Is ‘profit today’ the only objective of your business?
Ask a businessman what his main objective is, and you’ll invariably get the same response: ‘profit’. But this can be misdirected thinking – or worse. It may endanger the survival of the business itself. Getting profit today could undermine the business of the future.
Objectives are needed in every area where performance and results directly and vitally effect the survival and success of the business. These are two areas that effect every decision of the business and decide what it means to manage a business. They also spell out the results that the business should aim at and what is needed to work effectively towards them.
Every business needs to set multiple objectives, whatever the type of business, economic circumstance, business size and so forth. Here are 8 good ones; market standing, innovation, productivity, resources, profitability, manager performance and development, staff performance and attitude, public responsibility.
The first 5 are economic in character and the last 3 are intangible. This latter group are as important as the first 5 because if they are neglected any business would result in a tangible loss in performance in the first 5 areas.
As business is in fact a community its performance is dependent on the performance of human beings. Thus managers must attend to turning such intangibles into tangible and practical principles and values that are measurable such exceptional performance is achieved.
So profit is in there, but it’s not even top of the list. Should your business re-examine its objectives? Could another look at how you measure yourself improve your profit in the future?
See you soon
Andrew
