{"id":2495,"date":"2017-09-12T09:38:31","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T13:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2026-02-12T05:38:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:38:01","slug":"how-to-set-smarter-business-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/how-to-set-smarter-business-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"How to set smarter business goals"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/strategy-legal-operations\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Strategy, Legal &amp; Operations<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to set smarter business goals\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-8 col-lg-4 entry-header__image\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"entry-header__thumbnail js-hero-section\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1108\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Paris-final-1108x810.jpg\" class=\"entry-header__thumbnail-image\" alt=\"Two women smiling in front of a computer\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Paris-final-1108x810.jpg 1108w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Paris-final-768x562.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Paris-final-1536x1123.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Paris-final.jpg 1675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1108px) 100vw, 1108px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \">Published <time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2017-09-12T09:38:31-04:00\">September 12, 2017<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"How to set smarter business goals\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/how-to-set-smarter-business-goals\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/flannerykeck\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/KeckFlannery_headshot-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Flannery Keck\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/KeckFlannery_headshot-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/KeckFlannery_headshot.jpg 372w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Flannery Keck<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s difficult (and inadvisable) to attempt to control every area of your business, particularly if it\u2019s growing quickly. Instead, setting SMARTER business goals will help you control what matters, in the way that matters to your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Specific:<\/strong> Rather than setting a general goal like \u201cI want to grow my business,\u201d decide exactly what you want to achieve. For example, are you going to grow your business by increasing sales or by cutting costs? Doing both at the same time could prove problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Measurable:<\/strong> If you want to increase sales or cut costs, set a financial target for your goal that you can track using financial information. For example, you may say, \u201cWe will cut costs by 10%\u201d or \u201cWe will increase sales by 10%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Attainable:<\/strong> You must have a means of achieving your goal. If you want to increase sales, consider if you can cross-sell or up-sell your products or services. Then, include this means in your goal. For example, \u201cWe will increase sales by 10% by up-selling X product to Y segment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Realistic:<\/strong> Increasing sales by 10% may be ambitious, but can your business achieve it? Remember, a stretch goal pushes your team beyond what\u2019s been done before, while a realistic goal is based on past performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Time-framed:<\/strong> Set a deadline for your goals and work them into your business plan. Typically, quarterly business goals work because they\u2019re not so long away that they feel unachievable, and you can track them alongside your financial reports. For example, \u201cWe will increase sales by 5% during the first quarter through up-selling X product to Y segment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Evaluate:<\/strong> At the end of the quarter, review your SMARTER goals and consider how you\u2019re progressing against a financial target. You can do this using up-to-date financial information paired with business insights from your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Re-do:<\/strong> Once you\u2019ve evaluated your progress, adjust your goal for the coming quarter by doubling down on what works and abandoning what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By following the SMARTER formula for your business goals, you\u2019ll be in better control of your whole business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For even more financial business tips, download our free \u201cSix Stages of Smarter Money Management\u201d ebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner on-scroll-highlight__target\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div 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class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-12 col-lg-4\">\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"more-topics__title h2\">Browse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-12 col-lg-8\">\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"post-tags__list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"post-tags__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/hub\/business-strategy\/\" class=\"post-tags__link button button--secondary\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusiness strategy\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<div class=\"alignfull wp-block-sage-related-posts\">\n\t<section class=\"related-posts card-grid has-dark-background-color\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"related-posts__heading related-posts__heading--featured h1\">Explore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<div 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h5\">\n\t\t\tGeneral journal vs general ledger: What\u2019s the difference?\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-6 col-lg-3 card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-3 post-32711 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-strategy-legal-operations tag-boss-your-business tag-business-continuity tag-business-strategy tag-cloud-technology tag-growing-a-business tag-productivity tag-small-business tag-supply-chain-management tag-technology business_type-small-business business_type-growing-business industry-manufacturing\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__link\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/production-process\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/manufacturingoperarator-684x384.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"Why new equipment should be in your operational plan\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/manufacturingoperarator-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/manufacturingoperarator-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/manufacturingoperarator-1215x810.jpg 1215w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-08-26T06:54:26-04:00\">August 26, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">9 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h5\">\n\t\t\tProduction process: Definition, types, and 5 key stages\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-6 col-lg-3 card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-4 post-26418 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-growth-customers category-strategy-legal-operations tag-business-strategy tag-growing-a-business business_type-small-business business_type-growing-business industry-nonprofit\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__link\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/can-nonprofits-make-profit\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1410117395-684x384.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"A group of volunteers in blue shirts stands in front of colorful graffiti, with one person holding a notepad and smiling.\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1410117395-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1410117395-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1410117395-1215x810.jpg 1215w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-07-30T09:53:50-04:00\">July 30, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">1 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h5\">\n\t\t\tCan nonprofits make a profit?\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s difficult (and inadvisable) to attempt to control every area of your business, particularly if it\u2019s growing quickly. Instead, setting SMARTER business goals will help you control what matters, in the way that matters to your business. Here\u2019s how to do it. Specific: Rather than setting a general goal like \u201cI want to grow my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":1498,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"How to set SMARTER business goals to help your business grow","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"How to set SMARTER business goals to help your business grow","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_schema_page_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_schema_article_type":"","_sage_video":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"44","sage_membership_post_content_type":"article","sage_membership_post_featured_video_id":"","sage_membership_post_video_type":"trailer","sage_membership_post_featured_video_duration":"","post_featured_image_hide":false,"sage_hide_published_date":false,"sage_hide_read_time":false,"sage_hide_share_buttons":false,"_pwl_sage_podcast_buzzsprout_src":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[170],"business_type":[40],"lilypad":[],"context":[102],"industry":[56,52,55,54,204],"persona":[96,97,95],"imagine_tag":[230,231],"coauthors":[656],"class_list":["post-2495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-business-strategy","business_type-small-business","industry-ecommerce","industry-food-beverage","industry-professional-services","industry-retail","industry-technology"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Flannery Keck","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Paris-final.jpg","imagine_tags":{"230":"Small business","231":"Start up business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}