How To Set And Achieve SMART Goals To Become A Successful Consultant

Establishing clear and specific objectives is vital to your success as a consultant. When you set clear, measurable goals that are grounded in reality, it’s much easier to excel in your chosen career.

According to Harvard Business Review, consulting is an ideal career choice if you prefer providing advice over following instructions, and you possess qualities of mental agility and empathy. But becoming a successful consultant is not about simply telling people what to do.

Setting and reaching ambitious goals can be challenging. Acknowledging your baseline is crucial when trying to project future aims. If you’ve identified potential bottlenecks or obstacles before you reach them, you’ll be better prepared to overcome them.

In this article, we’ll be talking about SMART goals: what they are, how to set them – and more importantly – how to achieve them, to become a successful consultant.

What are SMART goals?

SMART goals refer to goals which are 

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

By setting parameters around your goals, you can ensure they’ll be accomplished within a defined timeline. This method eliminates guesswork and generalizations while creating an easily trackable timeline, helping to identify any missed deadlines, and important checkpoints along the way. Let’s take a closer look at what is meant by this criteria.

Specific

Your goal should be narrow, so you know exactly what you’re working towards. Rather than saying ‘I want to become a successful consultant’, start with something like ‘I want to have x number of clients by the end of the year.’ This provides you with a precise vision that is also easier for others to understand. This can be useful to communicate if you’re after funding or speaking to a potential client or employer.

Measurable

Make sure your goals can be clearly measured, so you can track your progress along the way, and see if any changes need to be made. For example, ‘I want to reach out to five companies this month’ is easy to keep track of. If you’re half way through the month and have only contacted one company, you can make sure you contact 2 each week to ensure you still meet your goal before the end of the month.

Attainable 

Your goals should be aspirational, but they shouldn’t be plucked out of thin air. Consider what restraints and roadblocks you’re facing that may ultimately hamper your efforts to achieve something. You’re better off setting an attainable, realistic goal that you can actually achieve, than being overly optimistic, then feeling disappointed if you were unable to reach your goal in your set time frame.

Relevant

Your specific goal should align with your wider objectives – in this case, you need to think about what you want out of your career in the long run. Every small step can carry you further, so keep the horizon in mind, and ask yourself why this goal is relevant, and important to work towards now. For example, ‘I want to start posting blogs regularly on LinkedIn so that I can improve my online presence and authority, in order to attract potential employers and clients in the future.’

Time-bound

Give yourself a deadline to work towards, so that you can keep yourself focused and motivated. Whether it’s one tough thing to achieve before the end of the day, something you can work towards daily for a week, or a 6 week or even 6 month structured plan, setting a timeframe is a great way to assess your progress, and hold yourself accountable. However, remember that life does get in the way sometimes, so if you need to move the goalposts or the deadlines, don’t be too hard on yourself, and view it as a set-back to push through, rather than an outright failure.

Why set SMART goals?

Setting SMART goals takes more time and effort. However, their merits far outweigh this initial additional work. Here’s a quick snapshot of what you can gain from setting SMART goals.

Benefits of setting SMART goals

• Project clarity
• Aligned communication
• Clear roadmap and end goal
• Trackable metrics
• Optimal use of resources
• Increased motivation

As part of your goals-setting strategy, it is vital that you clearly outline what services you offer as a consultant. Doing so will display your knowledge while simultaneously sparking client interest. Not only will you achieve more, but you’ll also save time for your small business in the process.

Protect your livelihood

Unexpected events can occur while you provide professional services such as consulting and advising. If you don’t provide the results your client is looking for, or that you promised in your project proposal, you may be sued for professional indemnity, negligence or incompetence.

A consulting goal plan should always include insurance. It helps protect against these specific risks in an advice-based industry, by providing you with financial cover and legal support if you ever need to defend your business or its reputation.

Whilst SMART goals should focus on success and optimistic plans, part of staying ‘smart’ involves protecting yourself from potential risks. Solid insurance can help to protect your brand and reputation by covering financial costs and the legal hassle of dealing with these claims, should they ever arise. 

Steps to creating achievable SMART goals

An effective business plan provides entrepreneurs the guidance they need to successfully start and run a new enterprise. Combine SMART goals into your consulting business plan to give yourself the best set-up for success.

Start by writing down your ultimate consulting goal in one or two sentences. From here, you can tailor your goal by including each of its five S.M.A.R.T. attributes.

Mission statement

As part of your business planning process, it’s vital that you first identify your vision and mission statement. It should reflect your passions, values and expertise. From here, the SMART goal template will assist in setting more efficient, specific goals. 

Your strategy should include market analysis to assess competitors and your target audience. This process helps you identify opportunities in demand and streamline your services accordingly, including what makes you stand out from the rest.

Be specific

Remember that your SMART goals should focus on accomplishing one specific objective, rather than general, vague ideas. You don’t need an exhaustive list of steps needed to achieve it. Rather, provide the answers to the typical “W” questions, such as who, what, where, and why. It is possible for some of these to change, so if your ‘why’ or ‘how’ changes over time, make sure you adjust other aspects of your business plan accordingly.

Determine strengths and weaknesses

Assess strengths (such as your powerful brand) and weaknesses (such as an understaffed HR department) before considering outside factors to identify opportunities and threats. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis can effectively uncover hidden talent, issues and new collaboration opportunities. Understanding these can help you avoid, or at least protect yourself, from potential pitfalls or risks.

Know your finances

As a consultant, it is necessary to monitor both your income and expenditures to ensure you meet all financial obligations for the continued legitimate running of your company, such as steady cash flow management and paying correct taxes. Good financial management is essential to the long-term success of any business. Factoring in your finances during your goal-setting can help you keep your business on the path towards expansion.

Ensure your goal is realistic

Believe it or not, setting actually attainable goals can significantly increase your chances of longer-term success in your consulting career. Realistic goals are flexible and adjusted as circumstances evolve. Adapting plans as necessary and revising goals as required enables business consultants to reach their desired aims more quickly.

Keep your clients in mind

Your business or consulting career cannot grow without new clients, and marketing your business is vital for its expansion. According to a 2024 survey, 87% of clients believe trust is the single most essential element when purchasing consulting services. Locating your target audience is essential in marketing your consulting firm effectively, so you can appeal to their interests and priorities.

Marketing your consulting firm requires both inbound and outbound strategies. This could range from directly reaching out to potential customers, to producing authentic material relevant to your niche market that increases your online presence and authority. 

Conclusion

Setting SMART goals is a vital part of your journey to becoming a successful consultant, as they provide you with a clear vision and a roadmap of how to achieve what you want to, in more manageable and time-efficient ways. 

In this article, we’ve explained what SMART goals are, and the benefit of implementing them into your business plan. We’ve covered how to go about effectively setting them up, from having a precise mission statement to keeping your finances in the back of your mind as you set checkpoints and consider future growth. 

Remember that progress is not a linear journey, and like everyone, you’re bound to face set-backs along the way. Even the most careful planning and goal-setting strategy is not foolproof, so don’t be discouraged if your SMART goals come across some hiccups. Follow these tips, stay motivated, and you’ll soon become a successful consultant.