Business aims and objectives

In one paragraph

An aim is what a business is trying to achieve in general terms. An objective is that aim turned into something specific enough to check.

Common aims are survival, profit, growth, market share, customer satisfaction, and the owner's own non-financial goals — independence, or work that fits around a family.

They change as the business ages

This is the part students lose marks on. A start-up's overriding aim is usually survival — staying solvent long enough to establish itself. Once established, the aim typically shifts to profit and then to growth or market share. A mature business may shift again, to protecting its position or to selling.

So the right answer to 'what should this business aim for' depends entirely on where the business is in its life, and the case study will always tell you.

SMART

An objective is useful only if you can tell whether you hit it. The standard test is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. 'Grow sales' is an aim. 'Increase sales by 10% by 31 March' is an objective.

How to actually use it

• Write down the one number that decides whether this year worked. If you cannot, your objectives are aims wearing a disguise.
• Check the objective against the stage you are at. Chasing market share while cash is tight is how businesses that were surviving stop surviving.

Where it breaks down

• SMART rewards what is easy to measure, which quietly pushes effort towards countable things and away from important ones like reputation or capability.

If you are being examined on it

If the case study is a start-up, survival almost always outranks profit. Say why, using a fact from the text.

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