SGSE

Year 09 Business Studies

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
Subject Overview:

Students in Year 9 have 3 Business Studies lessons each week.

In Year 9, students have 1 piece of homework set every week.

Assessments:

Students sit an assessment at the end of each project.

Summative assessment will take place at points throughout the year.

Explore More:
Year 10
Year 11
BTEC
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