Focus of the month – Target Setting
Each month, the Pedddle team have decided to have a monthly focus for our members. Our focus for February is target setting – deciding what your goals are and getting serious about growing your business.
Getting serious doesn’t mean taking all the fun out of it, it means having a plan and and using that to guide your content and business decisions – you can still have a giggle about it all though!
Setting targets will help you to be the best version of yourself for your business
Having an overall target will help you to focus on your monthly goals, then by the end of the year you’ll look back and be so proud of where you’ve got to! By setting a goal, we actually become better business people, as we’ll work harder to chase those goals. All of the smaller goals add up to one big goal, and you’ll be surprised at how much you grow.
Having targets / goals helps you to make business decisions. For example, if someone asks you to collaborate with them and the collaboration doesn’t align with your goals, it’s not worth putting your time to and you can say no. Alternatively, if a certain collaboration would align with your goals, it might benefit you to seek out some business partnerships to get on board with and grow.
Be accountable for your business decisions
Stating our targets makes us accountable. Whether you write it down, tell your friends or tell your social media following, once you set a clear intention it will help you to move forward.
This includes:
- Making overall business targets
- Setting sales targets
- Market targets and goals for event selling
How to get started
Firstly, ask yourself:
- Have you set yourself a whole business target this year?
- Have you shared it with anyone else?
- Do you set yourself a sales target each month?
Next, it’s time to make a list. Think about these questions:
- How many markets / events will you be doing this year?
- What do you want to achieve this year in business?
- What stage would you like your business to be at?
- How much would you like to make from your business this year?
Being honest with yourself about what your dreams for your business are, is the first step to achieving them.
Salesmanship & being the best version of yourself
Setting a clear target will help you get better at sales! Our recent IG Live chat with Emily Harvey Art covered how this works in more detail, alongside how multiple income streams can benefit you. Click here to find out more.
Emily suggested using sales charts to track your progress. She has a free download available – check out this article for more info. Tracking sales makes you work harder towards your goals, and think more about how you can upsell. Instead of offering discounts as an incentive, consider multi-buys (e.g. 3 for 2) so that you can sell more goods.
Your sales goals will differ depending on the types of sales and price points, e.g. if your product price is higher, naturally you’ll make less sales overall, whereas if you have a low price point then you will try and make more sales in the month.
Emily said herself that she noticed by the last week of the month, if she only had a few sales to go it made her work harder for them, e.g. posting direct links to products in her Instagram stories, posting more on the grid or doing more IG Lives to drive visibility.
Emily also personalises her sales tracker by adding customer’s names, which is a great incentive. It helps you celebrate every win and remember that every single sale is a person that supports your business, but it also helps your customers recognise themselves and want to be a part of it if you show it off.
Track your sales and set goals at markets too
You could even make your sales tracker a hook for people to join in with at a market, as Emily suggested. Get customers to sign the chart after a sale or say visibly ‘I want to make 20 sales today’, and people will get on board and want to help you achieve your goals! You could even have a freebie for the 20th sale or similar. It might also make you upsell more, e.g. for the last hour the day have a ‘3 for 2’ offer on something to drive up those sales and incentivise customers.
Make sure you have a target for your market sales too. Check how many hours you’ll spend at a market, then work out how much you want to sell each hour. Check out this article on profitability and setting targets for markets for some inspiration.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome – what if it all goes right?
We all think ‘what if it goes wrong’ – negative bias is our natural state, it’s what keeps us protected from harm. However, it’s important to have a positive mindset and just remember how you’ll feel if it all goes right! Our recent chat with Elizabeth Stiles explored this further – click here to read more. Elizabeth has some excellent metaphors and phrases it all so well! Don’t be apologetic for making sales, you deserve to thrive!
Also remember that your customers want to support you. They buy from you because you’ve build their trust, and you’re showing them something they want.
What happens if it doesn’t go right?
We all learn from our mistakes – that’s how we work out what works and what doesn’t. Failure and taking wrong turns in business is actually a good thing, as it helps us improve.
Other useful info…
It can be tough to set goals and admit what we want our vision to be. Sometimes those dreams seem a little too high in the sky. Just remember that it’s all about small steps, and working towards those bigger goals in little pieces.
If you’re struggling to plan right now, read our article on how to plan and organise your day as a small business owner. We’ve also written an article about how to stay productive when you feel overwhelmed – don’t let the overwhelm get you!
We can’t wait to see where 2022 takes us all. Wherever you are in your business journey, we’d love you to share your goals and progress with us!