Making the most of Edexcel ResultsPlus
Read on to find out how to print out individual grade reports for all your students taking Edexcel Business Studies Unit 1 using the complete results spreadsheet you can download from ResultsPlus
read more...»Spotting a Business Opportunity - Eastenders and Coronation Street
Whilst watching Eastenders last night, this belting activity just popped into my head. I think its perfect for the first unit of most GCSE courses but could also be used for BUSS1. A while away I know but I thought I would blog it before I forget.
read more...»The breakeven simulator
One from the archives here which might be of interest to colleagues - particularly those new to tutor2u. This is an interactive breakeven simulator, with supporting notes and student activities..
read more...»Revision Presentation - Adding Value
This revision presentation examines the concept of adding value - the ways in which a business can achieve revenues that are higher than the cost of the inputs into the production or operations process.
read more...»Entrepreneurs and Calculated Risks
Over the summer I have been re-reading the new Smarta Business book which is packed full of practical, real-life advice on starting a business from 100 top entrepreneurs.
I came across a whole section on a topic which we were discussing with students at our revision workshops recently - the need for entrepreneurs to take “calculated risks”. The term calculated risk actually appears in the excellent Edexcel GCSE Business (Unit 1), but students don’t all find it easy to understand what it means.
read more...»Edexcel AS Business Unit 1 - Specification Resource Map
The key topics on the Edexcel AS Business Unit 1 (Developing Business Ideas) have been mapped to all the content on the tutor2u business studies blog in a new specification resource map. You can download the resource map from the link below. As new resources are added to the blog, the Edexcel Unit 1 resource map will update automatically.
Download Edexcel AS Business Studies Unit 1 (Developing Business Ideas) Specification Resource Map
Insights from an Entrepreneur - Kirsty Henshaw (Worthenshaws)
This fantastic Smarta interview features Kirsty Henshaw, one of the entrepreneurial stars of 2010, who wowed the Dragons with her frozen desert Worthenshaws Freedom. Kirsty is joining us at the Business Teacher National Conference 2011 on Thursday 30 June and it will be lovely to hear how her business has developed since this interview. Kirsty’s story is perfect as a case study for all business spec units covering the essentials of enterprise and entrepreneurship.
read more...»From crisps to vodka - a profile of a down-to-earth entrepreneur
Will Chase is the entrepreneur behind Tyrrell’s, the potato chip premium brand which he sold to venture capitalists in 2008 for £30m. Now Will Chase has turned his attention to producing premium vodka - and with great success. He really has turned into a serial entrepreneur.
The Independent has this excellent profile of Will Chase. It describes the production process of Chase vodka and outlines the impressive growth in sales revenue.
I love Chase’s approach to business planning. Speaking of the benefits of staying in control of a smaller, private business, Chase explains that allows him great freedom to experiment and innovate. A classic line with a huge dollop of truth follows;
“That’s what you can do with a small business – there’s no need for a boring strategic plan, we can go where the market takes us.”
So true…
Introducing the “austerity” entrepreneurs
It is often said that enterprise thrives in adversity. Many successful and exciting businesses are born in a downturn. This feature article in the Independent provides some terrific examples of how the entrepreneurial flame burns bright amongst people who have been let down by the traditional employment market,
The underlying theme of each of the entrepreneurial stories told in the article is that of grasping opportunities. That involves hard graft, persistence and an unwillingness to admit defeat. Students should read these stories and learn. Hopefully they will also be inspired!
Edexcel Unit 1 Business Studies - Key Term Revision Bank
Here is an interactive revision resource for students preparing for Edexcel AS Business Unit 1 (Developing New Business Ideas)
Launch key term revision bank for Edexcek AS Business Unit 1
Video case study - enterprise at the sharp end
Market trading. You’ve seen it on various tasks on The Apprentice. And the value of sales at the UK’s 1,000+ outdoor markets is estimated at over £3.6bn. So perhaps it is not surprise that increasing numbers of people are looking to make their first step into enterprise by setting up a stall in a local market. The problem is that running a viable market stall is no easy task. The typical customer at a local market is feeling the pinch and you also need to develop some sharp entrepreneurial skills to make the stall a success.
This excellent three minute video from Jenny Hill of BBC Breakfast takes us behind the scenes at a market in the Midlands to meet some of the experienced traders. Can a new training scheme help budding entrepreneurs make their fledgling businesses a success?
Insights from an Entrepreneur - Fraser Doherty (SuperJam)
A terrific interview with Fraser Doherty here. Fraser has become well known not just for his superb Superjam product, but also for his community activities (the tea parties being one example) and his enthusiasm for meeting teachers and students as a guest visitor to schools. The video is well worth showing as part of AQA (GCSE Unit 1 & BUSS1) and Edexcel (GCSE Unit 1).
read more...»Business structure in the UK - the rise of micro companies
Here’s a term that ought to find itself into the next editions of the traditional business studies textbooks - micro-companies. Of course, it won’t (maybe in 2020) but it should. Because in the last five years there has been an increase of over 250,000 in their number in Britain.
read more...»Lesson Worksheet - Franchises
Here is a lesson worksheet that enables you to test student’s understanding of the basics of franchises as a form of business organisation.
Download lesson worksheet on franchises
Lesson Worksheet - Enterprise & Entrepreneurs
This new lesson worksheet allows students to test their understanding of the role of the entrepreneur.
Download lesson worksheet on enterprise & entrepreneurs
Essential business reading for the summer!
Rachel Bridge (Enterprise Editor of the Sunday Times) has long been regarded as one of the UK’s best writers on business & enterprise. Her weekly columns (now sadly hidden behind Rupert’s paywall) provide detailed and realistic insights into the challenges and frustrations, as well as the upsides, of starting and growing a business.
However, Rachel’s new book - How to make a Million Before Lunch - has really raised the bar in terms of providing a blueprint for budding entrepreneurs. It is perhaps the most insightful and useful book yet written on how to start and build a business. It should be compulsory reading not only for entrepreneurs, but also for everyone concerned with teaching and studying business startups.
read more...»The 40 Schoolboy Errors Made by Startups
This article is 100% gold dust for teachers and students covering the business startup process (AQA BUSS1 in particular)...
read more...»Some good reasons why startup business plans are a waste of time
I’m not a big fan of business plans. Ok, the authors of GCSE & A`Level textbooks all fall for the myth that writing a business plan is a compulsory part of setting up and then running a small business.
But there are thousands of successful entrepreneurs out there for whom writing a business plan would simply get in the way of building a good business.
So its nice to come across a well-argued alternative perspective on start-up business plans - here.
At tutor2u we’ve never produced a business plan - and I can’t imagine a scenario where we would need one, even if we were trying to raise finance or sell a stake. Life is simply too short, and the business world too changeable, to bother! Market research, competitor analysis, cash flow forecasts & financial projections - fine (in fact vital). But putting it all together into a formal business plan - a total waste of time.
Primary v Secondary Market Research for a Startup
A very useful article on Startup Donut examines the differences between primary and secondary market research for a start-up. Ideal for everyone preparing for BUSS1 and similar exams in Jan + great for Edexcel & AQA GCSE Unit 1. Well worth a read - here
How small businesses can compete - attack is the best form of defence
I like this article, published today on the excellent SMEWeb…
read more...»Emerging markets drive demand for oil
A neat graphic on The Economist website this week helps illustrate the rapid economic growth of emerging markets such as India & China. It breaks down the historical demand for oil from the key economies, highlighting the changes between 1980 and the latest forecasts for 2030 by the International Energy Agency. The oil market is a good example to use when illustrating the dynamics of changing supply and demand on market prices. And there is a good discussion to have with students about why an emerging economy such as China, Malaysia or India would experience such a significant increase in demand for oil (rapid industrialisation; wider car ownership etc)
Innovation & Protecting a Business Idea - Classroom Video
A huge hat tip to Angela Aldridge for suggesting this terrific short video clip on the process of invention and innovation at Dyson. This has to be one of the most useful videos you’ll ever have as a lesson starter on product innovation….
read more...»Edibility and Danger - An Exercise in Market Mapping
Here is a left-field approach to illustrating the concept of perceptual mapping (Edexcel call it Market Mapping)...
read more...»Icing on the cake for entrepreneurs
This niche market is growing at 50% per year and is attracting dozens of business start-ups in the UK…
read more...»Third Age Entrepreneurs drive start-up successes
A research report from Nesta has highlighted the importance of older people in enterprise activity in the UK. Entrepreneurs aged 50-65 years created 27 per cent of successful start up companies in the UK between 2001 and 2005, according to the research which has just been released (somewhat late?).
read more...»Exam Board resources
Exam board specific materials will be added to the relevant subject blog categories
Market mapping - or not market mapping?
You sometimes come across an example of how a business term or concept can be called something else - and then that term develops its own, erroneous credibility. “Market mapping” seems to be a good case in point…
read more...»Leadership Styles of Entrepreneurs
If an entrepreneur’s leadership style could be likened to a dog, which dog should it be. If the choice is between a Rotweiller, Lassie or Snoopy, which one works best for a start-up? This useful article in Real Business outlines the three main types of entrepreneurial leadership style - a useful stimulus piece for Unit 1.
Edexcel AS Unit 1 - Question 7.. Fair or unfair
Brian Ellis invites you to contact him with your views on Question 7 in the first Edexcel AS Business Unit 1 paper…
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...»
