How to Set SMART Business Goals for Your Freelance Business

This content may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. However, I only recommend products or services that I genuinely like and trust.

I’ve been putting off setting goals for my business for a while now. I think I had a case of writer’s block. I couldn’t find the words to articulate what I wanted to achieve for my business. The reason I wanted to set goals for my business is that I needed something to motivate me to keep pushing forward and to hold me accountable. I finally pushed through and managed to write down my goals. Based on how difficult I found the process, I decided to write a guide to help you set SMART business goals.

Related content: How to write a business plan for your freelance business

But first, why do you need to set SMART business goals?

Why would you even want to set goals in the first place? Well, for me, I see lots of benefits to setting goals. It helps me to stay motivated to keep working on something even when I don’t feel like it. It helps me to stay focused on what I want to achieve and stops me from getting distracted by shiny, new things. I stay accountable because I committed to working on my goals by writing them down.

Find your “why”

The term “find your why” makes me gag! It’s written in every goal setting blog post ever written. So if I hate it so much, then why have I included it in my blog post? Because if you can’t identify your why, then you will struggle to stick to your plan to achieve your goals.

You need to identify why you started your business in the first place, and you need to go deeper than just for the money.

There could be many reasons why you’ve started your business. You could have a real passion for something, like I do for proofreading. You might want to have a more flexible schedule so that you can spend more time at home with your family. Maybe you want to live a location independent lifestyle and travel while you work.

You need to dig deep and find a really strong reason why you’re doing what you’re doing. This will motivate you to keep pushing to achieve your goals even when you don’t feel like it. Even when the going gets tough and you want to quit.

Set your big picture goals

Your big picture goals are the overall objectives you want to achieve. To decide what these are going to be, you need to start at the end. Where do you want your business to be in a year’s time? Then you can backtrack and figure out what goals will help you achieve this result.

Set SMART Business Goals

Setting goals is great, but if they’re too vague you will find it difficult to create an action plan to achieve them and your results will be hard to measure.

I’m sure you’ve heard of SMART goals before. I’m not reinventing the wheel here. But the reason you hear about this strategy so often is that it works.

So how do you create a SMART goal for a business? When you’re setting your SMART business goals, you need to make sure that you are very specific about what you want to achieve, you have goalposts against which you can measure your success, you’re choosing the right goals to focus on, and you are giving yourself a deadline to work toward.

Break down each goal as follows:

Specific

Here’s where you go into exactly what you want to accomplish. The more detailed the better! Don’t just say you want more followers on Twitter. Say you want to reach 500 followers with good engagement on Twitter.

Measurable

How will you know if you’ve achieved your goal? Your goal must be measurable (i.e., your goal must have numbers or specific results attached to it so you know you have achieved it).

You may say that you want to increase your income this year. At the end of the year, you’ve increased your income by $100. Does this mean that you achieved your goal? Technically, yes, but I’m sure you hoped for better results than that. You should be asking yourself how much money you want/need to make this year.

An example of a measurable SMART goal is as follows: I will increase my income by $10K this year by securing three new clients on retainer.

Achievable

Are your goals attainable? Try not to set a goal so lofty that you can’t realistically achieve it. When you fail to reach that goal, it will knock your confidence and put you off setting more goals.

Try to set a goal that will push your business forward but is still achievable. The goal should be slightly difficult to achieve. You should feel excited about achieving it. You should feel like you will have accomplished something worthwhile. Otherwise, they’re more of a “to-do” than a goal.

Relevant

Will this goal benefit your business? If not, then don’t waste your time on it. Prioritize goals that will push your business forward.

Time-bound

Set a time limit for your goal. If you don’t set a time limit, then you may be tempted to keep pushing that goal to next year and the year after that and the year after that. Being specific about your timeframe will help you to prioritize your goals and help you focus on achieving them. I know I work better when I have a deadline.

An example of a time-bound SMART goal is as follows: I will complete a proofreading course by the end of Q1 so that my skills are up to scratch.

Break your goals down into mini goals

Now that you know what you want to achieve, you need to come up with a plan for how you will achieve it.

Your big picture goals will seem overwhelming. You might be thinking how will I ever achieve all of that! The key is to break each goal down into smaller chunks. A good way to do this is to set quarterly goals.

Break each big picture goal into a step-by-step action plan. Then, schedule when you’re going to complete each step. The great thing about this strategy is that you will be able to see your progress as you go along, which will encourage you to keep working on this goal in the next quarter.

Set weekly goals

You’ve already set quarterly goals, so do you really need to have weekly goals as well?

I think so. From personal experience, I know that if I don’t set weekly goals, I leave everything to the last week of the quarter or year to get things done. I end up rushed, stressed out, and I don’t achieve everything I set out to.

Weekly goals will keep you focused. Even better, you will be able to see your progress every week. This will give you the motivation to keep going. Also, how satisfying is it to be able to tick things off your list every week!

Track your progress

It’s important to track your progress regularly so that you know if you’re on schedule to meet your goals. It’s easy to forget about tasks you should be doing when you don’t check in every now and again.

I suggest reviewing your progress every quarter. This will allow you to see what you’ve achieved so far and take note of what you have left to do. If you’re facing any roadblocks to achieving your goals, they should become clear at this stage. You will then be able to come up with a plan to overcome the roadblocks and get back on track.

Here’s a good article that gives you ideas on what questions to ask yourself at year end before you start setting goals for next year.

It’s ok to fail

We’re all human. Sometimes life gets in the way, and we don’t achieve all our goals. That’s ok. One failure doesn’t mean you will fail at everything you try. Don’t let it stop you from trying again!

Reflect on why you didn’t achieve the goal. Was it not achievable in the first place? In this case, maybe you could reframe the goal. Maybe you needed more time than you allowed yourself? Did you not track your progress and so fell behind in completing the action steps?

Understanding why you didn’t succeed will help you make better goals the next time.

I’d love to hear what SMART business goals you’re setting for your business this year. Leave a comment down below and let me know what you want to achieve.

Want to write a business plan and set SMART goals for your editing business so you start a business that will last? Check out my Business Planning Powerhouse course, a comprehensive course that will teach you how to run your editing business successfully, from choosing the right training to streamlining your client processes to making sure your business is covered in case of emergency. It breaks down each section of your business plan and includes a Business Plan Workbook and several spreadsheets and templates so you can build your business blueprint that will take you from vague idea to successful editing business.

Before you go, download my free Business Goal Setting Workbook for an easy way to set and track your business goals!