A useful business objective says what you will achieve, how much, by when, and how it will be counted. The activity is what you do to get there, and it needs its own measure.
This lesson is part of student-owned business plan reasoning. It connects to linking objectives, markets, operations and finance in the wider plan.
What does a measurable objective look like?
Fill in four parts: the result, the amount, the time and the count.
| Part | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Result | What changes? | boxes of kuih sold |
| Amount | How much? | 90 boxes each week |
| Time | By when? | in month 3 |
| Count | How is it checked? | pre-order slips and the cash tin |
If one part is missing, the objective cannot be tested. A reader cannot tell whether it was met.
Worked example: Aiman’s kuih stall
Aiman runs a small kuih lapis stall for classmates. In month 1 he sold 40 boxes each week. His first plan says, “The objective is to grow the business.”
Step 1. Turn it into a result with an amount: sell 90 boxes each week in month 3. That is an increase of 50 boxes a week, more than double the first month.
Step 2. Choose an original activity that fits his business: take pre-orders every Monday in the canteen and bake the day before pickup.
Step 3. Give the activity a measure: count the pre-order slips each Monday. If the count rises from week to week, the activity is working.
Step 4. Set a check date: the last day of each month.
The objective and the activity now fit together. The slips show whether the activity is working before the month ends.
The mistake that costs marks
The common slip is writing an activity that has no measure, such as “advertise more”. It sounds active, yet nobody can check it.
| Step | Wrong | Right |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | grow the business | sell 90 boxes each week in month 3 |
| Activity | advertise more | weekly Monday pre-order list in the canteen |
| Measure | none | pre-order slips counted each Monday |
| Check | not stated | last day of each month |
If you cannot name the measure, the objective is not ready.
Check yourself
A nasi lemak stall throws away 15 unsold packs a day. The owner writes, “The objective is to reduce waste.” Rewrite it as a measurable objective with one activity and one measure.
Answer
Objective: cut unsold packs from 15 to 5 a day within 4 weeks.
Activity: take pre-orders by 9 p.m. the night before, and cook only the pre-ordered packs plus 5 extra.
Measure: count unsold packs each evening and write them in a daily record. If the average for week 4 is 5 or fewer, the objective is met.
What to study next
Go on to reconciling a sales forecast with stated capacity and assumptions. The business case answer planner helps you lay out an objective, an activity and a measure before writing.
For a teacher to test your plan line by line, see online one-to-one Business tuition.