If you find the distinction, between a goal and an objective is a little confusing, think of a goal as being what you want to achieve and the corresponding objective or objectives as being the way you intend to achieve your goals. In short, try to stick to goals that are realistic and objectives that are measurable.
Here are some ideas about objectives and how to keep them real.
Profit objectives:
Decide how much you want to make, and by when. Your objective might be to make $4000 net profit every month, increasing to $5000 a month by the end of the next financial year.
Sales objectives:
Say how much you want sales to grow by, for example, ‘we aim to increase sales by 20% on last financial year.’ Don’t forget to add how you hope to achieve this result and why you think this growth is possible.
Service objectives:
Express customer service in a way you can measure. You may aim ‘to answer all email inquiries or phone messages within two hours’, or ‘to provide a same-day pick-up and delivery service six days a week’.
Product objectives:
Define product objectives in terms of price, supply range, or availability. A product objective might be ‘to source cheaper prices for at least 10 percent of products’ or ‘to expand the range of products available adding one new stock line every three months’.
Marketing objectives:
Say what kind of customers you want to reach and how many – for example, ‘to expand our customer listing from 150 to 200 by the end of June.’ Remember to include how you plan to achieve this outcome.
Business Plan
A business plan is like a road map. Where am I now? Where do I want to be in 18 months time? How am I going to get there? If you are intending to start a business you should plan from the beginning.
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– fail to plan plan to fail.
