1.4 Business Aims & Objectives Practice Questions

Text 1 — Wythenby Cycles

Priya Ramanathan opened Wythenby Cycles in 2021. The business sells and repairs second-hand bicycles from a shop in a small market town. For the first two years Priya's main objective was survival. Two national cycle retailers opened stores nearby, and Priya worked long hours and took no wage for herself in order to keep the shop trading.

Since 2023 the number of repairs booked has risen sharply, partly because a large local employer introduced a cycle-to-work scheme for its staff. Priya has now changed the main objective of Wythenby Cycles to growth. She has employed two part-time mechanics, opened a second shop in a nearby town, and has set a target of holding a 20% share of the local cycle repair market by 2027.

Year	Revenue (£)	Share of local cycle repair market (%)
2022	86 000	6
2023	95 400	8
2024	110 200	11
2025	124 700	14

Text 1 — Loxmoor Cycle Works Ltd

Imelda Ferris opened Loxmoor Cycle Works Ltd in 2022. The business repairs and services bicycles in the small town of Loxmoor. In its first year Imelda set survival as the business' main objective, because she had to repay the money she had borrowed to fit out the workshop and she was the only full-time worker.

In 2024 a large parcel delivery company opened a depot in Loxmoor. It bought 200 electric cargo bikes, all of which must be serviced every three months. Demand for Imelda's work has risen quickly and customers now wait up to two weeks for a repair. Imelda has changed the business' main objective from survival to growth and plans to open a second workshop in a nearby town in 2026.

Caldwell Cycles is a bicycle repair shop that opened in Loxmoor in 2025. Its owner, Dev Oyelaran, has set survival as his main objective.

Year	Revenue (£)	Number of repairs completed
2022	48 000	1 600
2023	55 200	1 840
2024	66 000	2 150
2025	79 200	2 410

Lacquerline Nails

Lacquerline Nails is a nail salon in Swansea owned by Carys Lloyd, a sole trader. Carys left a salaried job at a large city-centre salon and used £6 000 of her savings, together with a £5 000 bank loan, to fit out a small unit on a busy shopping street. The salon offers manicures at £22 and gel extensions at £38.

Carys' objective for the first year was for Lacquerline Nails to survive. Her objective for year two is to increase sales revenue by 20%.

Rent on the unit is £680 a month and Carys employs one full-time nail technician. Two new nail salons have opened within a mile in the past year, and one of them charges £16 for a manicure. Several customers have asked Carys to open on Sundays, but this would mean paying overtime and giving up time with her family.

The table shows the salon's sales revenue and total costs in its first six months of trading.

Month	Sales revenue	Total costs
April	£4 100	£4 600
May	£4 650	£4 550
June	£5 200	£4 700
July	£5 050	£4 650
August	£3 800	£4 400
September	£4 900	£4 700

Tidewell Café

Tidewell Café is a small café in the seaside town of Whitstead. It was opened in 2022 by Jaya Mistry, who had worked as a chef in a hotel chain for eleven years. Jaya wanted to decide herself which dishes appeared on the menu, and working close to home means she can collect her son from school.

Tidewell serves breakfasts and lunches made with ingredients from farms in the area. There are four other cafés in Whitstead. Jaya's first objective was for Tidewell to still be trading after twelve months. In Year 2 she added an outdoor seating area and began opening on Sunday mornings.

Revenue in Whitstead	Year 1	Year 2
Tidewell Café revenue	£96 000	£120 000
Total revenue of all cafés in Whitstead	£800 000	£1 200 000

Jaya is now deciding the main objective of Tidewell Café for Year 3. She is considering an objective of increasing its market share.

Wickmere Candles Ltd

Imogen set up Wickmere Candles Ltd five years ago in Carlisle. The business hand-pours scented candles, which are sold through its own website and to 60 independent gift shops. It now employs 14 people.

For the first two years, Imogen's only objective was survival because the business was short of cash. Now that Wickmere is established, Imogen sets objectives at the start of each year and discusses them with every employee at a monthly meeting.

Wickmere's objectives for last year were:

• to increase revenue by at least 15%
• to increase its share of the UK scented candle market to 4%
• to use only recycled glass for its candle jars by the end of the year.

Wickmere Candles Ltd	Year before last	Last year
Revenue	£420 000	£504 000
Share of UK scented candle market	3%	3.4%
Candle jars made from recycled glass	45%	100%
Customer complaints per 1 000 orders	18	11

For next year, Imogen is choosing between two main objectives:

• Option 1: increase market share to 4%
• Option 2: improve customer service by cutting complaints to 5 per 1 000 orders.

Pinfold Sewing Studio

Pinfold Sewing Studio is a sewing school in Stockport. It was set up in 2023 by Nadia Rahman, who had spent nine years as a pattern cutter for a clothing manufacturer. Nadia wanted to decide when she worked rather than follow a production schedule.

The studio runs evening classes for adults at £28 a session and sells fabric and sewing kits from a small shop at the front of the studio. Nadia used £9 000 of personal savings to buy eight sewing machines and to pay six months' rent in advance on the unit. That rent has now been used up, so the rent must be paid each month from the studio's income.

Nadia's first objective was for Pinfold Sewing Studio to still be open after one year. For the second year she has set a target of selling 40 class places every week, and she is considering making growth, rather than survival, the main objective. Pinfold Sewing Studio has two competitors within five miles, one of which charges £22 a session.