In our latest Personal Development article International Speaker, Peak Performance Trainer and Business Mentor Arnon Barnes advises us how to optimize and use market forces.
This is the 100th edition of Together Magazine and what better way to highlight such a great achievement than illuminating and emphasizing the importance of having milestones in your business. One thing that always astounds me is that a lot of business owners do not have a clear road map or milestone calendar. Something to refer to and be able to identify whether your business is on target or not. So many of you out there are comfortable with your steady growth that you miss opportunities to do better, optimize and use the market forces to your advantage.
Instead you are, unknowingly, drifting in the abyss.
Milestones are not to be confused with your company’s vision. All business owners will have clarity on the vision and mission of their company. The long-term goal you want to reach or impact you want to make in your industry or on this world is something that usually ignites the entrepreneurial fire in us and the reason WHY we started our businesses in the first place. Whilst having a clear vision and mission is imperative for a successful business, lacking milestones will make the journey so much harder and the risks of straying off your path increase.
Having both short-term and long-term milestones in place provides clarity and opportunities to celebrate successes and wins along the way. It allows you, as a business owner, to more easily monitor the progress on your way to achieving the desired success. It’s also a key element in your decision-making process. Sometimes it’s hard to see what one (little) day-to-day action contributes to the greater, long-term, vision of your company. Milestones are the best way to measure whether you and your team’s actions are aligned with the greater good. The ancient Chinese proverb says it best: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
Milestones can also be used to give your team that extra drive and firepower they need to rise to the occasion and lift your company and your joined successes. When a team has clarity, the team has power! This is both good news and great news. The good news: it all starts with the leadership of the business. The great news: it all starts with the leadership of the business. In other words, you as the leader of your business have the power to create a successful business, a successful team.
