How to Create Milestones for My Business

by Monica Patrick
Coordinate milestone achievements with departmental managers or leaders.

Coordinate milestone achievements with departmental managers or leaders.

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West Point graduate and later Army General, Creighton Abrams once said, "You eat an elephant one bite at a time." The late general gave an accurate description of his attitude towards meeting large challenges and tackling goals. In the world of small business, this quote could be applied to the importance of using milestones to achieve big dreams. During the course of reaching big goals, business owners can become discouraged by slow progress. By using milestones, you'll have a continuous supply of achievements that could fuel you towards success.

1. Create a one-year, five-year or 10-year goal for your small business. For example, a good one-year goal would be to add 100 customers. Five-year plans may be to add a new branch and a 10-year plan could include expanding overseas.

2. Research your goal and make a list of things that must be achieved to meet your end goal. For example, the goal may require milestones like obtaining additional licensing or training employees. Don't worry about making the list chronological at this point. Practice free-thinking and writing out requirements. Have these in list format so you can plug them into your official list of milestones.

3. Consult with the leadership of your company to verify that you have included all important milestones in your list. Leaders may have additional industry information that could be helpful.

4. Sort your list of milestones by placing them in the order they should occur and assigning each a timeline. Consult a calendar to help you stay on track, time wise.

5. Use software to make charts or tables for employees to follow. Create an electronic document that you can edit to add dates and important updates. Revisit the list of milestones at every business meeting. Address difficulties reaching milestones and offer assistance to departments or managers that need help. This will help you stay on track.

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