Donald Deibler has formalized a personal policy that he says governs how he manages two food and beverage operations: no goal counts unless it is written down first. The Hegins, Pennsylvania, business manager of All Stars Ice Cream and Cafe Bakery, who also supports his wife’s ownership of Dead Horse Beer and Burritos, sets yearly goals every January 1 and monthly goals at the start of each month. Both lists remain in front of him daily, shaping decisions rather than being buried in a notebook by February.
The policy’s significance lies less in its novelty than in its implications for how small-business owners can maintain focus across multiple ventures. Deibler’s days rarely look the same twice, with responsibilities spanning bakery and cafe operations alongside support for a second food and beverage business. A written goal becomes a fixed reference point when schedules grow noisy. “By taking everything one task at a time,” Deibler said, describing how he handles moments of doubt. That same approach applies to goals: a large yearly target is broken into monthly pieces so it never feels like one overwhelming task.
Deibler measures success in plain terms. “By accomplishing your goals and exceeding past that,” he said. There is no external scorecard involved; he checks his own list against his own results. The monthly goal is not a smaller copy of the yearly one but a specific step toward it. On January 1, the year’s goal is written down in full. On the first of each month, a smaller, specific goal is added underneath it. Daily, both stay visible enough to shape decisions. Deibler says the habit of setting new goals is also how he keeps growing once an old goal is met. “By setting new goals,” he said, when asked what continued growth looks like. Nothing about the policy assumes an endpoint; one goal closes and another opens.
The standard applies beyond a single business. Deibler manages All Stars Ice Cream and Cafe Bakery and separately supports his wife’s ownership of Dead Horse Beer and Burritos. Two operations mean two sets of goals running at once, sometimes overlapping. He credits his family for shaping his approach. “My family, including my parents and siblings,” he said, naming his biggest influence. Growing up with five siblings in Donaldson, Pennsylvania, meant learning early how to divide attention across more than one priority without losing track of any of them. Outside the businesses, the same habit shows up in community commitments. Deibler has stayed involved with local youth sports donations and volunteer coaching, work that also runs on a calendar rather than good intentions alone.
Deibler is direct about what makes the policy work rather than fail. “Hard work and a positive attitude,” he said, are the qualities he considers most important. Neither shows up on a to-do list, but both determine whether the list gets finished. He also gauges the whole approach by a standard that is not borrowed from anyone else. “By my own standards,” he said, describing how he measures success, whether that is a monthly goal for the bakery or a longer-term plan for the burrito business. The written-goal habit is not a marketing device. It is the same operating rhythm Deibler has used across both businesses for years, made explicit for anyone who asks how he keeps two food and beverage operations moving in the same direction without losing sight of either one.
For other owners juggling multiple priorities, Deibler’s policy suggests that accountability may matter more than ambition. Writing goals down creates a record that can be reviewed, adjusted, and exceeded. It also forces specificity: a yearly target must be translated into monthly action. The approach does not rely on external validation or formal business training. Deibler graduated from Pine Grove High School in 2011 and from Albright College in 2015 with a degree in Music Business. His method is self-imposed and self-measured, a reminder that in small business, the discipline of follow-through often determines whether plans become results.
