The Main Objective for a Business

The Main Objective for a Business

Profit can be described as whatever is left from revenue after costs

have been deducted. But is this the main target for every business?

All business have objectives (goals which are set out by the people

who lead or control the organisations), whether they are big or small

and whether they are in the primary or public sector. The performance

of a business could be judged on how effectively it achieves its

objectives.

It is often argued that the main aim of private sector businesses is

to maximise their profits. It may be reasonable to assume that firms

aim for as much profit as possible. In practice a business is more

likely to have a satisfactory level of profit as an objective. I

carried out a questionnaire (can be seen in appendix), and interviewed

many entrepreneurs (an individual with a flair for business

opportunities and risk taking). From my results I can see that it is

true that the majority's aim at start is to make profits, but in a

long-term is to keep costs as low as possible.

Regardless a firm's size and status, survival is often considered very

important, especially if it has recently entered the market (where

customers and suppliers meet) and may fear from established

competitors. Firm sometimes become targets of other firms to take

over. When this happens the survival of the firm in its existing form

may be the main objective. One way to achieve this is to persuade the

owners (the shareholders) not to sell shares to the person or company

bidding them.

At the beginning, the owner may be satisfied for the company merely to

survive its early problems while building a reput...

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...h primary and

secondary research, I have found out that there are other factors that

influence the choice of objectives.

Firstly, the size and status of the firm. For example, many small

businesses may be content with profit satisficing or survival. Larger

companies may aim for growth and market domination. In addition, the

age of the business. Businesses starting off may be content with

survival. Later, when they are established, they may pursue other

objectives. Also, the state of the economy may effect business

objectives. During a recession many firms, both large and small,

concentrate on survival. During normal trading conditions other

objectives will be important. Finally, whether the business is in the

public or private sector. Public sector businesses focus rather more

on providing a service than profits.