AQA AS Business Studies Unit 1 - Key Term Glossary
Our interactive glossary of key terms for AQA AS Business Studies Unit 1 is now available to access online…
read more...»AQA AS Business Revision Quiz Bank
Launched on 5 May 2009, the AQA AS Business Revision Quiz Bank is a great way for students to test their knowledge and understanding of all the key AQA Unit 1 and Unit 2 topics in the run-up to the AS`exams.
read more...»Exam Board resources
Exam board specific materials will be added to the relevant subject blog categories
More green shoots?
Figures for new business start ups show that there were more new businesses registered for December 2008 than a year ago, and the suggestion is that people are using redundancy payouts to fund their business ideas. Just over 21,000 were registered compared with 20,000 in December 2007.
read more...»Sources of finance for SMEs - Banks Squeezing the Life out of Businesses
A timely and hugely relevant article in the Guardian today about how Britain’s banks are squeezing the life out of the UK’s small business sector…
read more...»An entrepreneurial success story involving…indoor skydiving!
A fabulous case study of a start-up business has recently been published which describes how Paul Meyer defied the start-up odds to make a success of his indoor wind tunnel business idea.
read more...»A new source of finance for technology start-ups
An interesting short piece in the Observer this morning highlights how government can get involved in providing finance to technology-based start-ups. So called “pre-revenue start-ups” are struggling to raise finance to complete their product development and bring their technology to market. It is hoped that a new £1bn venture capital fund will help address this funding gap.
Social enterprise in the spotlight
This resource looks like it will develop into an excellent support for colleagues covering rhe rapid growth of social enterprise. Some excellent articles already, including on which examines how a social enterprise can access sources of finance when one the traditional returns to an investor (profit) is less relevant.
Sunday Times - Special Section on Social Enterprise
I’m a Small Business - Get Me Out of Here!
Over the next few months, the BBC website is tracking the fortunes of a selection of small businesses who are aiming to survive the economic downturn. No videos yet (I’m sure they’ll come), but this resource could prove to be really useful. Many thanks to Penny Brooks for recommending the link:
BBC - Small Firms Fighting the Downturn
Video case study - Tourist town reinvents its economy
A nice little case study here about how a popular tourist destination is changing its economic mix - moving away from traditional industries such as tourism and fishing to embrace the digital creative sector.
Download worksheet and video link (pdf)
Browse our collection of video case studies
Video case study - Yorkshire firms battle over trademark
Betty’s - an internationally-recognise brand - is taking on a much smaller business in a dispute over a trademark-protected product name. A great case study for the topic of “protecting a business idea”
Download worksheet and video link (pdf)
Browse our collection of video case studies
Video case study - three small businesses born in the storm
This superb three minute video clip from BBC Scotland makes for a great introduction to some of the challenges faced by start-ups and small businesses. A business troubleshooter visits three businesses, each of which is finding it hard to survive the economic downturn or raise further finance from the bank.
Download student worksheet & video link
AQA AS Business Unit 1 - Revision Crossword
Here is a revision crossword for students preparing for their AQA AS Business Unit 1 exam.
Download crossword solution (pdf)
Starter activity - Mentoring Unlimited (Budgeted Profits)
Louis, Cheryl and Dannii are getting bored. So they decide to start a business that plays to their particular strengths. But should they have asked Cheryl to put the numbers together?
read more...»Breakeven exercise - cosmetic surgery while you wait
Here is an exercise in breakeven analysis on Jordan and Peter’s new business idea that you can use with your students. It also covers market analysis (AQA AS Unit 1)...
read more...»Here’s a useful short video about a start-up business
I just spotted this excellent two-minute video clip that appeared on the BBC website a few days ago. It would make an excellent stimulus piece for business students looking for a simple example of a business start-up…
read more...»Starting a Business with a Franchise - Case Study
The Sunday Times is a wonderful resource for AS Business students looking at business start-ups, and yesterdays paper was no exception. It featured a case study about a woman who chose the franchise option as the source of an idea for her new business…
read more...»AQA AS Business Studies - 50 Key Terms Explained
Many thanks to Steve Dawson who has produced a fantastic new resource for students embarking on the new AQA AS Business courses this month….
read more...»Rapstrap becomes Dragons Den’s Biggest Success to-date
Sheer persistence over half his lifetime has finally paid off for entrepreneur Andrew Harsley, with a £36m order for his innovative environmentally-friendly cable-tie named “Rapstrap”...
read more...»Sources of business ideas - the cyclepod
Here is a good example of a small case study you could use to explain how personal experience can be the source of a successful business idea. In the case of James Steward, it was when someone stole his bike…
read more...»Insights into a good business idea from the thoughtful Dragon
Looking back through some newspaper clippings from earlier this year, I came across a really interesting interview with James Caan. In the interview, Caan makes some interesting comments which are of direct relevance for students embarking on the new AQA & Edexcel AS Business courses this week…
read more...»Dragons Den - The Deal that Floated Away from the Dragons
You may be surprised to hear that only a third (or thereabouts) of deals “agreed” on Dragons Den actually become completed investments. Sometimes the Dragons walk away after doing their due diligence into the potential investment. Occasionally the entrepreneur discovers that the business is worth much more than the investment agreed on-screen. Here is a great example of that…
read more...»Changes in demand - the Olympic impact on goggles and bikes
Students taking the new AS specifications need to know how a “sudden change” in demand can afffect a business. So here is a good example to use from the sporting events of the last three weeks…
read more...»Government support for small business - cutting red tape
The fourth in Andrew Stone’s series of Sunday Times articles on starting a business focuses on the challenges entrepreneurs face in dealing with legislation…
read more...»Start-up case study - Petmeds
An excellent case study in The Sunday Times today tells the story of how Ricky Thomas set up Petmeds after spotting an opportunity from a change in legislation…
read more...»Not enough customers to break the daily grind at Beanscene
A couple of weeks ago Beanscene, one of Scotland’s leading chains of coffee shops, was put into administration. We should find out soon whether the business has been saved by a new buyer…
read more...»Insights into the private affairs of Britain’s largest retailers
A great new series in the Telegraph profiles Britain’s largest private companies. The series starts with lots if useful information on the ten largest retailers still in private ownership (i.e. shares not available for sale on the Stock Exchange)...
read more...»Start-ups and small businesses abandon their traditional offices
An interesting article in the Times is really useful for the “location” topic in the new AS Business Studies specifications…
read more...»Start-ups & the importance of business planning
Thanks to Tim Mason for the “heads-up” on a superb new resource. A new five-week series in the Sunday Times enterprise section looks like it will be essential reading for Business teachers and students. The series kicks off with an article showcasing the role of business planning and market research in a series of start-ups…
read more...»Starting a business - have your cake and eat it
The startups guides to setting up a part-time business are a rich source of material for teachers and students. The latest in the series guides us through the potentially sticky challenge of starting a cake-making business…
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