Just 5% of small business owners report achieving all their business goals in the past 12 months, according to a new survey from Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews platform, which found that although 95% of small businesses fall short of meeting their goals, 77% are somewhat or very confident in their ability to execute their strategy.
“I think the best goals are realistic but slightly optimistic,” said Malte Scholz, CEO and co-founder of project management tool airfocus. “If you don’t aim high enough, you risk setting unambitious goals, but if you aim too high, you may never hit your goals and feel discouraged.”
No matter their industry, Clutch found that small businesses tend to create strategies in three areas:
- Sales (46%)
- Marketing/advertising (41%)
- Customer service (36%)
Strategies – like accessing local IT services – place businesses’ in front of target customers, e.g. an advertising and marketing strategy reaches those customers and persuades them to make a purchase, and a customer service strategy keeps customers happy.
These strategies go hand-in-hand with one another.
“If you don’t aim high enough, you risk setting unambitious goals, but if you aim too high, you may never hit your goals and feel discouraged.”
“If the marketing department is failing, so will the sales department, and so will customer service,” said Rueben Yonatan, CEO of VoIP research database GetVoIP.
To create a successful business strategy, Clutch recommends the following five approaches:
- Set actionable and clear business goals.
- Focus your efforts on the business areas that matter most.
- Find a mentor to help guide your business strategy.
- Draft a formal, documented business strategy.
- Follow your business plan, but revise it regularly.
Overall, 65% of small businesses achieved at least half their goals in the past 12 months.
For Scholz, small businesses should create a business plan that breaks down their goals and plans to achieve them, yet few businesses actually do.
Clutch found that just 15% of small business owners report fully documenting a strategy in the past year — and 27% developed no strategy at all.
Companies can benefit from a documented strategy to meet objectives and motivate employees. Business owners should, however, be flexible to changing their plans, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
