If you want to succeed in the mobile food industry, you need to set food truck goals. Without goals you lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your truck’s direction; it also provides a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding.

When vendors fail to meet their food truck goals, they may blame themselves, thinking that they lack talent or willpower. In fact, innate ability has little to do with whether goals are reached. Instead of faulting yourself, try these steps to make the goals for your food truck business more achievable:

4 Steps To Make Your Food Truck Goals Attainable

Goal setting is much more than simply saying you want something to happen. Unless you clearly define exactly what you want and understand why you want it the first place, your odds of success are considerably reduced.

  • Be very specific. Targets like “open a second food truck” or “create a more innovative menu” are too vague to set as food truck goals. Hazy goals can leave you discouraged or bored. Spell out exactly what you want so you don’t settle for less.
  • Be optimistic and realistic, at the same time. Think about what you want for your food truck empire and figure out what stands in your way. Go back and forth between being optimistic and realistic to get clarity on the action you must take and gain the momentum to do it.
  • Set timetables for completion. Set a clear time frame in which you want to reach your food truck goal. If you don’t set a specific a deadline, you may not feel motivated to push yourself.
  • Make them measurable. Come up with a way to measure your success. “Build food truck menu” isn’t measurable; “develop one new recipe and price it out per week” is.

Install the SMART System

Use this simple system to help yourself get through the process of setting up attainable food truck goals. SMART is a useful system where you clarify our aim and ensure that it is not only what you want but that you can achieve it and within a realistic time frame.

SMART stands for

  1. Specific
  2. Measurable
  3. Attainable
  4. Realistic
  5. Timely

Remember, when setting food truck goals is an ongoing activity, not just a means to an end. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular time-slots available to review your goals.

RELATED: Setting Goals For Your Food Truck Business

The Bottom Line

Working toward your food truck goals will give you a sense of purpose, and reaching them will boost a vendor’s self-confidence. However, there is one major mistake that many people make: setting unrealistic food truck goals that you can’t possible attain. Instead of feeling gratified and accomplished, you will end up feeling worse about yourself than before.

Do you have any additional tips to make food truck goals attainable that you think should be added to this list? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Share your ideas in the comment section or social media. Facebook | Twitter