October is a perfect time to starting thinking about the upcoming years.  If you’re a business owner, this is also an excellent time to reflect on your company’s performance over the past 3 quarters and set some goals for the year ahead.

But how do you go about setting and achieving your business goals? Here are a few tips:

Be realistic – It’s important to set goals that are achievable. If your goal is too ambitious, you’re likely to get discouraged and give up. On the other hand, if your goal is too easy, you probably won’t see much progress. Find a happy medium between the two extremes.

Set measurable goals – This will help you track your progress and see how close you are to achieving your goal. For example, if your goal is to increase sales by 10%, this can be easily measured by looking at your sales figures at the end of the year.

Make a plan – Once you know what your goal is, it’s time to make a plan of action. What steps do you need to take in order to achieve your goal? Make sure each step is realistic and can be completed within a reasonable time frame.

Get help – If you’re having trouble achieving one of your business goals, don’t be afraid to ask for help from family, friends, or even a professional coach or consultant. At Upstream Marketing, we are members of several business groups where we get help from other business professionals.

Vistage – Monthly confidential meetings with 12+ high-caliber, non-competitive business executives who will challenge assumptions and find out what is limiting your success.  There is a monthly cost for Vistage meetings.

Silver Fox CEO Roundtable – The Silver Fox Advisors CEO Roundtable program enables Owners and CEOs of privately-owned companies to interact with and receive valuable input from their peers in the business community. Once a month, Roundtable members discuss issues and share their knowledge and experience in confidential, small-group meetings.  These meetings are free to attend.

Have patience – It takes time, hard work, and dedication to achieve long-term success. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results immediately – keep working towards your goal, and eventually, you will get there.

I wish you great success in achieving your business goals for 2026.  If I can be of any assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.