# Business goals, challenges and project scope

*Business Analyst Study Guide · Customer Discovery · Last updated October 15, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/business-analyst/customer-discovery/business-goals-challenges-and-project-scope*

How a business analyst sorts discovery statements into goals, strategies, initiatives and challenges, turns vague goals and pain points into measurable targets, traces initiatives to goals, and writes an in-scope and out-of-scope boundary that resists scope creep.

- Certification: Salesforce Business Analyst
- Exam section: Customer Discovery
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/business-analyst

**Official exam objective:**

> Determine business strategies, goals, initiatives, and challenges to define the scope of a Salesforce project or business initiative.

## What the exam expects

- Classify what a sponsor or user says as a goal, strategy, initiative or challenge, and record it that way.
- Turn a vague goal ("improve the customer experience") or a vague complaint into measurable objectives and agreed success metrics before any solution is discussed.
- Gather the right inputs to define or redefine scope: strategic plan and goals, quantified challenges, and constraints.
- Decide which initiatives belong in scope by tracing each one to the business goal it advances.
- Write a scope statement that says what is in scope and what is out of scope.

Key terms: **goal** (what the business wants to achieve); **challenge** or obstacle (a problem in the way of a goal); **initiative** (what the business does now to reach a goal); **success metric** or KPI (the agreed measure of results); **scope** (all the work needed to deliver the outcome, and what is excluded).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | What the business wants to achieve | [Know Your Customers](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/know-your-customers) |
| Obstacles | Problems faced while working toward goals, such as rapid growth or new regulations | [Know Your Customers](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/know-your-customers) |
| Metrics | Agree how results will be measured and which KPIs the problem affects | [Create with Your Customers](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/create-with-your-customers) |
| Business need first | The business need guides the rest of the project | [Explore Techniques for Information Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/explore-techniques--information-discovery) |
| Business constraints | Time, budget and resources; constraints narrow the design options (UX design-brief module) | [Define Project Scope and Requirements](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/ux-basics/define-project-scope-and-requirements) |
| Scope statement | The most fundamental deliverable on any project | [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation) |
| Scope boundary | States what is and what is not included; scope creep is unapproved change | [Project Scope Management](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/best-practices-for-project-management/gather-requirements) |
| Out of exam scope | Building ROI, managing a project, change management | [Salesforce Certified Business Analyst Exam Guide](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/help?article=Salesforce-Certified-Business-Analyst-Exam-Guide) |

## Check yourself

- Why does the BA meet the sponsor before rewriting or estimating an inherited backlog?
- When is "customers wait too long" ready to scope?
- What is the difference between an initiative and a strategy?
- Why does a scope statement list exclusions as well as inclusions?

## Sources

- [Know Your Customers](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/know-your-customers)
- [Connect with Your Customers](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/connect-with-your-customers-centric)
- [Create with Your Customers](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/create-with-your-customers)
- [Get Started with Customer-Centric Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/customer-centric-discovery-strategies/get-started-customer-centric-discovery)
- [Explore Techniques for Information Discovery](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/explore-techniques--information-discovery)
- [Explore Documentation Types](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/business-analyst_skills-strategies/learn-documentation-types-importance-documentation)
- [Project Scope Management](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/best-practices-for-project-management/gather-requirements)
- [Define Project Scope and Requirements](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/ux-basics/define-project-scope-and-requirements)
- [Exploring the Salesforce BA Role](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/salesforce-business-analyst-quick-look/learn-about-the-salesforce-business-analyst-role)
- [Customer Discovery Strategies & Implementation Lifecycle](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/salesforce-business-analyst-certification-prep/learn-about-customer-discovery)
- [Salesforce Certified Business Analyst Exam Guide](https://trailhead.salesforce.com/help?article=Salesforce-Certified-Business-Analyst-Exam-Guide)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 9 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Business Analyst pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams