Hit Your Small Business Goals in 2025

Welcome, 2025! A new year, a fresh start, and endless opportunities for personal and business growth. The beginning-of-the-year energy inspires ambition and motivation—it’s the perfect time to set goals and make plans. But how do you ensure this excitement lasts beyond January? By keeping it simple and intentional.

Many of us overcomplicate our goals, leading to overwhelm and burnout. Let’s change that this year with a clear, actionable plan.

STEP 1: Brainstorm Success

2025 would be considered a success if ______________________ occurred in my business, and if I _______________________________.

Success comes in all shapes and forms; your definition of success is as unique as you. Filling in the blank can seem overwhelming, but this exercise is less about being accurate and more about the thought process and discovery of what you really want to make happen this year. 

Because your business will only grow to your level as the business owner, separate your personal growth from your business growth. The two are deeply connected but distinct.

By the end of 2025, what kind of business owner do you want to be? Sit with the question and drill down 3-5 words that describe the ideal you as a business owner. (I also do this same exploration for all my roles in life: wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend.)

Here are some words to help jump-start you: 

Organized – Effective – Calm – Productive – Learner Mindset – Confident – Powerful – Acknowledged –  Fun – Creative – Powerhouse –  Impressive –  Family-Oriented 

Now, let’s do the same for your business. Drill down those 3 – 5 words. 

Growing – Stable – Automated – Efficient – Popular – Recognized – Desired – Known – Budding – Established – Expanding – Profitable – Reinvesting – Organized – Process Driven – Learn Mode – Foundation Building

STEP 2: Define Your North Star

Success can be overcomplicated with too many goals, so the key is to focus on just one. By hyper focusing on one single goal, you are more likely to achieve it.

Most business goals can be drilled down to one thing: Revenue. 

How much money do you want to make this year? 

Next, define your personal goal. Most personal goals revolve around time. Time to spend with family. Time to learn and grow. Time to prioritize health. 

When you define your business goal and combine it with your personal goal, you have a winning, uncomplicated recipe for a successful year.

This combined goal becomes your North Star. Write them out and look at them every day. Each decision you make should come back to them. ”Does it align with my north star?” Yes or no. It’s that simple. And, it’s what keeps you on track. 

With no North Star, you are dragged down every rabbit hole, and each one keeps you from the bigger picture.

STEP 3: Layout The Path To Success

Now that we know where we are going, let’s brainstorm some stepping stones to help us get there. 

Start with your business revenue. Let’s say you want to increase and hit $100,000. How are you going to do that? Write down everything that comes to mind.

Here are some examples.

If I want to make more money I can:

• Take on more clients
• Increase Pricing
• Attract higher revenue clients
• Increase my average sale

You will notice that all these examples are directly related to revenue.

Now, let’s do the same for your personal goal. If my personal goal this year is to increase time with my family, I would need to: 

• Take on fewer clients
• Automate my client experience
• Stop working at 6:00 p.m. every day
• No work the 1st weekend of the month 

Now take a look at both lists and see what correlates. Then drill down to 2-3 initiatives. Example: If I need to take on fewer clients, then I definitely need to increase my pricing. If I am going to cut my work hours, then I need to automate my client experience. 

Where goals go wrong, is that we put goals in place, without figuring out our path to success. The idea here is that you should create two to three stepping stones that you can focus on throughout the year to move you forward toward your goal.

STEP 4: Create Your Meeting Schedule

Now, how can you keep the momentum going through the whole year? It’s easy to get bogged down in the weeds of things and forget your goals; which is why it is very important to lay out a meeting schedule. Who are you meeting with? Your best and worst employee … you. 🙂

Yearly Meeting – set aside a whole day in January to think a bit more strategically about your North Star and your stepping stones. Dive into each exploring what needs to be done, and get a grasp on where you want to start. Then, define one large stepping stone that you can complete in Q1. 

Weekly Meeting – Each Monday, have a 30-minute check-in with yourself on where you are in your progress. Set aside time, adjust your schedule, and review your North Star. This only works if you are committed to progress and keep your North Star top-of-mind.

End of Quarter Meeting: Set aside a half day at the end of each quarter to assess how you did on your stepping stone. Is it completed? Is it working? Does it need to be optimized? If it is not completed, what needs to be done to complete it?
Don’t feel shame if it is not completed. Recognize it and make adjustments. 

Beginning of the Quarter Meeting: Set aside half a day to plan the quarter. Start by evaluating your North Star and make adjustments if needed. Then plan your next stepping stone or continuation of your previous one. Think about how you will use the quarter to move closer to your goal. 

By keeping a meeting schedule you will continually remind yourself of your goals and ensure you stay on track. The most important thing is that you are evaluating and moving yourself forward. Each quarter will be viewed as a new slate and renewed energy, giving you the excitement and drive as the new year did. 

Let 17hats Help

17hats can help you stay on track and organized. Here are just a few ways. 

Create a 17hats Calendar for your meeting schedule. You can create a separate calendar in 17hats, and add all your meetings to it. Then you can cross-check that calendar in Online Scheduling to ensure you do not book over that important time. 

Under Documents, check out the Payments This Year section to easily track how much revenue you have brought in. 

Under Bookkeeping, keep your eye on the Profit Loss Report and Client Sales Report. 

Organize your thoughts and to-dos by adding yourself as a contact and creating a 17hats Project for each stepping stone. Then you can add time to work on your Project by adding events and to-dos. 

It’s Not Magic, It’s Hard Work! 

A successful year doesn’t magically happen. It requires prep, focus, attentiveness, and intent.  Brainstorming for days on the whiteboard is great, but unless there is action, assessment and follow-up, the brainstorming will only be brainstorming.

The start of the new year is the perfect time to put an action plan into place to ensure forward movement for you and your business.

Use this guide to simplify your goals, stay organized, and maintain your motivation throughout the year.

Make this the year you take control of your business and personal growth—one step at a time.