AQA AS Business (BUSS1) - Recommended Websites (2009/10)

Print Email Tweet This!Save to Favorites
Recommend on Google+

The AQA AS Business Unit 1 (BUSS1) specification places strong emphasis on the business start-up process. The start-up area is tremendously interesting and there is no shortage of excellent online resources that students and teachers can access to support their studies for free!.  Here is our recommended list - please add your suggestions using the comments box at the foot of the blog page.

GENERAL BUSINESS ADVICE FOR START-UP ENTREPRENEURS

Startup Donut
A new site launched in summer 2009 which is terrific addition to the business start-up sector.  Lively and easy-to-read content.

Startups.co.uk

A great website for anyone interested in starting a business.  It features many “how-to” style guides and a useful summary of news stories relevant to new businesses.  Also has some good case studies and transcripts of interviews with successful entrepreneurs.

Business Link

A very comprehensive government site that offers free independent business start up and business growth information, advice, training, case studies, checklists and business guides. Highly recommended.

Small Business Advice Service

A free and independent source of information and advice for entrepreneurs, owner managers and the self employed who are starting or running a business with fewer than 10 staff and based in England.

Small Business

This is a sponsored website for small business information and has feature articles on key areas of concern for SMEs as well as links to commercial and government information.

Princes Trust

Offers low interest loans, ongoing business support and specialist advice to qualifying young people.

Shell Live Wire

Helps 16-30 year olds to start and develop their own business and hosts a national competition for new business start-ups.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Useful start-up guides including types of business and raising finance.

RBS also offer a free Business Planning Software:

HSBC Business Knowledge Centre

A tremendous resource which goes the extra mile in terms of information about start-ups.  We particularly like the sector guides that provide detailed insights into starting a business in a wide variety of markets:

Also Includes an interactive online tool to help entrepreneurs write a business plan

SOURCES OF FINANCE

Guides to Start-up finance

BusinessLink - Interactive Finance Chooser

We really like this interactive guide from BusinessLink that recommends relevant sources of finance for a start-up (and other businesses) based on the responses to key questions.  E.g does the start-up need to finance the purchase of land & buildings; is the entrepreneur prepared to sell some shares in the business? You can save the answers, export to Word etc.  Highly recommended

Venture Capital and Business Angels

British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association
The professional association of venture capitalists in the UK. Includes, as you would expect, an entrepreneurs guide to private equity (venture capital).  Remember that venture capitalist rarely invest in start-up businesses.  The new AS textbooks overplay venture capital as a source of new business funding

British Business Angels Association

Some basic but useful advice for businesses looking for business angel funding

FRANCHISING

British Franchise Association

Frankly the website is a little dry, but authoritative none the less. Much better for students is:

Which Franchise

A truly comprehensive and lively insight into the world of franchising.  Packed full of case studies, videos and step-by-step guides to the franchising process.  Obviously designed to showcase the franchise business model in the best possible light, but very useful to teachers and students.

Start-ups Franchise Directory

This is a really useful search engine for franchises.  Choose the industry sector, level of investment etc and the directory provides details of the kind of franchises available.  Useful for students doing research into franchises generally, or into specific sectors

BusinessLink Guide to Franchising

A comprehensive, authoritative guide to franchising - lots of detail, but some good summaries too

LOCATING THE BUSINESS

Enterprise Nation
A fantastic, lively resource that is focused on what it takes to start-up and run a business from home. Obviously promotes the positive aspects of home-based businesses, but the enthusiasm soon rubs off on you.  Some good case studies and other resources on here for students and teachers alike.

BusinessLink - Running a Business from Home
Good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of running a home-based business.  The interactive tool for deciding whether flexible working is appropriate is also useful and relevant

blog comments powered by Disqus

BUSINESS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER
Get first news of business teaching resources, ideas and other materials from tutor2u. Over 9,400 business teachers from the UK and around the world receive our regular teacher email newsletters. Sign up for free here!

*  Your Email Address:
*  Preferred Format:	HTMLText
Full Name:
*  Country:	-- Please choose your country --United KingdomAlgeriaArgentinaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBelgiumBermudaBosniaBotswanaBrazilBruneiBulgariaCambodiaCameroonCanadaChinaCyprusCzech republicEgyptEstoniaEthiopiaFijiFranceGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGreeceHong KongHungaryIndiaIndonesiaIranIrelandIsraelItalyIvory CoastJapanJordanKenyaKuwaitLebanonLiberiaLithuaniaMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaltaMauritiusMexicoNepalNetherlandsNew ZealandNigeriaNorwayOmanPakistanPapua New GuineaPhillipinesPolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussiaSaudi ArabiaSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth KoreaSpainSri LankaSwedenSwitzerlandTanzaniaThailandTunisiaUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited StatesUruguayVietnamWest IndiesZambiaZimbabwe
Job / Position:
Postcode:
School / College:
Town / City:
AS/A2 Applied Business Board:	-- Please choose an option --AQAEdexcelOCRNot offered
AS/A2 Business Studies Board:	-- Please choose an option --AQAOCREdexcelCambridge Pre-UIBSQAWJECOtherDon't offer AS/A2 Business
BTEC First:	Offered Not Offered
BTEC National in Business:	Offered Not offered
GCSE Applied Business Board:	-- Please choose an option --AQAEdexcelOCRCCEAWJECDont Offer GCSE Applied Business
GCSE Business Board:	-- Please choose an option --AQAOCREdexcelIGCSEICAA/CCEAWJECSQAOtherDon't offer GCSE Business
*  Enter the security code shown:

Popular Topic Tags

recession, demand, prices, price, unemployment, profit, economics, costs, investment, inflation, supply, employment, trade, competition, gdp, risk, china, debt, euro, entrepreneur, capacity, production, innovation, downturn, tutor2u, revision, pay, exports, manufacturing, confidence, profits, food, incentives, banks, strategy, globalisation, aqa, expectations, oil, csr, usa, startup, retailers, housing, productivity, sterling, supermarkets, takeover, google, economies of scale, mortgage, cash flow, advertising, quiz, leadership, property, buss4, tesco, economic growth, video, efficiency, enterprise, motivation, stakeholders, apple, deflation, corporate social responsibility, ebea, market share, airlines, pricing, taxation, merger, slowdown, bank of england, acquisition, interest rates, market failure, borrowing, competitiveness, sustainability, product life cycle, credit crunch, budget deficit, aqa business studies, facebook, twitter, aqa business, bbc, nelson thornes, philip allan updates, starbucks, philip allan, monopoly, diversification, recruitment, organic growth, stocks, training, oligopoly, starter activity, shareholders, uk economy, poverty, emerging markets, dollar, government failure, retailing, management, suppliers, buss1, marketing mix, tim harford, cpi, branding, opportunity cost, breakeven, government spending, hodder education, vat, product, customer service, eu, losses, wages, evaluation, india, external growth, wealth, environment, edexcel, location, promotion, technology, information failure, business studies revision, sources of finance, franchise, aqa gce business, elasticity, regulation, spare capacity, welfare, jobs, economic cycle, marketing, zondle, strategic direction, british airways,
View all tags for the Business Blog