Four Hot Spots of Social Enterprise Quarterly Goal Setting: Part 1 of 8

Four Hot Spots of Social Enterprise Quarterly Goal Setting: Part 1 of 8

Want to move to the front of the sustainability pack in social enterprise?

Quarterly Goal setting is often discussed and then, discussed, and then discussed again. Unfortunately, just like our personal goals, our short-term goals end up shoved aside into tomorrowland. Or, worse yet, never attempted. Ugh, we have all been there!  

Assuming we don't need to discuss the WHY of setting short-term goals (think about daily distractions), let's move right to the categories you need to cover each quarter. 

Disclosure: We, at Gingras Global, don't claim to be experts in everything. However, we know a lot about social enterprise 'in-operation.' And, we work with impact investors who regularly communicate their thoughts about reporting and goal setting. So, we suggest you give this some thought!

Four Areas
If you are a social enterprise, you have to do more than the average bear. You must be an Olympic athlete to pull off this type of business.

We suggest you focus on these four areas:
Business Enterprise
Social Impact
Operations
Marketing

We further break down the four areas into two sub-categories totaling eight areas for quarterly goal setting and metrics for your social enterprise.

They are as follows:
Business: Your Product/Service and Your Customer/Client
Social Impact: Your Measurement Options and Your Related Goals
Operations: Your Staffing and Your Processes
Marketing: Your Promotion and Your Sales

Over the next several blogs, we will tackle each one!

Today, we begin with the first of Four Categories... 

 Business Enterprise: Your Product & Service

Your product/service is the enterprise engine that fuels the social impact. 

Every quarter we suggest you pick one of the following categories to work on during the next three months:
*Product/Service Improvement
*Product/Service Distribution Improvement
*Product/Service Research or Testing/Beta
*Product/Service Cost of Goods Sold analysis/reduction

Step One: Pick one of the categories above
Step Two: Write a description in no more than two sentences what you want to tackle during the next three months.
Step Three: Ask yourself if it is measurable (i.e. how will you know if you have accomplished this 3-month goal). If not, go back to Step Two.
Step Four: Decide on your Key Metric. What will you use to understand if the goal has been met? Observation? A Report? Your Team?  Be specific.
Step Five: Ask yourself if it is a small enough goal that can be done (we mean completed) during the next three months. Ask yourself how much time it will take to accomplish this goal and what resources it will require. Remember: you are setting yourself up with 8 of these at the same time. We are firmly encouraging something small so that you can build a pattern of success, not failure, for your reporting.
Step Six: Write down the benefits of accomplishing this goal to your social enterprise. What will this mean to your organization?
Step Seven: What strategy will you use to make the goal? Write this down in no more than two sentences. 
Step Eight: Decide where you will record your activity, strategy, key metrics; decide where the team can visually feel accountable.
Step Nine: Communicate this goal with your team, be in agreement.
Step Ten: Calendar a time NOW in 90 days that you will review this goal. REPEAT!

We encourage you to follow this eight-part series all the way through so that you can move your team to the front of the social enterprise pack!

We know you can do it and we are here for you!

Speak Truth. Demonstrate Impact. Declare Life.