GCSE Business Studies

Unit 1Introduction to Small Businesses

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1.2 Showing Enterprise

Lesson objectives and outcomes

• To understand how mind maps can be used by entrepreneurs to spot opportunities.

• To be able to identify key questions that entrepreneurs ask

All students will create a mind map of their own strengths and weaknessesMost students will ask valid questions to improve business knowledgeSome students will justify why some questions are more important than othersGC

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Entrepreneur recap

• Let’s share some of your poems/rhymes that you created last lesson.

• Have any helped you remember how to spell the word Entrepreneur?

Mind Maps

• What is a mind map?• In which situations have you found a mind

map useful?

Mind Maps

Were developed by Tony Buzan

Are designed to work in the same way as the brain and use…

Words ImagesLogic

Colour

Special Awareness

They are not designed to be neat!

They are unique to every person

Since everybody thinks in a different way!

They are useful for…

Giving an overview of a large topic area (E.g

Revision!!!)

Encouraging problem solving

Remembering things

Tips to creating an effective mind map

1. Start with a coloured image or box in the centre of your sheet of paper.

2. Use plenty of images throughout your Mind Map.

3. Titles should be printed in capital letters.4. Use colours as they help memory recall and

stimulate creativity.5. Be as spontaneous as possible. Don’t pause or

think about it, just explode on to the paper.

Task 1:

• Create a mind map in your booklets to show your strengths and weaknesses.

• You should start with your name in the centre of the page.

• Think outside the box – don’t just include what you’re good or bad at in school. What attributes do you have that make you successful, and what holds you back?

Asking Questions• When you were little you will

have asked lots of questions so you could understand the world better.– Why is the sky blue?– What if I don’t eat my

vegetables?– When is granddad coming to

visit?• When coming up with new

business ideas, an entrepreneur needs to ask a lot of questions in order to fully explore the business opportunity

Why?

Why Not?

What?

How?

Where?

When?

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Why not cross the road?How did the chicken cross the road?Where was the road? Where was the chicken in relation to the road?When did this take place?What did the chicken do once he had crossed the road?

In order to answer this question we may need to ask some more questions

Task 2:

• Using the mind map questions in your booklet explore all the questions you may need to ask when starting up a new enterprise.

• It will help to have a new business idea in your head– A new invention?– A shop or service?

Task 3: Practice Exam Question

Which do you think are the two most important questions that Ling Tan should be asking herself? Justify your answer. (6)

Marking Criteria

Level 3 5–6

A choice will be made with a clearly developed justification. For example ‘Asking if there is a market for a product is vital for any new business. Without a market that will buy a product the product is highly unlikely to be successful. The product must meet the needs of the customers in this market or be changed to meet them. Finance is also vital. Many new businesses are profitable but fail because of cash flow. One of the main reasons for this is lack of sufficient start-up funds’.

Homework

• Come up with an original business idea (it can be ANYTHING)

• Fill in each box answering Why, What, Where, How, and Why Not questions which relate to your idea.

• The more detail the better!