Forget New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions are for wimps. Real men, and women, set goals.
Show me your catering goals for 2012, and I’ll accurately predict how the year will end for you?
What? You don’t have goals for this year…more specifically you don’t have written goals for 2012?
You have just reduced your odds of getting ahead in 2012.
Time and time again, I’ve seen the power of written goals come to fruition. While waiting tables, with no prior management experience, and never having opened a restaurant, I wrote down my goal to own one of the first Corky’s franchises.
I knew if I asked enough of my qualified business customers to back me, I’d hit my goal before I hit asking 100 people. After about 45 tableside pitches, a gentleman and his wife from just outside Nashville came in for lunch and sat at my table.
He was a big West Tennesse bbq fan and wanted to bring it to Nashville. He pulled out an ad from the Sunday Nashville paper about a Corky’s franchise. In less than a week I was in Nashville, he backed me, an unknown, unproven entity with a million dollar investment. That my friends is the power of goal setting.
In hindsight, I think he was crazy to have backed me, but I’m sure glad he did. Maybe it was my passion that won him over. One of my favorite quotes is, “An entrepreneur is a con man that delivers.” I definitely did not want to be known as the guy who lost this guy a million dollars.
As a side note, after fourteen years together, my partner and I sold out. Not only did he walk away with a great return on the sale, but we never ended a year without him pulling out at least a 25% return on his investment…and he was virtually a silent partner. Unfortunately, he took his buyout and invested it with a real con man. I am definitely sorry that a guy this great came across such an unscrupulous person.
Let’s examine exactly how to harness the power of goal setting.
Write your goal down. When writing your goal, there is a connection made from the hand to the brain. While in your brain, your goals are etched into your subconscious.
Even if you are not focused daily on reaching your goals, I truly believe and have personally witnessed the power of my subconscious working to help achieve goals.
Someone explained it this way. Imagine you’re in an airport. There are announcements on the public address. You barely notice what is said. It becomes white noise rather quickly. Now what happens when they call your name or flight? Everything stops and your subconscious mind shouts, “Hey! Listen up. This announcement is just for you!”
I am not an airy fairy kind of guy, but definitely believe that the Universe conspires to help you when it comes to goal setting. The odds of someone walking into a restaurant and backing a waiter on a million dollar restaurant is slim or non. He had a one in six chance of sitting in another section. I normally didn’t work Friday lunches.
Next be specific. I want to increase catering sales is not as powerful as I want to increase my sales by $57,000.
You must attach a date to it: I want to increase my catering sales by $57,000 by December 31, 2012.
Specific, measurable goals with a deadline have the greatest odds of coming to fruition.
Now I spent about two days creating a one page strategic plan for my 2012 goals. I have an elaborate marketing mind map created. I know it is impossible for me to get everything on my list accomplished. I know some things will change requiring me to alter course.
Be open to opportunities that lead you down a different path. It reminds me of the guy fighting the war with bows and arrows, gentleman in the background with a machine gun, tells his right hand man, “Tell him I’m too busy fighting this war.”
What opportunities have you turned a blind eye to?
I know with my written, specific, measurable goals with a deadline, they’ll come to fruition by December 31, 2012. How do I know?
This first week of the year, two opportunities have fallen in my lap. They could lead to me hitting a large chunk of my revenue goals. Accident? Hard work? Yes to both.
Don’t mistake written goals with lack of work. It’s like the guy who goes to church every Sunday asking God to give him the winning lottery ticket. After four Sundays, he cries out to God, “Why won’t you give me the winning ticket?”
From the heavens, God whispers in his ear, “My son. You must buy a lottery ticket.”
Friend, you must wake up each day doing something to further your goals. Just as I’m a big believer that money flows to those who are good stewards of it (as in giving to charity pays off big time…but not if you give expecting something in return), I’m a big believer that God, Jesus, Mohamed, A Higher Power, The Universe or whatever you believe will conspire to help you reach your goals in 2012.
So go write them down and go out and sell some catering!
Well, that’s all for this issue.
To Your Restaurant's Marketing & Catering Success…
Michael Attias
Restaurant Catering Software
P.S. - Last week's blog article contained a bad link to the eBook I was giving away, "Cater or Die! A Step-by-Step Plan For Doubling Your Catering Profits". I apologize for the error. You can find the link in last week's blog article or on our home page.
