A measurable objective has four parts: what is measured, where it starts, where it should end and by when. If a stranger could check it on a calendar, it is measurable.
This lesson is part of vision, mission and objectives. If you are still unsure what makes a target different from a vision, revisit telling vision, mission and objectives apart first.
How do you build the four parts?
Write them in this order: what (cups sold per day), from (the current figure), to (the target), by when (the deadline). Then read it back and check it is also achievable: does the case say the business has the capacity?
Worked example: Teh Tarik Ceria
An invented bubble tea stall sells 40 cups a day. The owner wants to “sell more”. The case says the stall can make up to 60 cups a day with its present equipment.
Step 1: what. Cups sold per day.
Step 2: from and to. From 40 to 50 cups. The increase is 10 cups, and 10 ÷ 40 × 100 = 25%.
Step 3: by when. Six months.
Step 4: achievable check. 50 is below the 60-cup capacity, so no new equipment is needed.
The objective: “To raise daily sales from 40 to 50 cups, an increase of 25%, within six months.”
The value in RM helps too. At RM6 a cup, the stall’s daily sales rise from RM240 (40 × 6) to RM300 (50 × 6), which is RM60 more a day.
The mistake that costs marks
The common slip is a wish without a number.
| Weak | Why | Repaired |
|---|---|---|
| “To improve sales.” | No figure, no deadline | “To raise daily sales from RM240 to RM300 within six months.” |
| “To get more customers soon.” | “More” and “soon” cannot be checked | “To serve 50 customers a day, up from 40, by June.” |
| “To make the best drinks.” | A vision, not a target | Use a measurable proxy, such as “a customer rating of 4.5 out of 5 by June.” |
A target above the capacity given in the case also loses the achievable mark. If the stall could only make 60 cups, an objective of 100 cups would fail.
Check yourself
Invented case: Buku Kita, a bookshop with monthly sales of RM8 000. The owner wants sales to grow by 15% in four months. The shop’s largest recorded month was RM9 500.
Write the objective and check that it is achievable.
Answer
15% of RM8 000 is 0.15 × 8 000 = RM1 200, so the target is 8 000 + 1 200 = RM9 200 each month.
Objective: “To raise monthly sales from RM8 000 to RM9 200, an increase of 15%, within four months.”
Achievable check: RM9 200 is below the shop’s largest recorded month of RM9 500, so the target has been reached before and is realistic.
What to study next
An objective is only useful if you can tell whether it is being met. Continue with connecting objectives to performance measures, and use the business case-answer planner to draft objectives for cases of your own.
If you want a teacher to review your objectives on your practice cases, see online one-to-one Business tuition.