When you're running a fashion business, it can be hard to keep track of everything that's going on if you don't write down your goals. It's not just about having great products — you have to find ways to get them in front of potential buyers.

Your fashion business is just like any other business. The only thing that separates you from the rest of the pack is your passion for what you do. You have to have a plan in place if you want to succeed in this industry. You need goals, strategies, and tactics to help increase your sales and grow your business.

Goal setting is a crucial part of running a business. It helps you set and meet your sales targets, and it can also help you improve the way you run your business. If you don't know where you're headed, how will anyone else know?

If you know what your business can do and what you need it to do, then you can make sure it's working toward those goals instead of just wandering around aimlessly. And to do this, you need to write down your goals.

For example, let's say that you want to increase sales by 20% this year. You could set goals for how often you post new products on social media so that there's always something fresh and exciting for followers to see—and hopefully buy!

You could also set a goal for yourself to find new customers each month or week, and make sure that your social media marketing campaign includes links for people who might be interested in buying from your store. Setting goals like these will help keep your business moving forward and help you reach important milestones along the way.

The Preliminaries

First, let's talk about having the end in mind!

If you've never set goals before, or if you're not sure how to go about it, don't worry! I'm here to help and that is this post is about. 

I won't really go down the route of SMART goals. You probably have read them a million times before. Specific, Measurable, Actionable (or Achievable), Reasonable (or Realistic) & Time-bound. If you haven't heard of SMART goals, this article will really help. 

I'm going down a different route and will try and make it as practical as I can.

Start with Why

Let's assume you started your fashion business to make enough sales so you don't run into huge debts. You work full time but your salary isn't enough to pay off your huge loans and as a result decided to set up your fashion business as a side hustle to pay them off.

Or maybe you already even have a fashion business but you are neck deep inn debt. Or all you do is work hard just to pay bills and your debts. 

Now we have an end goal in mind. The reason we set up the business is to pay off our debts, live a better life and get out of the rat race by, say, the end of 2022.

Write down your goals

You may have heard the saying, "You can't hit a target you can't see." It is spot on! If you're in business, then you must set goals and track your progress toward those goals. But how do you do that? And what should your goals be?

It all starts when you write down your goals! Identify what success looks like.

What do you want to achieve? Do you want to increase sales by 10%? Do you want to be able to pay yourself a salary every month? Or do you want to grow your customer base beyond the local area? Whatever it is, write down what success will look like for your business.

Using the example above, the goal is to pay off your debts.

So the next step will be to determine: How much are those debts? 

Once you know the amount, then you know how much you need to make by the end of the year to make enough to pay off the debt. 

If your debt is 100,000, then your goal or target should be to make, maybe 2x that amount in sales so you can make enough money for certain business expenses and to pay off that debt. 

To do that, ask yourself:

- What steps are necessary for making that happen? 

- Which products do you have to create to meet those sales?

- How much money, if any, do you need to invest?

- What kind of marketing campaigns will you use?

These are all questions that need answers before moving forward with any plan of action.

Setting your targets

Running a business is like being in a maze. You could make so many wrong turns along the way that prevent you from reaching the end. But with a clear picture of where you are headed, you can carefully plan how to get there. Like I said in last week's post, if you don't know where you are headed, how will you get there?

Now that you have identified those and determined the products you want to sell to help you achieve those, then the next step is to break down those goals into smaller pieces. This helps make them more manageable and quantifiable—and easier to track over time.

For example: "Increase sales by 10%" could be broken down into "increase sales by 5%" every quarter for three consecutive quarters—and then "increase sales by 5% again" at the end of six months. That way, when someone asks how things are going, all you need to do is to calculate how far you have come and how far it will take to reach the next milestone.

Establishing goals helps you to define your business, and it helps keep you on track. It's no wonder why your goals have to be: 

Specific: i.e clear and easy to understand.

For example, "I will increase my sales by 20%" is specific but not measurable because it doesn't specify what you need to do or how much money you'll be earning.

"I will increase my sales by 200% next year" is specific but not achievable because it's likely too far off in the future (you probably won't have time to think about that big of an increase right now).

When writing down goals for your business plan, try to be as concrete as possible so that everyone can easily understand them later on.

Measurable: Make sure that every metric used in your plan can be measured with numbers—it's up to each person running their own business exactly how they want this part done!

For example: if you want more customers per day then you can measure things like how many visitors came into your store during one day vs another. 

If you want better marketing strategies then maybe look at your total revenue over two quarters compared against last year's numbers; etc.

Make sure at every stage you write down your goals so you can track them.

After writing down your goals and it becomes clearer, then it's time to take action.

• List the steps you need to take to reach your goals.
• Make sure your goals are realistic and measurable.
• Keep track of your progress, and revisit them regularly.

Involve Others

You can take this a step further and get others involved. The more people who are connected to your goal, the more likely they’ll help you meet it. Think about who could help you reach your dream and then make an effort to build those relationships. Ask for help from family and friends, find a mentor or coach, or join a group that supports your goals (like online fashion communities).

You don’t have to go it alone! Connecting with other people who share similar interests or goals will give you strength when times get tough—and they will get tough! It may seem as though all the good things in life happen to other people until something happens that makes us realize: no one is immune from struggle. Don't isolate yourself by keeping all of your dreams close-to-the-vest; instead turn to others for support because they want what's best for you too!

Visualize Your Goals

Next, visualize your goals and the steps you need to take to get there. This is a very powerful way of creating a positive mindset that will help you achieve your goals. Visualize achieving your goals daily, as well as the rewards, benefits and impact they will have on your life.

To do this, close your eyes and picture yourself reaching those milestones in vivid detail. What does it look like? What are you wearing? Who else is with you? Feel how good it feels when this happens—what emotions are coming up for you? When I do this, I feel motivated and excited! 

Celebrate Small Victories

In order to keep yourself motivated, it's important to celebrate small victories. Don't be afraid to reward yourself for the little things and don't let others tell you that your goals aren't realistic or attainable.

For example: If one of your goals was to make 5,000 a month in sales by the end of the year, but instead you made 4,500 this month (which is still great!), then celebrate that achievement! 

You're on track for your goal and can build off of this momentum.

Conclusion

And this pretty much is how you set goals for yourself that keeps you excited about your fashion business. You have to set yourself up for success by setting goals. And more importantly, you have to write down your goals. 

Setting realistic and specific goals will help ensure that they won’t be too easy or too hard to achieve—you don't want them so easy that there's no challenge in completing them, but also not so difficult that they're unattainable!

The best way to do this is by creating measurable objectives with a time frame attached (i.e., "I will have X amount of sales within three months"). This allows us another opportunity at success if we come up short on our first attempt at meeting our target goal.

Instead of giving up hope entirely because things didn't work out exactly as planned, we can revisit our plan after taking some time off from working toward it so we can try again with renewed focus!

Goals are the foundation of any successful business, and running a fashion business is no exception. When you set goals for yourself, you’re making a commitment to achieving something and giving yourself a direction in which to move. You can use this process to help guide your decisions and give yourself an idea of where you want the company or brand to go.

If you haven't written down your goals yet, it's never too late. Start with ONE and let's take it from there. You can share them in the comments below.