and service offerings
• Acquire a competitor
• Expand personnel and facilities
• Migrate to a new technology platform
• Put financing sources in place
• Increase earnings
• Improve profit margins

Next, let’s make sure we are completely aligned on today’s topic.  Identifying, setting, and achieving these 10 examples of long-term goals for a business.

Long-Term Business Goals Definition

First of all, a goal is an outcome you want to achieve. That a person envisions, plans for, and commits to achieve.

Furthermore, goals can relate to many aspects of our lives. For example, self-development, career, health, fitness, and personal finance outcomes .

But today, we are talking about goals related to your business.

More specifically, we are talking about long-term goals for a small business . Or, larger businesses too.

Typically, long-term goals take more planning. And more time to achieve. Normally, it takes 5 years or more to accomplish a long-term goal.

Furthermore, long-term goals are more strategic. And they require a vision of what your business will look like in the distant future.

While ensuring its long-term success, growth, and profitability. As you make the journey.

Finally, business goals can be non-financial . Or, they can be tied to a specific financial outcome.

Long-Term Goals For A Business Versus Other Types Of Goals

Businesses also have short-term goals and medium-term goals. Let’s compare and contrast…

Short-Term Business Goals

Short-term business goals are to be accomplished within 1 year.

Their focus is on solving today’s problems. Or, activities in the near term. That creates a foundation for long-term success.

Examples of short-term business goals include:

• Increase on-time delivery from 95% to 99%
• Reduce overhead costs by 3%
• Prepare a business plan

Medium-Term Business Goals

Medium-term goals should be set and completed within a 1-5 year time horizon.

These goals are intended to move your business forward in a meaningful way. But, are too involved to complete within a year.

Examples of good medium-term goals for business include:

• Increase market share by 5%
• Develop and bring to market a product line extension
• Increase shareholder value by $1 million

Next, before we touch on the examples. A little more talk about long-term goals for a business…

The Big Picture View Of Long-Term Business Goals

Today’s examples of long-term business goals are more strategic. Versus short and medium-term goals.

They are not about solving today’s problems. Or, about improving your business on the margins in the next few years.

They are for taking big steps forward. And transforming your business into something bigger and better in the future. Versus what it is today.

These goals take more than 2-3 years to accomplish without causing business instability.

They require careful thought about the direction you wish your business to take. Then planning, resources, and careful execution.

For more on these strategic topics…

consider this excellent course on business strategy and leadership .

But for now, I think about long-term goals for a business in one of three categories:

1. Extending market reach. Specifically, growing business revenue in different and dramatic ways.

2. Ensuring the ability to scale. Having success with growth means being able to handle it. In other words, scaling operations to service the new markets and customers you are reaching.

3 . Balancing growth and profits. Substantial business growth is good. It certainly beats the alternative.

But rapid growth is hard to execute. And it must be done profitably.

Thus, all 10 of today’s examples of long-term business goals fall into one of these categories.

Now, let’s go through each of the 10 goals on our list. All of them can be good investments to make in your business .

1. Expand Into A New Geographic Market

Plan for and expand into new geographic markets. For example, if you operate in Utah. Expand into the high business growth state of Colorado .

If your business services the Western portion of the country. Extend it throughout the United States.

Finally, consider foreign expansion. But, understand that these are big steps. Require careful thought and planning.

Up next in the long-term goals examples for business: channel strategy…

2. Go To Market Through A New Channel

Identify all the possible channels through which your products and services can be sold. Then delivered to your customers.

Utilize one or more marketing channels that have not yet been tapped.

For example, consider a targeted social media strategy. That drives traffic to an online store on your website.

3. Penetrate A New Demographic

Your current products and services are likely popular with a certain demographic.

So, evaluate your marketing plan. To tap into demand from a different segment of the population .

4. Broaden Product And Service Offerings

Enhance and broaden your product lines. Innovate and develop new products and services.

But, be sure they fit within your company’s mission. And customer service value proposition.

So, don’t stray too far. From your business’s core strengths.

Okay.  It’s time for the 5th in our series of long-term goals for business examples: mergers and acquisitions…

5. Acquire A Competitor

Acquiring a competitor can be the quickest way to extend your business’s market reach. And this brings us to the “buy or build” dilemma.

You have to decide if it’s more effective to extend your market reach on your own. In other words, building out those capabilities internally.

Or doing so. by buying a competitor. Specifically, a competitor that has accomplished what your business has not. This is the reasoning behind strategic acquisitions.

When it comes to the buy or build decisions. There is no right or wrong answer.

Each situation will be different. And every business will be different. Including yours.

Okay. So the first 5 examples of long-term business goals relate to extending your business’s market reach.

Accomplish any one or more of these goals. And your business will experience revenue growth. Sometimes, rapid revenue growth.

And rapid growth requires the ability to scale. This leads us to the next few long-term goals for business…

6. Expand Personnel And Facilities

Ensure you have the team in place to handle the influx of business. Including the quantity and quality of staff. Also, management personnel.

Develop and put a personnel plan in place. Including an employee professional development and onboarding program.

Then make sure you have the appropriate facilities. That solves for the right locations, footprint, and space.

This includes production, warehouse, distribution, and office space. Depending on your specific business needs.

Also, consider business outsourcing. Another buy or build decision. As part of scaling up to meet demand.

7. Migrate To A New Technology Platform

Don’t forget about technology. Because most successful businesses run on an enterprise-wide system.

If your business does not have the appropriate technology in place. Or, its capacity is limited.

Then make improving your technology infrastructure a long-term business goal.

8. Put Financing Sources In Place

If you have one, your CFO should be in charge of this goal.

Because growth by extending market reach. And putting the people, facilities, and technology in place to service it. Requires one very important thing.

What’s that? It is cash.

Because it takes money to make money. And investing in growth doesn’t come for free.

Where your cash comes from . Be it debt financing, equity financing, or internally generated funds. Don’t let access to capital derail your long-term business plans.

Okay now. Our final 2 examples of long-term business goals fall in the third category.

Specifically, balancing growth versus business profit goals . Since growth without profit, or at the very least, profit potential. Is no fun when operating a business.

9. Increase Earnings

So, set a long-term earnings goal. And first, put it into dollar terms.

For example, increase pre-tax income from $250,000 to $750,000. That’s a big jump in profit. And why it’s a long-term goal for a business.

But, make sure you have accurate financial information. To do so, consider outsourcing your financial management. Assuming you aren’t up to doing it yourself.

Now, it’s time for our last example of long-term goals in business. Then I will wrap up…

10. Maintain or Improve Profit Margins

Then, make sure your business’s profit margin is stable or even increasing. When I say profit margin, I’m talking about pre-tax income divided by revenue.

Continuing the example from above. Let’s say you did $250,000 in pre-tax profit on $1 million in revenue. So, your profit margin is 25%

Your long-term goal should be to at least maintain that margin. Therefore the new income target of $750,000. Should be generated from no more than $3,000,000 in revenue.

Your profit goals should be part of your financial planning . And, included in pro-forma financial statements.

Make sure the financials encompass all of the economics. Of whatever goals you choose to set.

Finally, I always recommend that business owners keep their personal finances. Separate from their business finances.

I use Personal Capital to track all of my spending and investments. And keep them separate from my business.

Best of all, Personal Capital is free to sign up and use. You can learn more about Personal Capital here .

Next, a few words about setting business goals. Here’s the best way to go about it…

How To Set Long-Term Business Goals

Business long-term goals should be set using SMART . A SMART goal includes the following 5 attributes…

Specific. Make your goals as detailed as possible. Outlining exactly what you want to accomplish.

Measurable. Determine how you will measure success. Both the interim steps and the completion of the goal.

Achievable. Stretch yourself and your organization. But don’t waste time with goals that can’t be achieved.

Realistic. A goal may be achievable. But it may not be realistic. Determine this by looking at your constraints.

For example, a goal may be achievable. But if it requires an amount of capital that you are unable to obtain. Then it’s not realistic.

In this case, access to capital is the constraint. Other constraints include the ability to attract employees and overall market conditions.

Time-bound. Set a deadline for when the goal will be accomplished. A long-term business goal should be out at least 4-5 years from now.

Finally, be sure to align your goals from short to long term . As a result, they will complement each other.

Since the complexity of long-term goals leads to long time horizons. Achieving these goals is challenging.

So, set yourself up for success…

How To Achieve Long-Term Business Goals

Students of goal-setting use three more steps. After setting goals using the SMART system.

Specifically, businesses that achieve these examples of long-term goals for business do 3 more things.

Specifically, they plan, act, and monitor (PAM) to successfully achieve goals .

Plan. Long-run goals require a plan. Those step-by-step actions, deliverables, and accountability that must be completed on the path to success.

Action. This should speak for itself. But it’s important. Get the planning done. Then, act. Furthermore, involve your employees in goal-setting processes.

Because people tend to delay working on long-term goals in a business. Thus, time management is critical for success.

Monitor. Finally, it’s important to monitor progress against the plan. Every 3-6 months.

Work through the SMART and PAM goal systems. Document as you go. Commit to all your goals and plans in writing.

Research shows that a written goal. Has a much higher success rate. Versus a goal that is not.

Then appoint a person who has the overall task to see the goal through to the end. And give them the resources required to be successful.

Lack of focus and lack of accountability diminishes the chances of success. When pursuing your organization’s goals over a long period.

Okay. Let’s wrap today’s article up with a summary…

Summary: Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals

10 Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals include:

In my opinion, any of these 10 objectives are good examples of long-term goals for a new business. Or, a mature business that has been operating for a while.

They are perfect complements to this…

course I really like about business strategy

…it’s full of great lessons on how to take your business to the next level.

Categories Of Long-Term Business Goals

These business goal examples fall into 1 of the 3 broad categories:

• Extending market reach
• Ensuring the ability to scale
• Balancing growth and profit

In the case of the first two categories. A business owner will be confronted with the options to buy, build, or outsource.

Finally, all goals should be set with an eye on the third category. That is balancing growth and profit.

Setting Long-Term Business Goals

Make SMART goals for your company . They should be:

Achieve Your Long-Term Business Goals

Achieve your goals with PAM:

Document your goals and your plan. By committing to them in writing. Then get to work on your long-term goals for a business.

More Reading About Setting And Achieving Goals

• Level up your money game with these articles
• Move your business to this low-tax state
• Avoid these financial problems

Author Bio : Tom Scott founded the consulting and coaching firm Dividends Diversify, LLC. He leverages his expertise and decades of experience in goal setting, relocation assistance, and investing for long-term wealth to help clients reach their full potential.

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Are You Guilty of Giving Out This Terrible Leadership Advice? Here's How to Help Others Think Big and Why its Key to Success Thinking bigger sounds easy, but many people struggle with it. Here's why it matters and how to do it.

By Darian Shimy Edited by Micah Zimmerman May 29, 2024

Key Takeaways

• Understand who you work with to empathize with their needs and be maximally efficient when providing resources.
• Conversely, people who feel unsupported are more likely to interpret a request to set bigger goals as unrealistic.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

"You need to think bigger" has been said so many times by so many different business leaders that it's become a cliche. But what we tend to forget about cliches is that they are often profound when you look beyond the easy, surface-level interpretation — and this one is no different.

Thinking bigger isn't just useful; it's fundamental for keeping your team competitive and successful. In this article, I share a story about how encouraging my team to think bigger when I worked at Square helped us achieve growth that would have otherwise been impossible.

Setting achievable goals doesn't mean selling yourself short

If you're a business leader, it's almost certain that at some point in your life, you've heard someone stress the importance of achievable goals . Who knows — you may even have given this advice to someone you're mentoring.

In reality, this is the worst advice to give someone as it causes people to assume they're capable of less than they really are. As a leader and mentor, it is your number one job to help people realize they're capable of achieving more — not allow them to set the bar too low for themselves.

Related: Be a Coach, Not a Referee — How to be a Good Mentor and Manager from a Coaching Perspective

Thinking bigger often requires a little encouragement

Most people can do more than they believe. Unfortunately, many of us also tend to get in our way when we're pursuing something important — and the more important it is, the less capable we sometimes assume we are of achieving it.

That's why a little outside encouragement can go a long way. Here's an example:

I remember an annual planning meeting where the Product team brought in a set of metrics and predicted they would grow by 50% that year.

Next, they outlined the projects that would drive the growth — there was nothing wrong with them, but they were safe and obvious.

When they finished, and it came time for me to provide feedback, I had only one question. "What would you need to do to grow by 500% instead?"

Understandably, the team was a bit taken aback. They replied that to achieve 500% growth in the next year, they would have to throw out their current road map and do something entirely different.

"Why don't you go and do that, then?" I replied. I didn't mean this harshly — their original plan was perfectly acceptable by most reasonable standards. But I believed they could achieve more than they realized, and as it turned out, I was right.

Related: 10 Tips to Motivate Employees Without Resorting to Money

It pays to set (slightly) unrealistic goals

Was it realistic to ask the team to shoot for 500% growth in a year? Almost certainly not. But that also wasn't the point. The point was to encourage them to think bigger than 50%, which was playing it too safe.

I didn't expect the team to achieve 500% growth, but even if they grew by 100%, it would still be twice as good a result as what they would have achieved by sticking to the original plan.

As it turned out, we were able to achieve significantly better than 50% growth that year. Crucially, the benefits of encouraging my team to set more ambitious goals went beyond the immediate results. Not only did they achieve better numbers that year, but they also realized that they were capable of more than they had previously believed. It changed their perceptions of what to expect from themselves, empowering them to set bigger goals going forward and work towards them more confidently.

Related: How Leaders Can Inspire Their Teams to Think Bigger

Make thinking bigger easier by following through with support

Encouraging your mentees to think bigger helps them achieve better results and makes them more valuable in the long run by showing them how much more they're capable of doing. But it's only the first step — you also have to be willing and able to provide support for them as they make progress towards the new goals you've encouraged them to set.

When people feel adequately motivated and empowered, they're much more likely to surprise themselves and surpass their own expectations. Research shows that it can also make them more creative and helpful .

Related: 5 Ways to Empower Your Employees

Conversely, people who feel unsupported are more likely to interpret a request to set bigger goals as unrealistic. If you're not careful, this can even breed resentment and create a situation where you'll likely experience pushback.

In my experience, the best way to ensure that your encouragement has the intended effect is to build positive and genuine working relationships with your employees. I firmly believe that knowing your team is the key to providing them with the support and freedom they need.

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Contributor

Founder and CEO of FutureFund

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When Is It Time to Pull Out of a Startup Investment? An Investor Reveals What Signs You Shouldn't Ignore.

I n the world of investments , it's just as important to know when to exit as when to enter. My experience as an investor and entrepreneur has taught me that both types of decisions must be based on informed and strategic choices. If your chosen startup is not doing as well as expected, you are faced with a dilemma. So, how do you know if it is time to pull the plug?

If you do pull out of an investment, you'll be selling your shares or redeeming your capital before its intended maturity date. Remember that investments are inherently volatile , meaning their value can fluctuate, sometimes significantly, over time. So, if you do decide to pull out of a startup , be aware from the beginning that you might not recoup the same amount of capital that you initially invested.

Related: Here's What's Brewing in the Minds of Startup Investors

Align your investment strategy with your goals

The investment journey is a voyage on the unpredictable tides of the financial markets , in constant flux, rising and falling on a daily basis. This variability is precisely why experts advocate adopting a long-term investment strategy as key to weathering the market's ups and downs. By opting for a long-term approach, investors have the opportunity to ride out market turbulence and capitalize on the overall growth trajectory.

The duration of your investments should be aligned with your goals and your investment strategy , but it is crucial to keep a close eye on the ever-changing landscape of the current market performance. This vigilance will help to determine if and when you should consider withdrawing from the project.

Knowing when to exit

The decision to pull out of an investment is an important and permanent one, which needs to be made as rationally as possible and after doing the necessary research and analysis. Here are some key factors that you should carefully consider when assessing the situation and your options:

Determine the company's vision and long-term prospects

If the company's vision still aligns with your investment goals and demonstrates good growth potential , you may want to stay invested for longer. Take a close look at its current performance — whether it is achieving its strategic milestones and whether it's well-prepared to overcome any challenges that may lie ahead.

Market conditions and trends

Being well-informed about current market dynamics in the relevant sector will help you understand if it's safer to cut any losses now or if it's worth riding it out in the longer term. Consider the potential returns you aim to achieve from your investment and the timeframe for achieving them. You can use these criteria as a benchmark in this decision-making process.

Review your own personal goals and objectives

You should already have clearly identified these qualities as part of your overall financial strategy before deciding where to allocate your capital. If a startup is no longer meeting these goals, then it may be time for a change. However, before taking this important step, do some thorough research to determine if the under-performing startup still holds potential for future success.

Future prospects and risks

Market volatility

If the market is in an unfavorable phase, yet the intrinsic value of the asset remains unchanged and is expected to recover when the market rebounds , then exiting now might not be the wisest decision. However, if the business itself has deteriorated or the asset's underlying value is much less than its market price, then you should seriously consider selling.

Risk level vs. risk tolerance

If the startup has become too unstable for your liking or is making slow to no progress toward your objectives, it may be wise to consider pulling out. Extreme market shifts may indicate that the asset's future performance is unlikely to recover, or the company may lack the necessary agility and pivot capabilities to respond strategically to external factors beyond its control. Either way, it's unlikely to remain viable and profitable in the long run.

External life factors

Life happens to all of us, so it may be that your own situation has changed, and you need to adjust your strategy. Your initial investment was guided by a specific plan. Still, if your circumstances have changed significantly since then, the key is to adapt your strategy to align with your modified financial goals .

Related: Exit Strategy Through the Eyes of an Angel Investor

Always have a plan

Ultimately, all investment decisions should always be rooted in a plan that evolves in response to the dynamic financial landscape. One effective approach is to closely monitor prevailing market trends. This analysis enables you to gain insights into your potential returns and whether they remain consistent with your investment objectives.

In essence, the decision to pull out of an investment should be a carefully considered one, founded on a deep understanding of the company's potential, market conditions and your own financial goals. It is essential to make an informed decision, not an emotional one, and you must have a well-thought-out exit strategy in place.

By understanding when and why you should pull out, considering the company's prospects, and evaluating the associated risks, you can make informed and strategic choices that increase your chances of achieving the goals you set when you invested in the first place.

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• Home > Blog > Small Business Financing > How to Get LLC Business Loans
• By Kelly Hillock
• May 29, 2024
• 7 mins read

How to Get LLC Business Loans

Establishing and running a Limited Liability Company (LLC) has many challenges, from managing startup costs to making sure there’s consistent cash flow for your day-to-day operations. Business loans can be specifically catered to LLCs and can be a great resource, helping you address immediate financial needs or support your long-term growth initiatives.  

In this article, we will go through the many aspects of getting an LLC business loan, including understanding what an LLC loan is, exploring different loan programs available, looking at their pros and cons, and outlining the steps to qualify and apply for LLC loans.  

What is an LLC loan?  

An LLC loan is a type of business financing specifically designed for an LLC. They have many purposes, like covering startup costs, funding expansion projects , or managing the day-to-day operations. LLC loans can be acquired from traditional banks, credit unions, or online lenders. LLC loans, backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA ), can offer more favorable terms and lower interest rates.  

LLC business loans are different from personal loans used for business expenses in several ways. Unlike personal loans, LLC loans help protect the business owner’s personal assets by limiting liability to the company’s assets. This means that if the business fails, your personal finances will not be claimed as collateral.  

Types of loan programs available for LLCs  

Several loan programs are available for LLCs, each with specific features and eligibility criteria: 

• SBA 7(A) Loans: These loans are ideal for general business purposes, offering up to $5 million with favorable terms. Eligibility requires good credit, a strong business plan, and sufficient revenue. 
• SBA 504 Loans: These loans, which offer up to $5 million, are designed for purchasing fixed assets like real estate or equipment. They require substantial collateral and a solid credit history. 
• Equipment Loans: These loans are used specifically for purchasing business equipment. The equipment itself is used as collateral. Eligibility depends on the value of the equipment and the business’s financial health. 
• Term Business Loans : These provide a lump sum to be repaid over a fixed term with set interest rates. They are available from various lenders, including banks and online lenders, with criteria based on credit score, business revenue, and time in operation. 

Pros and cons of LLC loans  

LLC loans have various pros and cons that business owners should consider before applying. 

Pros:  

• Low-Cost, Flexible Financing: LLC loans often come with competitive interest rates, especially those backed by the SBA, making them affordable for long-term growth. 
• Asset Protection: These loans help separate personal and business liabilities, protecting the owner’s personal assets. 
• Growth Opportunities: Access to substantial capital can facilitate expansion, equipment purchases, and other growth initiatives. 

Cons:  

• Personal Guarantees: Some lenders require personal guarantees, which can put personal assets at risk if the business defaults. 
• Eligibility Requirements: The borrowing costs and eligibility depend heavily on the business’s length of operation and the owner’s personal creditworthiness. 
• Complex Application Process: Obtaining an LLC loan, especially through traditional banks or the SBA, can involve extensive documentation and a lengthy approval process. 

How to qualify for an LLC loan  

You might be wondering how to get an LLC business loan. Simply put, qualifying for an LLC loan involves meeting criteria set by lenders, designed to assess the stability and creditworthiness of your business. Here are a few of them: 

• Minimum Time in Business: Most lenders require that your LLC has been in operation for at least one to two years. This period demonstrates that your business is stable and has a track record of operations. 
• Revenue Requirements: Lenders typically look for a consistent revenue stream over the past year. This requirement varies, but showing steady income helps prove that your business can handle loan repayments. 
• Credit Score Requirements: Both personal and business credit scores are important. Most lenders prefer credit scores above 670. A higher score can improve your chances of securing a loan with favorable terms. 
• Documents:  
• Proof of LLC Registration: Documents such as your Articles of Organization or Certificate of Formation. 
• Tax Returns: Personal and business tax returns from the past two to three years. 
• Financial Statements: Recent profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. 
• Business Plan: A detailed business plan that outlines your company’s goals, strategies, market analysis, and financial projections. 
• Bank Statements: Personal and business bank statements for the past six months. 
• Legal Documents: Any applicable licenses, permits, and agreements related to your business operations. 

Make sure you meet these eligibility criteria and prepare the necessary documents to up your chances of qualifying for an LLC loan.  

How To apply for an LLC business loan  

Applying for an LLC business loan involves several steps. The process begins with evaluating your credit score and choosing the right loan option, followed by calculating your debt capacity, comparing lenders, and preparing a solid business plan. Here’s a detailed guide to each step. 

1. Check your credit score  

Checking your credit score ahead of time helps because it impacts your eligibility for a business loan. Lenders evaluate both personal and business credit scores , typically preferring scores above 670. You can obtain credit reports and scores from Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian. For those with lower credit scores, alternative lenders are an option, though they may come with higher borrowing costs. 

2. Determine the right LLC loan option  

Choosing the appropriate LLC loan option depends on your specific needs. Evaluate the various loan types mentioned earlier, considering their advantages and disadvantages. Understand the credit score guidelines required for each loan type to ensure you meet the qualification criteria before applying. 

3. Calculate how much debt you can afford  

Use a business loan calculator to determine how much debt your LLC can afford. Enter the loan amount, repayment period, and annual percentage rate to find a feasible monthly payment and total interest. Consider your capital needs, expenses, and borrowing capacity. Opt for a lender offering flexible terms, transparent rates, and tailored solutions. 

4. Compare LLC loan lenders  

When comparing lenders, consider factors such as interest rates, repayment terms, funding speed, and loan amounts. These elements will help you find a lender that offers the best terms for your business’s financial situation. 

5. Create a solid business plan  

A solid business plan will help secure an LLC loan. Include an executive summary, company overview, products/services, market analysis, marketing/sales plan, organizational structure, day-to-day operations, and a funding request. This demonstrates your business’s viability and growth potential to lenders. 

6. Apply for your LLC loan  

Gather all required documentation, including proof of LLC registration, financial statements, and your business plan. Submit a complete loan application to your chosen lender. Ensure all information is accurate and thorough to avoid delays. 

7. Review your LLC loan agreement and receive funds  

Reviewing your LLC loan agreement thoroughly before signing is a big step in the loan process. Begin by carefully reading through all terms and conditions outlined in the agreement. Pay particular attention to the interest rate, repayment schedule & flexibility, any associated fees, and the total cost of the loan. Ensure that all details match the initial loan offer and your understanding of the agreement. 

Next, check for any clauses related to prepayment penalties, late payment fees, and other potential charges that could impact your financial planning. Understanding these terms helps avoid surprises later. Also verify the loan amount, disbursement process, and use of funds restrictions, if any. 

If any part of the agreement is unclear or if you have concerns, don’t hesitate to contact your lender for clarification. Ask specific questions to ensure you fully understand your obligations and the lender’s expectations. It’s better to address any issues upfront rather than face complications down the line. 

Once you are confident that you understand and accept the terms, sign the loan agreement. After the agreement is finalized, the lender will disburse the funds, typically within a few business days. This timely access to capital will enable you to move forward with your business plans, whether for day-to-day operations, expansion projects, or other financial needs. 

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