How to set quarterly goals that you’ll (actually) implement

As a first-time business owner, sometimes I look back at what I was doing in 2017 and can’t help but laugh.

For instance, last year I was so determined to generate six figures for my first year of business that I found a bunch of interesting ways to hit that goal.

The problem…

Almost none of it was scalable.

Saying yes to custom projects meant that I was unknowingly saying no to specialization, easily delegating tasks, and the dream of one day working ON my business, not IN it.

It turns out that HOW you make your revenue is a hell of a lot more important than WHAT your business makes.

After learning this lesson the hard way, I started developing systems for everything that would be a repeatable part of my business.

As a result, everything from my quarterly review process to core offering has been systematized.

Why?

I value consistency and want to make it a core value of Traffic Is Currency so that we can consistently provide value to our B2B SaaS customers.

Where am I going with this?

Well, for the last few quarters, I’ve asked myself these 25 questions to flush out how the previous quarter was, what could be done better, and what should be prioritized for the next quarter and I’ve found it extremely helpful.

Feel free to use the same questions to clarify what you need to prioritize in Q2:

Here are the 25 questions I ask myself each quarter:

1. What went well in Q1l?
2. What is going right in your business?
3. What was your revenue for Q1? Break it down by customer (if you can)
4. How did it compare to the previous quarter?
5. What hurdle came up more than once in your business? (time, money, attitude, location, knowledge, etc.)
6. How are you going to address those recurring challenges?
7. What are you looking forward to most in Q2?
8. What 3 things would you like to accomplish in Q2?
9. What do you see as some of the biggest challenges in the next 90 days?
10. How are you going to address each of those challenges?
11. What opportunities could help you easily generate more revenue?
12. What are some ideas that you think will help you dramatically hit your goals?
13. What would you say is the lowest hanging fruit in your business?
14. How are you going to fix your low-hanging fruit?
15. What could you outsource / delegate to focus your time on more high-value tasks?
16. What opportunities do you see having the biggest impact for your business?
17. If you were to make ONE bet for the next quarter, what would it be and how would you see it impacting your business?
18. What would a successful year look like for 2018 from a revenue and customer standpoint?
19. What skills would you like to further develop in Q2?
20. Is there anyone or anything that could accelerate that learning curve?
21. What would a successful Q2 look like?
22. What would a failure for Q2 look like?
23. How are you going to cap your downside?
24. What is your one main goal for Q2?
25. What are 3 inputs that are going to help you hit your main goal for Q2?

To put everything to good use, I prefer to break down everything into the chart below to showcase everything that is going to contribute to hitting your one main goal.

Feel free to use the goal template here.

Now, I’m curious, what else have you found that has helped you prioritize your quarter?

Note: this article was originally published on whoiswes.com

BTW, if you’re tired of guessing how to improve your B2B SaaS free trial conversion rate, I just launched a B2B SaaS free trial teardown offer at Traffic Is Currency that helps leaders (like you) acquire more free trial users. Some of the initial B2B SaaS free trial teardowns have gone so well that I’m offering a 100% money-back guarantee because I’m confident it will deliver outstanding results for your business.