What are businesses trying to achieve, and why do their aims change?
Business aims and objectives: survival, profit, growth, market share, customer satisfaction and social or ethical aims, the difference between an aim and an objective, SMART objectives, and how and why aims and objectives change as a business develops.
A focused answer to the WJEC GCSE Business content on business aims and objectives, covering survival, profit, growth, market share and social aims, the difference between aims and objectives, SMART objectives, and why they change over time.
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What this dot point is asking
WJEC wants you to know what businesses are trying to achieve and how those targets are set. You need the main aims: survival, profit, growth, market share, customer satisfaction and social or ethical aims. You need the difference between an aim (a broad goal) and an objective (a specific target), the meaning of SMART objectives, and crucially how and why aims and objectives change as a business develops. Examiners frequently ask why a new firm aims to survive while an established one aims to grow.
Aims and objectives are different things
Objectives turn a vague aim into something the business can plan for and measure. The aim is the destination; the objectives are the milestones along the way.
The main aims of business
Not every business chases profit above all. A charity aims to help a cause, and a social enterprise reinvests its profit to do good, so its aims are social as well as financial.
SMART objectives
How and why aims and objectives change
This is the most-asked part of the topic.
Why this matters
Aims and objectives shape everything a business does, so they connect to almost every topic: marketing aims at market share and customer satisfaction, finance measures whether profit and growth targets are met, and operations and HR support the objectives by being efficient and well-staffed. When a question gives a business at a particular stage (a start-up, a fast-growing firm, an established giant), its likely aims are exactly the application points that lift an answer into the top band.
Try this
Q1. State the difference between an aim and an objective. [2 marks]
- Cue. An aim is a broad long-term goal (for example "to grow"); an objective is a specific measurable target that helps achieve it (for example "open two branches in a year").
Q2. Give two reasons a business's aims might change over time. [2 marks]
- Cue. Any two of: it moves from survival to growth once established, a recession forces a return to survival, rising competition, or a change in the owner's ambitions.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC (Unit 1)3 marksExplain why survival is often the main aim of a new business.Show worked answer →
A 3-mark AO1 and AO2 explain question. Reward a developed chain.
A new business has few customers, an unknown brand and limited cash, so in the first year its priority is simply to stay open and avoid running out of money. Until it has built a customer base and steady sales, aims such as growth or maximising profit are unrealistic, so survival comes first. Once it is established, the business can move on to growth and profit aims. Markers reward the link between being new (low sales, tight cash) and the need to survive before doing anything else.
WJEC (Unit 1)6 marksA bakery sets the objective to increase sales by 10 percent within one year. Analyse the benefits of setting SMART objectives like this.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark AO1, AO2 and AO3 question. Identify why the objective is SMART, then analyse the benefits in context.
The objective is specific (increase sales), measurable (by 10 percent), and time-bound (within one year), which makes it a SMART objective. Benefit one: it gives the bakery staff a clear, shared target to aim for, so everyone knows what success looks like and efforts are focused. Benefit two: because it is measurable and time-bound, the owner can check progress against it and judge whether the business is on track, then take action if sales are lagging. Chain and judgement: clear SMART objectives improve motivation and control, but only if the target is realistic; a 10 percent rise is achievable for an established bakery, so it is a useful objective. Markers reward applying SMART to the example plus a developed analysis of the benefits.
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Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCSE Business specification (Wales) — WJEC (2025)
- WJEC GCSE Business (Wales) specification (3510) — WJEC (2017)