By: Greg Bennett, CPA

Small business ownership is a continuous process of establishing and enforcing expectations. Expectations are critical to achieving goals. They are a framework for a company’s culture and a driver behind success. As the owner of a business, you are its primary leader and have a responsibility to implement expectations that will propel your business toward goals in a healthy and productive manner. You must begin with yourself. Let’s look at six elements of sound expectations:

1. Goals. Expectations serve no purpose without a target, and each target is a goal. The goals need to align with the purpose and intent of your business, simplified so they can be well understood by everyone involved. Goals can be small or large, and short-term or long-term. You set goals without even realizing it whenever you identify something to be completed, such as responding to a customer, hiring your first employee, or hitting a revenue target. Expectations serve to determine how well and likely it is to achieve a goal.
2. Tone. We can all cite examples of businesses that have adopted an attitude of hitting goals at any cost, whether monetary, through absurd demands on employees and vendors, poor quality control, and/or questionable conduct. Such a negative “tone from the top” permeates the entire business and is damaging. An appropriate tone of your expectations is critical for a healthy and sustainable company culture—one rooted in integrity and quality, reasonability, strong communication, and timeliness—and not an “anything goes” attitude. Your tone is your ethos—the character and ethical conduct of your business.
3. Realistic. Unrealistic expectations are counterproductive to achieving goals because they drain your business of its finite resources and energy. Expectations are well developed when they function to maximize productivity, which requires realistic views about effective communication, timelines, flow of relevant information, and overall adherence to attaining goals. Maintaining a realistic environment sets everyone up for maximum potential of success.
4. Communication. Expectations and goals must be clearly and effectively communicated for them to function and be attainable. No one should be questioning what the goal is or the desired process for achieving it, or even the timeframe. Strong and open communication helps you maintain timeliness and enforceability of your expectations and goals. Make the goal known and understood. Regular updates on progress toward the goal fosters adaptability, enforcement, and accountability.
5. Timelines. Progress toward goals must be measurable, which cannot occur unless there is also a well-communicated and realistic timeline. The timeline must be reasonable based on available resources and conditions, and only when a timeline exists can you enforce desired progress.
6. Enforcement. Goals and expectations may be developed but have no true purpose without the ability to be enforced, and this is based on accountability. Sound expectations are enforceable when clear and effective communication exists about a goal and the overall path to attaining it. Enforce the correct tone by not allowing conduct that departs from it. Enforce the realistic timetable. Enforcement supports and maintains your ethos.

Your expectations as a business owner set the tone—its ethos—of your company, which is why it all begins with you. Sound expectations allow you to properly lead and propel your business forward. They set everyone up for the greatest possible chance of achieving goals.