The Power of Goal Setting in Your Hospitality Business

At EOG Accounting, we understand that running a hospitality business is a lot like juggling – you’ve got to keep your eyes on all the balls at once while making it look effortless. One of the most powerful ways to ensure that everything stays in the air (and doesn’t come crashing down) is through effective goal setting. In this blog, “5 Key Tips for Goal Setting in Hospitality,” we’re diving into how you can set effective goals to elevate your business.

By mastering these strategies, you can turn your business dreams into reality and achieve your life goals.

A bold purple zigzag line, representing dynamic progress and movement, drawn diagonally across the image.

Why Goal Setting Matters

Running a hospitality business is no small feat. From managing bookings and ensuring exceptional customer experiences to juggling staff schedules and keeping an eye on those all-important financials, it’s a whirlwind.

Amidst all this, setting clear, achievable goals might seem like just another task on your endless to-do list. But trust us, it’s a game-changer. See what the science says here! Goal setting creates:

  • Clarity and Focus: Clear goals help you prioritise tasks and focus on what truly matters, avoiding distractions and making your efforts more effective.
  • Financial Growth: Financial goals help you manage cash flow, control costs, and ultimately, boost profitability.
  • Motivation and Drive: Having well-defined goals keeps you and your team motivated, giving you a clear direction and a sense of purpose.
  • Measurable Progress: Goals provide benchmarks to measure your progress, helping you see what’s working and where you need to adjust strategies.
  • Improved Efficiency: With goals in place, you can streamline operations, allocate resources better, and eliminate wasteful practices.
  • Enhanced Team Collaboration: Goals align your team’s efforts, fostering collaboration and ensuring everyone is working towards the same objectives.
  • Customer Satisfaction: By setting goals for service quality and customer engagement, you ensure that your customers consistently have outstanding experiences.
  • Adaptability: When you have clear goals, it’s easier to adapt to changes in the market or industry trends, keeping your business competitive.

Tony Robbins: “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”

Whether you want to sell your business in five years time for £2 million, provide 20 full time jobs to local people, increase occupancy rates, boost customer satisfaction, or expand your services, having well-defined goals helps you stay on track and allow you to measure your progress.

 

5 key tips for Goal Setting in Hospitality

An image of an open hand with a blue sleeve, palm facing up, and a red upward arrow hovering above it, symbolising support and growth.
 

Ready to start setting some goals? Here are 5 practical tips to get you started on your own:

  1. Decide on and write down your long-term vision: Take some time to think about where you want your business to be. What are your dreams and aspirations? How do you want life to look like in 5 or 10 years? Write it down.
  2. Break It Down: Work your goals backwards to decide where you need to be at the end of year 3 and then after the end of year 1. You can then make a simple plan of what you need to achieve this year and then this quarter. Divide your big goals into smaller, actionable steps. This makes them less daunting and easier to tackle. Also these short term goals need to align with your long term vision.
  3. Make sure the goals you’re setting are SMART Goals: Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, instead of saying, “I want more customers,” aim for “I want to increase bookings by 20% in the next 12 months.”
  4. Involve your Team in the Goal setting: Setting goals together as a team ensures everyone is aligned and motivated, transforming individual efforts into collective success. When everyone pulls in the same direction, the journey to achieving your vision becomes not only more productive but also more rewarding.
  5. Monitor Progress and don’t beat yourself up if things don’t quite go to plan: Keep track of your progress and numbers and celebrate your achievements along the way. You will make mistakes. If you achieve your goals, great! But if you don’t, by the end of the year you will still be a lot closer to where you want to be, having set the goals compared to plodding on aimlessly. If you don’t hit your goals, take time to evaluate what changes need to happen and take action. Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels, once said, “Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit”​.

 

How We Can Help

At EOG Accounting, we’re passionate about helping you realise your vision. Goal setting isn’t just a buzzword for us; we’ve set our services up to help you achieve your goals and offer either a service or resources at each step of your business journey.

The Hospitality Performance Framework infographic by EOG Accounting outlines a structured approach to goal setting and performance review in the hospitality industry. The framework is divided into three main sections: Plan, Review Performance, and Take Action. Under "Plan," it includes Long Term Vision (setting a 5-10 year vision), Medium Term Vision (a 3-year plan), and One Year Plan (setting SMART goals and budgeting). "Review Performance" covers Management Accounts (monthly/quarterly reviews) and the Hospitality Performance Dashboard (daily reviews and KPI monitoring). "Take Action" involves setting projects and tasks, assessing target achievement, and reviewing business concepts, pricing, staffing, margins, and marketing. The infographic emphasizes the importance of regular communication with the core team and annual amendments to the plans. EOG Accounting's logo is present at the bottom left corner.

Plan

  1. Long and Medium-Term Vision Setting

We start by understanding your vision. What do you want your business to achieve in the next  10 or 5 years? This goes beyond financials. What will your life look like? How many hours will you be working? Where will you live? How many businesss locations will you have? We will then break this down to where you need to be in 3 years’ time for you to be on track to achieve your goals.

  1. One-Year Plan Setting

We’ll work with you to break down these long-term aspirations into smaller, manageable goals. These goals will be a mix of financial and non-financial, such as personal milestones, customer service milestones, or operational improvements. We’ll then create a budget that aligns with your goals and long-term vision. We’ll set solid KPI’s such as Food and Drink Gross Profit Margins. For inspiration, see this blog we’ve written on what your restaurants GPM should be.

Review Performance

  1. Management Accounts

Regular management accounts give you an accurate snapshot of your business’s performance. They’re like a health check for your business, showing you how well you’re progressing towards your goals. With detailed insights into your KPIs, Revenue, Costs, and Profitability, you can make informed decisions and adjust your strategies as needed.

  1. Performance Dashboard

Management Accounts are great, they are accurate and full of useful information, but they are complex to produce and can’t be created with a click of a button. With this in miond, they’re usually only reviewed Monthly or Quarterly. That’s why we’ve created our Performance Dashboard! The dashboard is designed to quickly and effortlessly give you daily goals and feedback on performance using your core KPI’s that were set in your One Year Plan meeting.

 

Let’s Achieve Your Goals Together!

Setting and achieving goals is like navigating a ship; without a clear destination and a reliable compass, you’ll just drift aimlessly. But with clear goals and the right support, you can steer your business towards success.

Remember, at EOG Accounting, we’re more than just number crunchers. We’re your partners in growth, dedicated to helping you achieve greatness in the hospitality industry. So, let’s dream big, set those goals, and turn your vision into reality.

Feel free to get in touch with us to start your goal-setting journey today.

Helping Hospitality Think Big – because with the right goals, anything is possible!

 

Rhys Edwards, FCCA and Managing Director of EOG Accounting, pictured with a dog, author of this blog on hospitality accounting and business strategy.