Example: "our business must grow" is an obscure, non-measurable objective. What exactly should we measure in order to find out if objective was met? But if we change it to "our business must grow in sales volume with 20%", we've got one measurable objective: measure being percentage sales rise from present moment to given moment in future. We can calculate this very easy, based on recorded sales figures.

3. Be ATTAINABLE!

Some use term "achievable" instead of "attainable", which you will see it is merely a synonym and we should not get stuck in analyzing which one is correct. Both are.

It is understood that each leader will want his company / unit to give outstanding performances; this is spirit of competition and such thinking is much needed. However, when setting objectives, one should deeply analyze first factors determining success or failure of these objectives. Think of your team, of your capacities, of motivation: are they sufficient in order for objectives to be met? Do you have means and capabilities to achieve them?

Think it through and be honest and realistic to yourself: are you really capable of attaining goals you've set or are you most likely headed to disappointment? Always set objectives that have a fair chance to be met: of course, they don't need to be "easily" attained, you're entitled to set difficult ones as long as they're realistic and not futile.

Example: you own a newborn movers company and you set objective of "becoming no. 1 movers within state". The problem is you only have 3 trucks available, while all your competitors have 10 and up. Your goal is not attainable; try instead a more realistic one, such as "reaching Top 5 fastest growing movers company in state".

4. Be RELEVANT!

This notion is a little more difficult to be perceived in its full meaning; therefore we will start explaining it by using an example in first place.

Imagine yourself going to IT department and telling them they need to increase profit to revenue ratio by 5%. They will probably look at you in astonishment and mumble something undistinguished about managers and way they mess up with people’s minds.

Can you tell what is wrong with objective above? Of course! The IT department has no idea what you were talking about and there's nothing they can do about it - their job is to develop and maintain your computerized infrastructure, not to understand your economic speech. What you can do it setting an objective that IT department can have an impact upon, and which will eventually lead to increase you wanted in first place. What about asking them to reduce expenditures for hardware and software by 10% monthly and be more cautious with consumables within their department by not exceeding allocated budget? They will surely understand what they need to do because objective is relevant for their group.

Therefore, quality of an objective to be "relevant" refers to setting appropriate objectives for a given individual or team: you need to think if they can truly do something about it or is it irrelevant for job they perform.

5. Be TIMELY!

No much to discuss about this aspect, since it is probably easiest to be understood and applied.

Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if objective is met or not.

For example, if you just say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units", you will never be able to tell if objective was achieved or not, one can always say "well, we’ll do it next year". Instead, if you say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units within 6 months from now", anyone can see in 6 months if goal was attained or not. Without a clear, distinct timeframe, no objective is any good.

When determining our entry, we should consider numerous variables. “Market Size” gives us a picture of size of overall economy, mixed with a comparison of “Growth Rate” for that specific market, it can be very useful in determining when markets are shrinking or growing. “Commercial Infrastructure” looks at channels of distribution that exist in territory as well as physical feasibility of conducting business in that area, such as paved roads, phone lines, etc.

Once we have done our research and decided our business is going global, possibilities begin, let’s review and cover basics. As in any new business we may start, we need to begin networking and assembling our list of needed resources, contacts, and potential clients. We need to determine best ways to utilize those contacts and start going after our target market. Thanks to Internet this has become much easier for us to do now. However, beware of Internet scams which are occurring more often these days. A great source of online market information is Lexis-Nexis news reports from around world.

Marketing our products/services can be difficult anywhere, let alone in a foreign market. Consulting a professional who can guide us in each market we choose to enter will be most efficient. We need to determine how our product/service will enter market utilizing its strength or minimizing its weaknesses. Going global is a good thing, and opportunities continue to increase as technology continues to evolve. With right product/service, there are numerous opportunities waiting to be seized. As long as we do proper research and put in necessary time and effort, rewards should be great.

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