If you could create your own fantasy board of directors, who would be on it? CO— connects you with thought leaders from across the business spectrum and asks them to help solve your biggest business challenges. In this edition, we ask an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader to explain her goal-setting strategies.
In this edition of "Ask the Board," we feature Mary Sirois, a former dietitian and college runner. Along with her husband, Dr. Evans Sirois, Mary founded N-2 Water, a water company with a focus on pure, high-quality ingredients to naturally support hydration. Mary shares her tips and tricks on how to set realistic goals and benchmarks for your business venture.
There is nothing more exciting than launching a business. You've filed all the paperwork, designed your brilliant logo, purchased your website, and the sky is the limit! Just like those first few days after having your first child, everything is new and exciting. Even the middle-of-the-night diaper changes and feedings.
But just like having a child, once you have gone through those difficult birthing pains and the exhaustion sets in from lack of sleep, you quickly realize that it won't always be an easy road ahead.
When starting a business, like becoming a parent, the emotional rollercoaster and hardships ahead should be expected — they are all part of the beautiful journey. However, one way to help alleviate or lessen the hardships as a business owner and make it through that dreaded business cycle phase called the valley of death, is to set realistic goals and benchmarks.
Here are six tips on how to set realistic goals and benchmarks for your new business.
Develop revenue goals with year-over-year expectations that allow for reasonable growth
Doubling your revenue and growth year over year is an ideal growth curve, resembling a skateboard ramp, as defined by James F. Richardson in his book, "Ramping Your Brand."
"The skate ramp curve is defined as exponential growth, which differs from a wheelchair ramp (linear growth) or even a unicorn ramp (steep growth)," Richardson writes. "Staying realistic in your goals to "stay on the curve" and double sales every year, with most of the growth on the backend, rewards businesses that show patience in scaling."
Keep your expectations realistic and remain flexible
The better prepared you are in your expectations for difficulties, the "easier" they will be when they come. And they will come. Setting realistic goals and allowing for flexibility or adjustments when things don’t go as planned will ensure your business survives the ups and downs of a business cycle.
In our small business, our launch timeline was set for the spring of 2024. As a hydration brand, we targeted the summer timeline as the ideal business environment to launch.
Due to delays in manufacturing, we had to push our launch back to late November 2024, a less ideal moment for a new hydration brand. But remaining flexible in our goals allowed us to readjust benchmarks and overcome the delay, getting to market and launching successfully.
Forecast spending and budget, allowing for a 10% overage, and then try to stay on target
This strategy will help you navigate that valley of death phase, where the business struggles to connect product/market fit and overcome financial challenges. Typically in this phase, cash flow is at its lowest before growth and sales take off. If you can consider your cash flow and resources and navigate this phase, this will help the business survive and advance.
Aim to include long-term goals and short-term goals
Short-term goals can help keep you on track in the day to day. Long-term goals can help expand your vision and ensure you are heading toward your final destination on your journey and the trajectory of your business. Along the way, if performance is not on track, adjust goals to stay attainable.
Plan on failure
As the founder and operator of a recently launched startup, we, as a company, have tried to set realistic goals and growth benchmarks of exponential growth aimed at doubling our revenue year over year. This way, we can ensure we are growing at a sustainable pace and continue on a path of realistic goals. This allows us to tackle and plan for all funding challenges and ensure we will make it through the valley of death and onto a sustainable growth path.
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
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