A company goal is the one or two outcomes the whole business commits to for the period — something like “grow MRR from $8k to $15k by year-end” or “cut churn from 4% to 2.5% this quarter.” Below are 15 concrete, measurable company-goal examples for small teams, grouped by theme, plus how to turn them into your own.
Company goals sit at the top of the pyramid: every team and individual goal should ladder up to one of them. The examples here are written for small businesses of 5 to 50 — real numbers, real deadlines, nothing you’d need a planning department to run. Steal the shape and swap in your own figures. New to the whole picture? Start with goal setting for small teams →
What makes a good company goal
Before the examples, the four tests every one of them passes. A company goal that misses these isn’t a goal — it’s a wish with good intentions.
One metric, one target, one date
“Grow MRR from $8k to $15k by December 31,” not “grow revenue.” A company goal you can’t measure is a slogan.
Few enough to focus
One or two for the whole company per period. A small business that names six company goals has really named none.
Owned, even at the top
Each company goal needs a single accountable name — usually a founder or lead — not “the leadership team.”
Easy to cascade
A good company goal breaks cleanly into team goals. If no team can see their slice of it, it’s still too abstract.
Revenue & growth
The goals most small companies anchor a quarter on — money coming in, and more of it than last time.
Grow monthly recurring revenue from $8k to $15k by the end of Q4.
Sign 40 new paying customers this quarter, up from 22 last quarter.
Lift net revenue retention from 95% to 105% by the end of the year.
Customers & retention
Growth leaks out the bottom if customers churn. These keep the ones you already earned.
Reduce monthly customer churn from 4% to 2.5% by the end of Q3.
Raise NPS from 32 to 45 by the end of the year.
Cut median first-response time from 9 hours to under 2 by the Q2 close.
Product
For product-led teams, the company goal is often about how well the product does its job — activation, adoption, reliability.
Cut new-user time-to-first-value from 12 minutes to under 5 by the end of Q3.
Get 60% of active accounts using the new reporting feature within one quarter of launch.
Reach 99.9% uptime and hold it for two consecutive quarters.
Team & culture
A small team is its people. These goals treat the team itself as something worth setting a target for.
Raise the employee engagement score from 3.6 to 4.2 (of 5) by year-end.
Fill all four open roles with strong hires by the end of Q2 — no rushed “good enough” ones.
Keep voluntary team turnover under 10% across the year.
Financial health & efficiency
The goals that decide whether the business is still here next year — profitability, runway, and cost discipline.
Reach monthly break-even by the end of Q4.
Extend cash runway from 8 to 14 months without cutting headcount, by year-end.
Bring customer acquisition cost down from $180 to $120 by the Q3 close.
How to make a company goal your own
Don’t copy the numbers — copy the shape. Take the theme closest to what matters most this period, then fill in your real baseline, a target that’s a genuine stretch, and a date. The move from vague to real is almost always the same one:
“Grow the business this year.”
“Grow MRR from $8k to $15k by December 31” — owned by the founder, cascaded into a sales goal and a retention goal.
Once you have your one or two, the next job is cascading them so every team can see their slice. That’s its own topic — see how to align team goals with company goals and, for the team layer, how to set team goals →
Looking for goal examples further down the pyramid? See SMART goal examples by team or OKR examples by team →
Celorly puts your one or two company goals at the top and lets every team and person connect their goals to them — so the whole company can trace a line from daily work up to what the business is trying to do. Set them in whichever framework you prefer, watch progress through the quarter, and close each cycle with an honest score.
Company goals — quick answers
What is a company goal?+
A company goal is an outcome the whole business commits to for a period — usually one or two per quarter or year, like growing revenue to a specific number or cutting churn to a target. It sits at the top of the cascade: team and individual goals ladder up to it.
What are examples of company goals for a small business?+
Common ones: “grow MRR from $8k to $15k by year-end” (revenue), “reduce churn from 4% to 2.5% this quarter” (retention), “cut time-to-first-value from 12 minutes to under 5” (product), and “raise the engagement score from 3.6 to 4.2” (team). Each names a metric, a target, and a date.
How many company goals should a small team have?+
One or two per period for most small businesses, three at the very most. Company goals set the direction everything else serves, so focus matters even more here than at the team level — a long list dilutes the whole company’s effort.
What’s the difference between a company goal and a team goal?+
A company goal is the whole-business outcome; a team goal is the slice one team owns that moves it forward. “Grow MRR to $15k” is a company goal; “book 60 qualified demos this quarter” is a sales-team goal that serves it.
Should company goals be SMART goals or OKRs?+
Either works — what matters is that they’re specific, measurable, and time-bound. Many small teams write the company goal as an OKR (an ambitious objective with key results) and let teams use SMART goals underneath. Pick one house style so everything reads the same.
How often should you set company goals?+
Set direction annually and concrete company goals each quarter. The year gives you the destination; the quarter is the unit you actually execute against and can adjust as the business changes.