Year 09 Business

Curriculum:

Click to Expand Autumn Content:

Key Topic:

Content:

The Dynamic Nature of Business

Risk and Reward

The Role of Business Enterprise

Customer Needs

Market Research

Market Segmentation

The Competitive Environment

Why new business ideas come about:

Changes in technology
Changes in what consumers want
Products and services becoming obsolete

How new business ideas come about:

Original ideas
Adapting existing products/services/ideas

The impact of risk and reward on business activity:

Risk: business failure, financial loss, lack of security
Reward: business success, profit, independence

The role of business enterprise and the purpose of business activity:

To produce goods or services
To meet customer needs
To add value: convenience, branding, quality, design, unique selling points

The role of entrepreneurship:

An entrepreneur: organises resources, makes business decisions, takes risks

Identifying and understanding customer needs:

What customer needs are: price, quality, choice, convenience
The importance of identifying and understanding customers: generating sales, business survival

The purpose of market research:

To identify and understand customer needs
To identify gaps in the market
To reduce risk
To inform business decisions

Methods of market research:

Primary research: survey, questionnaire, focus group, observation
Secondary research: internet, market reports, government reports
The use of qualitative and quantitative market research data

The use of data in market research:

Qualitative and quantitative data
The role of social media in collecting market research data
The importance of the reliability of market research data

How businesses use market segmentation to target customers:

Identifying market segments: location, demographics, lifestyle, income, age
Market mapping to identify a gap in the market and the competition

Understanding the competitive environment:

Strengths and weaknesses of competitors based on: price, quality, location, product range and customer service
The impact of competition on business decision making

Click to Expand Spring Content:

Key Topic:

Content:

Business Aims and Objectives

Business Revenues, Costs and Profits

Cash and Cash-Flow

Sources of Business Finance

What business aims and business objectives are
Business aims and objectives when starting up:

Financial aims and objectives: survival, profit, sales, market share, financial securityy
Non-financial aims and objectives: social objectives, personal satisfaction, challenge, independence and control

Why business aims and objectives differ between businesses

The concept and calculation of:

Revenue
Fixed and variable costs
Total costs
Profit and loss
Interest
Break even level of output
Margin of safety

Interpretation of break even diagrams:

The impact of changes in revenue and costs
Break even level of output
Margin of safety
Profit and loss

The importance of cash to a business:

To pay suppliers, overheads and employees
To prevent business failure (insolvency)
The difference between cash and profit

Calculation and interpretation of cash-flow forecasts:

Cash inflows
Cash outflows
Net cash flow
Opening and closing balances

Sources of finance for a start-up or established small business:

Short-term sources: overdraft and trade credit
Long-term sources: personal savings, venture capital, share capital, loans, retained profit and crowd funding

Click to Expand Summer Content:

Key Topic:

Content:

The Options For Start-up and Small Businesses

Business Location

The concept of limited liability:

Limited and unlimited liability
The implications for the business owner(s) of limited and unlimited liability

The types of business ownership for start-ups:

Sole trader, partnership, private limited company
The advantages and disadvantages of each type of business ownership

The option of starting up and running a franchise operation:

The advantages and disadvantages of franchising

Factors influencing business location:

Proximity to: market, labour, materials and competitors
Nature of the business activity
The impact of the Internet on location decisions: e-commerce and/or fixed premises