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All businesses have aims and objectives. These give a business direction and provide a purpose for what the business does each day. A business aim is the overall target or goal of the business, whereas business objectives are the steps a business needs to take to meet its overall aims. A business may have several different objectives that will help it to meet its aim.

An example of a business aim is ‘to make £120,000 profit’. An example of a business objective is ‘to make £10,000 profit each month for the next year’.

Business aims and objectives fall into two main categories: financial and non-financial.

Financial aims and objectives

Financial aims and objectives are linked to money. Their goal is to either make sure the business can afford to keep running or help it to make a profit. An entrepreneur may have more than one financial aim or objective that they use to give their business direction.

Financial aims and objectives cover:

• Business survival is a very common objective for a small business or during hard economic times. Business survival refers to keeping the business operating for a certain amount of time. Most businesses initially aim to survive their first year.
• Profit maximisation refers to any money left over after all costs have been taken away from any revenue made by a business. Businesses want to make as much profit as possible.
• Sales refer to an amount of a product or service sold by a business. A business will set a target for how much it wants to sell each month and year. This gives the business a target to aim for and a purpose to what its employees do each day.
• Market share refers to the percentage of the market that a business occupies. The market is the industry that a business operates in, for example the fast food industry. An example of an objective for market share might be ‘to have 5% share of the fast food market within a 100-mile radius in the first 12 months’.
• Growth relates to businesses wanting to grow the size and scale of their operations over time.

Non-financial aims and objectives

Non-financial aims and objectives are linked to anything other than making money for the business. These are usually linked to personal reasons behind an entrepreneur setting up a business.

Non-financial aims and objectives are categorised as:

• Social objectives are linked to doing things in an ethical or environmentally friendly manner, or having a business whose sole purpose is to meet a social need.
• Environmental objectives, for example, an entrepreneur may aim to provide only products that are sustainably sourced or use only solar energy to power their business.
• Personal satisfaction relates to an entrepreneur feeling satisfaction that they have created a successful business. It may be that an entrepreneur is able to make a business out of a hobby or personal interest.
• Challenge relates to an entrepreneur setting up a business with the intention that making it successful will challenge them or take them out of their comfort zone.
• Customer satisfaction relates to how happy customers are with the products or services they receive. Businesses want customers to be as happy as possible.
• Independence relates to an entrepreneur working for themselves and running their own business. It is also to do with them making their own key business decisions. A desire for independence is a common reason for an entrepreneur to set up a business.