Meet the agony aunt service for small businesses that is ideal for AS business students

Q. I am a self-employed designer and my business is getting very busy. Are there any rules to help me decide when to take on my first employee?  The answer is…

Think carefully about employing your first employee.  What do you really need doing?  Can the workload be outsourced.  Do you have enough work for the new person to perform?

That’s not my answer, but in fact the response of a superb monthly resource in the Independent newspaper - Adventures in Micro-Businesss.  Each month Professor Russell Smith answers questions posed by small business entrepreneurs. 

Questions such as:

Q. I would like to start a business but have no sales experience. Where can I find out more about how best to market my proposed business services and products?

Q. After several good years my business is starting to struggle. What are the most important things that I should do in order to turn this around?

Fantastic content for any business studies teacher - particularly if you are putting resources together for the new AS units focusing on small businesses (Edexcel & AQA).

You could pose a couple of questions to the students and ask them to take the role of agony aunt (or whatever the business equivalent of that role is).  The compare the student answers with that of the “expert”.

Well worth bookmarking this series.

AQA AS Business (BUSS2) - Key Term A to Z Glossary [30 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Mission, Aims, Objectives and Stakeholders [7 Apr 2012]
Edexcel closes the gap on AQA for GCSE Business as BTEC First powers ahead [18 Dec 2011]
BUSS2 May 2011 - Ofqual assurance on exam results [8 Aug 2011]
The scandal of AQA BUSS2 - Update again, a response from AQA [9 Jun 2011]
What makes Ferguson great? [27 May 2011]
Your suggestions for new Business Studies resources & training [9 May 2011]
Edexcel AS Business Unit 1 - Specification Resource Map [23 Apr 2011]
AQA AS Business (BUSS2) - Specification Resource Map [22 Apr 2011]
Developing Exam Skills - BUSS2 [19 Apr 2011]
AQA unit 4 - some really good evidence here [29 Mar 2011]
The Year of Corporate Philanthropy [31 Jan 2011]
Edexcel Unit 1 Business Studies - Key Term Revision Bank [2 Dec 2010]
Profiting from exams [2 Nov 2010]
Insights from an Entrepreneur - Fraser Doherty (SuperJam) [10 Oct 2010]
Starter Activity - AQA GCSE Unit 2, Growing as a Business [27 Jul 2010]
Lesson Activity - Market Research Cloze Exercise (1) [13 Jul 2010]
Gearing Up for BUSS4 [6 Jun 2010]
Girl Power [12 Apr 2010]
Corus chief calls for more government funds for the economy [8 Apr 2010]
How firms can make the most of the recovery [20 Mar 2010]
Motivation and management at John Lewis [11 Mar 2010]
Opportunities for Poundland in the recession [1 Feb 2010]
Flexible working thrives in the recession [1 Feb 2010]
Retrenchment and capacity cutting at Blacks Leisure - and then expansion again? [12 Jan 2010]
AQA AS Business (BUSS1) - Feedback from the Examiners [4 Jan 2010]
Edexcel GCSE Business Unit 1 Revision Quiz [17 Oct 2009]
Teaching Activity on Startups - Mini Briefs [7 Oct 2009]
BTEC First & National in Business - Annual Conference for 2010 [23 Sep 2009]
Research Start-Ups! Team Challenge [4 Sep 2009]
AQA AS Business (BUSS1) - Recommended Websites (2009/10) [27 Aug 2009]
Edexcel A2 Business Unit 4a - Brompton Bicycles [26 Aug 2009]
AQA A2 Business (BUSS3) - Introduction to BUSS3 [30 May 2009]
Why businesses fail - an interview with Pepita Diamand [24 May 2009]
BA posts a record loss [22 May 2009]
AQA AS Business Unit 1 - Possible Evaluation Questions [17 May 2009]
AQA AS BUSS2 - Aproaching Evaluation [17 May 2009]
AQA AS Business (Managing a Business) - Revision Checklist [15 May 2009]
AQA AS Business Unit 1 (Planning & Financing a Business) Key Term Sheet Revision [13 May 2009]
Starbucks Strategy Video - Workshop Material [30 Apr 2009]
AQA AS Business Revision Quiz Bank [28 Apr 2009]
Small businesses in the middle of the crunch - insights for students [22 Apr 2009]
Customers fume about the phoenix from the Wrapit flames [26 Mar 2009]
AQA GCSE (A) Virgin Group - Revision Quiz [11 Mar 2009]
Watch out - the BTECs are coming! [5 Mar 2009]
Venture capitalists leave Grasshopper Porridge hopping mad [15 Feb 2009]
Video case study - Living Salads [9 Feb 2009]
Entrepreneur case study - Clippykit [8 Feb 2009]
AQA Business Studies - Clarification About the Credit Crunch [30 Jan 2009]
Why small firms suffer from unavailable bank loans [17 Jan 2009]
Email Resource Newsletters for the New GCSE Business Specifications [13 Jan 2009]
Edexcel GCE Business Studies - Email Resource Newsletter [10 Jan 2009]
Sources of finance for SMEs - Banks Squeezing the Life out of Businesses [3 Jan 2009]
Zavvi joins the casualty list [25 Dec 2008]
An entrepreneurial success story involving…indoor skydiving! [22 Dec 2008]
Teaching cash flow management with Cash Flow Clue-Doh! [19 Dec 2008]
AQA AS Business Unit 1 - Revision Crossword [19 Oct 2008]
Breakeven exercise - cosmetic surgery while you wait [23 Sep 2008]
Starting a Business with a Franchise - Case Study [22 Sep 2008]
Start-up case Study: Firefly Tonics [19 Sep 2008]
AQA AS Business Studies - 50 Key Terms Explained [19 Sep 2008]
Sources of business ideas - the cyclepod [10 Sep 2008]
Insights into a good business idea from the thoughtful Dragon [1 Sep 2008]
Working with suppliers - Matalan applies the squeeze [29 Aug 2008]
Start-up case study - Petmeds [24 Aug 2008]
How much would you pay for a fish & chip shop? [9 Aug 2008]
Start-ups & the importance of business planning [7 Aug 2008]
Did smoke signals lead to the wrong investment decision? [2 Aug 2008]
First mover advantage could prove fruitful [30 Jul 2008]
Characteristics of an entrepreneur - insights from Luke Johnson [27 Jul 2008]
When the partnership structure doesnt work well for a start-up [26 Jul 2008]
New textbooks for AQA AS Business Studies [8 Jul 2008]
BTEC First versus GCSE Business [26 Jun 2008]
Teaching applications of tutor2u’s Start-up Mini Briefs [4 Jun 2008]
Starting Your own Business - David Lester [30 May 2008]
Edexcel AS Business Studies - IKEA case Study [7 Apr 2008]

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