A journey fraught with dangers, that’s what an entrepreneurs journey is. They are a small bunch of people who live a daily struggle and win in the end. Welcome to the world of entrepreneurs. This article will be a kind of introduction to the gateway.
The thin line between personal and professional goals can blur easily. So let us understand how we can differentiate.
Personal Goals
Passion and Purpose – We define what we want to do in many words and expressions. The strongest among them is used to describe passion. It is an almost uncontrollable feeling to do something. When we discover our passion, it gives our life a purpose. Our daily routine now revolves around that purpose.
Work life balance – So many professionals and entrepreneurs decide not to have a personal life or goal. For them life is all about working. Many others keep their goals private. Either way what is important is to keep work and life compartmentalised. Personal goals need time to reach and achieve. It cannot happen by working the whole day.
Continuous learning – Old timers say, learning never stops. Well how about putting this into action. So keep reading, bit by bit, everyday. Make it a habit to put in at least half an hour to study or learn.
Networking – There are two ways to enrich your life, reading and interacting with people. While talking with people, we learn new things faster. Important life lessons are picked up in group interactions. Do not aim to just make acquaintances, go for life long conversations.
Time Management – You can never achieve your goals if you leave out this one. Have you ever wondered how people flawlessly achieve their aims and goals with the same resources. They do it by planning their work in the 24 hours that they get. Let me give you guys a hint here. It is mostly to do with sleeping early and getting up at sunrise.
Professional goals
Business plan – There are many things you can do on a hunch, for other things, you need to have a plan. No business will ever take off without a plan. A business plan is a plan to decide how to achieve the goals of your company or firm. It is also the process to decide what are the goals.
Financial goals – Any business venture needs a financial goal. A business venture without earning is more of a hobby.
Market research – Any product or service has to be aligned with the market conditions. A business plan has to be backed by solid market research. Big companies and firms spend large amount of money of market research and they conduct surveys to gauge the mood of the market too. But for small brands, the brand owner has to do his or her own research.
Product/Service development – There are many cases where a product once created seldom changes in design. For example for years the lemon squeeze design in wood remained same. Till date the design is the same even though we have materials like aluminium and steel. But these are all rare cases. In other cases your product or service needs constant development. Thinking constantly about how to improve your product keeps you busy. It also helps in offering better service to your customer.
Marketing & Branding – The next important step in making your professional goal is to give a face to your product. What is the way to reach out to your potential clients. How to increase visibility. All these questions are answered by branding your product.
Legal & Compliance – In the good old days you could just open a shop and start selling. Today registration will give you legitimacy and recognition. Besides, it is always a good idea to be fully compliant with the govt and laws.
Risk Management – Life and business is full of risks. To assume that things will be smooth sailing is wishful thinking. So any goal or plan has to incorporate risks in it.
Social impact – Your product or idea has to make a splash in the market. It has to be the talking point for the masses. This should be the most important professional goal. Design your product in such a way that people should remember and cherish it.
I am Manisha Yadav, Founder and Ideologue of Narisakti. MBA Student and Digital Marketing expert, I take your brand online and help you reach more customers.
