IGCSE & A LEVELS GUIDE

Chapter 3 - Size of Business Learning Objective: Small & Family Businesses (Ch. 3.2) Mongolia is a great place for us to discuss small businesses: look around and see the amount of them in our daily lives! What constitutes a small business, though? It depends on where you live, but here is an example: Not only small businesses are heavily present in our daily lives but they are also of extreme importance to countries, customers, and the economy in general. Jobs: although smal

Chapter 3 - Enterprise, Business Growth, and Size Learning Objectives: To understand the importance of startups to economies We all heard that trendy word... Start-ups: A business start-up is a newly formed business. They usually start small but might grow bigger. Start-ups have a great importance in a country's economy and therefore governments support business start-ups in different ways: Low interest loans; Grants (e.g. lower taxation or other financial incentives); Rent-f

Lesson Objective: The Meaning of 'An Economy' (2.1) What do you understand by the word 'economy'? What is an 'economy'? An economy is the measure of all the resources and wealth in a country - everything produced and purchased within a country. An economy is the place where business activity happen. An economy is made of businesses in different sectors (the sectors of an economy): The primary sector of an economy is based on activities that extract raw materials from nature (

You should now be clear that Strategic Analysis is the process of conducting research into the business environment within which an organization operates, and into the organization itself, to help form future strategies. One step ahead, after acquiring a clear view of the business and its environment, is Strategic Choice: Identifying strategic options and choosing between them; Good strategic options have the following features: - They create a competitive advantage to the bu

Chapter 3- Size of Business Learning Objective: Looking at Business Size - The Right Way? (Ch. 3.1) What do you call a small business? What would you consider to be a medium-sized business? How about a large business? One of the simplest ways to measure and compare business size is by the Number of Employees each business has - is that accurate though? Have a look at this quick video! AUDI employs very few people in their car-manufacturing plant. Does it mean this is a small

Chapter 22 - Cash Flow Forecasting and Working Capital Class Objective: To understand the difference between cash and profit Cash is important to business. Fact! Businesses need cash to pay wages, suppliers, utilities, etc... Cash Flow Management, therefore, is a key element of business management. It is the process of making sure that there is enough cash within the company for paying its debts. Think about it... Can a profitable business run out of cash? Can an unprofitable

Chapter 2 - Business Structure Learning Objective: Forms of Business Organization (Ch. 2.2) Before diving in to the different forms of businesses organization we have out there we need to have it clear that there are many legal formalities required by governments to protect investors and lenders: Memorandum of Association: this is where the amount of share capital a company has will be describe and so investors will know the relative importance of a single share. This documen

As we all know there are three main stages on formulating a Corporate Strategy. We will now start focusing on the first one - Strategic Analysis: Strategic Analysis is the process of conducting research into the business environment within which an organization operates, and into the organization itself, to help form future strategies. Strategic Analysis answers three big questions: Where is the business now? How might the business be affected by what is happening or likely t

Chapter 1.2 - Business Activity Learning Objective: Business Activity: Specialization in Providing Goods & Services (1.2) Do you know one thing every business has in common? They all try to add as much value as possible to their products and services! Adding value is increasing the difference between the cost of producing a good/service and the price of selling. Businesses can add value in different ways: 1. The most common way of adding value is through production: turning r

Chapter 2 - Economic Sectors Learning Objective: Structuring an Economy The economy of a country is made of different sectors of its economy: The balance of these sectors in the economies of different countries varies substantially. It depends on the level of industrialization in each country: We now completely understand the different sectors of an economy: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Companies within these different sectors can either be private or public: Most econo

Chapter 8.1 - Business Strategy Learning Objective: Strategizing (8.1) Strategy: long-term decisions that will push the business towards its SMART objectives: Strategic decisions include products, markets, pricing; Such decisions are made by senior managers/directors; Strategy provides integration, direction, and focus. There are four main influences on the formulation of a Corporate Strategy: Availability of Resources Resources are scarce/limited; A good Corporate Strategy m

Chapter 6 - External Influences on Business Activity Learning Objective: 6.1 External Influences on Business Activity It's no news that the only constant is change. Businesses operate in dynamic environments compromised of laws, political and social factors, economic conditions, level of technology, competitors and suppliers, international trade links, and environmental pressures. Decision-making is closely dependent on such external forces which, therefore, need to be thorou

Chapter 1.1 - Business Activity Learning Objective: The Purpose of Businesses (1.1) What do you think is the purpose of businesses? Business are there to provide us (customers) with goods and services to meet our needs and wants! Wait, but what are needs and wants? Let's understand this concept better: The business activity, therefore, is the process of producing goods and services to satisfy consumer demands! Another very important concept for us to learn today is the so cal

Learning Objective: Introduction to Enterprise Chapter 1: Enterprise Value creation is the sole main purpose of a business. By creating value businesses can then charge more for their products and services and consequentially be profitable. To create value businesses go through various stage of business activity: They identify customers' needs to be fulfilled so that they can meet that demand; Resources are purchased (a.k.a. factors of production) so that products and service

Chapter 21 - Business Finance: Needs and Sources Class Objective: To understand the factors impacting sources of financing available What financing method is the best? Which one should a business pick? There are many factors influencing the choice of financing to a business: 1. The size and legal form of the business: Only PLC can issue shares; Small businesses have a hard time getting loans (and high interest). 2. The amount required: Bank loans have a limit depending on the

Chapter 19 - Business Finance: Needs and Sources Learning Objective: The Most Common External Sources of Finance (19.2) We shall now discuss external sources of finance: Overdraft: A 'type of short-term loan'; It allows the customer/business to keep on paying its bills even when the account reaches zero; It acts as an emergency; The limit is pre-agreed and therefore it has quick access. It carries interest. Trade Credit: The payment terms offered by suppliers to the business

Chapter 21.1 - Business Finance Learning Objective: Sources of Finance (19.1) Businesses need financing... It's obvious. Every business needs financing. Businesses need startup capital: This is the capital needed by an entrepreneur when starting a business. Businesses need finance to purchase so called non-current (a.k.a. fixed) assets: These are long-term assets (>12 months) such as buildings, machines, technology, and vehicles. Such investments are called capital expenditur