Template

Business Goal Planning Template

Turn business goals into actions, owners, and metrics — so "grow the business" becomes specific weekly work.

Template structure

Per goal

• Goal — written as an outcome (e.g. "Reach $1M annual recurring revenue")
• Why it matters — business reason in 1-2 sentences
• Metric — how progress is measured
• Target — specific number and date
• Owner — one named person
• Key actions — 3-5 concrete initiatives
• Review cadence — weekly / monthly / quarterly

Example goal

Goal: Grow monthly recurring revenue to $50K by Q4
Why: Hits our breakeven with team hiring plan
Metric: MRR
Target: $50K by 31 Dec
Owner: Jane (Head of Sales)
Actions: launch referral programme; improve onboarding NPS; test LinkedIn ads for key persona
Review: weekly

Planning rhythm

• Quarterly — set/refresh goals
• Monthly — check goal progress
• Weekly — check actions

Rules

• 3-5 goals per quarter max
• Every goal needs a metric
• Every goal needs one owner (not a team)
• If on track 3 weeks in a row, let it run; if off track 2 weeks, intervene

Common mistakes

• Vague goals ("grow the business", "improve operations")
• Too many goals — dilution
• No owner or multiple owners
• Goal set, never reviewed

Frequently asked questions

OKRs for SMEs?

Simplified OKRs work — 3-5 objectives, each with 2-3 key results. Full OKR processes usually over-engineer for small teams.