Summary
Why is this important?
For a business to be successful it needs to have a plan of how it will get there. To achieve success a business needs resources including money, skills, and tools (for example, an effective IT system). Understanding the importance of planning how a business will get the resources it needs and how it will use them effectively is critical to achieving business goals.
Who might do this?
You might do this if you want to:
- develop the abilities that will help when setting up a business in the future;
- want to understand how planning can help businesses succeed.
This standard is intended for use in schools and similar settings. It is anticipated that learning and development programmes that are consistent with the standard will have practical activities that mirror or practice aspects of business enterprise, use case studies and other examples of business enterprise and bring people into contact with successful entrepreneurs. To reflect the fact that we do not expect people working to these standards to be directly engaged in preparing, starting or running a real business we have placed the term business in italics at appropriate places to indicate that we have in mind a simulated or practice activity.
What it involves?
Planning for success involves:
- deciding the goals of a business; and
- effectively sourcing and utilising resources.
These Business Enterprise units may be relevant when you are setting up or developing a business
| BD1 | Check the likely success of a business idea |
| BD3 | Plan where your business is going |
| LG1 | Choose a legal format that suits your business |
| LG2 | Keep up to date with current legislation affecting your business |
What you need to do
- Decide what a business should look to achieve and what would count as success.
- Decide what a business needs to do to reach its goals.
- Identify the resources needed for a business.
- Plan how to secure the resources needed.
- Make best use of your own time and all other resources.
What you need to know and understand
- Appreciate the different goals businesses can have and how this influences what they do.
- The value of planning and the limitations of plans.
- The nature of legal and regulatory requirements real businesses have to work within.
- How IT and organised ways of working can aid the efficiency and effectiveness of a business.