Editor’s note: Brian Schachtner read an old post we had about SMART goals and decided to use his goals as an example of how to do them. If you’re in the Make it Green in 2016 coaching groups, you know we’ve gone into a bit more depth with a video and worksheet to fill out, but you still might find it useful to see how someone else goes about the process. If you aren’t the in the groups, that’s fine too. Let this post serve as a reminder that if you want to be as successful as possible this year, you want to create SMART goals and put them down on paper.
Get S.M.A.R.T
Often at the New Year people make resolutions to somehow improve their lives. I’ve made a resolution to improve my business.
My FBA business is growing from hobby status to needing to find a way to grow without overwhelming myself. Having just completed q4 and doing 27% of my 8 months of fba sales in the month of December, I am seeing the true potential of this business. In order to reach my new year’s goal of matching my full-time income with my fba income, I’m going to have to get S.M.A.R.T. It’s time to revise my S.M.A.R.T goals for the new year. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time table.
Specific.
I want to increase my fba income to match my full-time income. That is pretty specific of a goal. Is it possible?
Measurable.
I make just North of $40,000 at my regular job. In order for me to meet my goal of matching my fba income to my full-time income I’m going to have to make at least $40,000.00 in profit, or a minimum of $120,000 in sales with an average profit of 30%. I now Know the measurement or the value of what my goal has to be in order to say that I’ve accomplished it.
Attainable.
Is my goal attainable? I am ungated in nearly all of the Amazon gated categories. My deposits are enough for me to continue to grow without investing much more outside capital unless I choose to do so. I have outsourced some of my sourcing lists in order to maximize my time and energy. I also have a set hours of operation in order to maintain and stay focused on the task without getting overwhelmed Seeing 2015 closing, and have only been doing fba for eight months I can see an additional four months of sales to help meet my goals.
Realistic.
Is my goal realistic? I truly believe it is. I work roughly 60 – 80 hours a month now in my fba business. My deposits have increased to the point that I have a working capital to continue growing my business without any extra outside funding. I also have a support system in place to help me achieve my goals. I know some months are going to be slower than others, but I also have the ability to do ra, and oa more than I have in the past because of my knowledge increase of the business. So with that being said the only thing that would make this unrealistic in my eyes is if Amazon decided to regate all of the categories, or Amazon decides to get rid of FBA all together ( not seeing that happen).
Timetable.
With any goal a time limit needs to be set. I have set December 31, of 2016 as my deadline to reach $40,000 in Amazon profits. This timetable is a full year of business, and I am able to measure my success on a monthly basis by running monthly reports. I am also able to see what does, and doesn’t work when I run these reports to determine which products to continue selling, and which category is my most profitable.
I’ve set my S.M.A.R.T goal to attain $40,000 in profit from my amazon business in 2016. I believe that setting these goals allows a blueprint to work off of and to expand in order to meet, or exceed any goal. Set your goals, just make them S.M.A.R.T.
Good Luck into the New Year,
Brian