The digital world has brought so many opportunities for entrepreneurs—gone are the days when a person needs a physical storefront to sell products. Nor are you limited to your immediate geographical area for finding loyal customers who are passionate about what you do. Is it any wonder that the prospect of launching an online business has grown more popular with every passing year?

But just because online businesses are so popular, doesn’t mean everyone is going to be successful. Whether you’re launching a side hustle or a full-time endeavor, you still need to recognize that what you’re running is still a business. It’s about connecting with customers, selling a product or service, and bringing in money. You have to take it seriously.

With that in mind, here are several important goals you can set for yourself to ensure your online business grows this year:

Bringing in leads 

Not everyone who knows about your business is going to make a purchase—at least, not right away. But in business, people talk about a sales funnel. You get the attention of a huge group of people so that you can siphon through the people who are excited about what you do and have a reason to patronize you. Even the people who don’t make a purchase during the first round might genuinely keep you in mind for a purchase at a later time, such as when they have more disposable income or when they need to buy a gift for someone.

One of the go-to ways for bringing in leads is what’s known as a lead magnet. This is kind of like a free sample. It’s something you can offer people for free with no expectation of anything in return. It shows people what you have to offer. Some people will like it so much they’ll make a purchase. A good example of this is our Free Website Audit Guide.

Expanding your network

If bringing in leads is sort of like offering free samples, then expanding your network is like encouraging word of mouth. You want as many people to know about you and your business as possible. By reaching out to people, talking yourself up, going to business mixers, and joining industry circles, you’ll create a network of people who know about you and who can refer you to others who might be in need of what you do. 

And, if nothing else, networking is good for your mental health. Being an entrepreneur is lonely.  Creating a powerful network can help.

Do a SWOT analysis

This one can be tricky, especially if you’re just running your business as a side hustle and think of it as something you do “as a hobby.” But if you want to reach new customers and make more money (and who doesn’t want to do that?), then it’s important to have a firm understanding of where you can improve. 

Spend time thinking about your SWOT: your strengths, your weaknesses, your opportunities, and your threats. By understanding what you do well, where you could be better, what goals you have, and what obstacles might stand in your way, you can realistically come up with a growth plan for 2022 and beyond.

Improve your efficiency 

Being more efficient and more productive is going to look different for every business. In some cases, you might be limited by the resources you have, including not only money but also the time you want to dedicate (a common problem that people with side hustles face, as they’re running their business when they aren’t occupied with their day job). If you have the money, hiring an employee to help you run your business could be a huge benefit that practically pays for itself. If you can’t pay someone to help you, it might be more realistic to invest in an app that undertakes some of your administrative tasks for you. This frees up your time so you can be better about focusing on offering excellent products and services.

Tips For Goal Setting

Two important aspects of goal setting that everyone should keep in mind, no matter how big or small their business: 

Your goals need to be specific if they’re going to be achievable. Vague goals, particularly those with no way of measuring them and no deadline by when they need to be achieved, will usually just leave you coming up short.

It's also smart to stay limited in the number of goals you are setting. It might seem like a smart idea to set goals upon goals upon goals, but if you spread yourself too thin, you end up losing focus and might accomplish none of those goals. On the other hand, if you set only a few goals that are of the highest priority and then focus on those, you will have a better chance of accomplishing them.

Ready to come up with a great plan for the year ahead? Our team at ASMM Digital wants to help you every step of the way. Reach out to us today by calling 443-679-4916.