I’m a planner. It’s just my personality. If you ask me on any given day what I will be doing in 5 years, I probably have a pretty good answer for you. I love dreaming about the future and working out how I can make that a reality.
So for me, goal planning for my Etsy shop just comes naturally. And I credit my goal setting method for a large part of my success on Etsy. I know what I want to achieve, I make a plan that will allow me to hit that goal, I get help along the way when I need it, and I don’t stop until I get to where I want to go.
It helps you plan
When I’m doing shop critiques for other sellers, my first question is always to ask what your goals are. Because my recommendations and your action plan are really different if you want to make $100,000 this year from Etsy than they are if you want to make $5,000. Either goal is fine. But the same actions won’t help you reach both goals.
It keeps you focused
The first few years when I opened my Etsy shop, I was treating it like a hobby. Not a business. I didn’t set goals mostly because I didn’t think any big goals were really possible for me. And I spent those few years bouncing around from thing to thing, just hoping to find something that would work for my shop.
It wasn’t until I started being really intentional about what I wanted to achieve with my business that I focused on what would make the biggest difference in my business. I stopped wasting time on small tasks and starting prioritizing the big action steps. Everything I did each day, was intentional. I knew what every task was doing to help me reach my goals. That means every minute you spend working is more efficient.
It helps you assess
When you set a big, yearly goal, you’re able to check your progress every single month. You can assess whether you’re on track or if you need to change your strategy.
If you don’t have a goal, you can implement new strategies every week. But what are you hoping for? What’s your benchmark to decide if that strategy is successful or not?
So now what?
Set those goals, Etsy seller! And don’t just set any goal. Set that big goal. That goal that you’re afraid to even admit that you have. That goal that you aren’t even sure is possible. Because I can assure you that you aren’t going to achieve it by giving up before you even get started.
Need help making the plan for that big, scary, “how am I going to do this” goal? As a full time, multi-six figure seller, I’ve been where you are and I know how to get to where you want to go. Grab my 5 part Etsy Framework to see your next steps!
-Sarah
