Business Innovation: should I choose it?

What will I learn?

How will I be assessed?

Progression and companion subjects

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Will I find it hard?

Difficulty depends on your experience, interests, teaching and assessment. These are our reflection prompts, not an official difficulty rating.

• Try explaining a case, source or argument with evidence. Does this type of writing interest you?
• Look at the amount of terminology, examples and source material in the sample rather than assuming the subject is easy.

Does it scale up or down?

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Try a little of the subject

Start-up: finding and solving problems

A business brings people and resources together to deliver value to customers. A start-up is exploring a new model under uncertainty: its owners do not yet know whether enough customers want the proposed offer or whether delivery can be sustained. It may sell a product, such as a reusable lunch container; a service, such as cleaning that container; or a process improvement, such as a faster collection system. Revenue is money earned from sales, while profit depends on revenue exceeding expenses. A socially useful idea still needs a workable way to fund its activities. Ownership affects control, risk and accountability. A sole trader operates a business as an individual and normally bears personal responsibility for its debts. A partnership involves people running a business together, so roles, contributions and arrangements for disagreement should be documented. A company is a separate legal entity, with more formal administration; limited liability does not remove directors' duties or guarantee protection in every circumstance. Choose a form by applying the founders' needs, rather than assuming a company automatically makes an idea successful. Organisational structure allocates authority and work. In a small team one person may hold several roles, but responsibilities should still be clear. Operations organises production and delivery; marketing investigates customers and communicates the offer; finance monitors money; human resources organises people and safe work. These functions depend on each other. A promotion promising immediate delivery fails if operations cannot fulfil it. Customer feedback collected by marketing must therefore reach the person who changes the service. Legal responsibilities shape the design from the start. Businesses need truthful claims, safe

Original practice question: Which ownership judgement best fits a founder working alone who wants direct control?

This is ATARMAxxing’s original sample learning material. It is not an official assessment task or a prediction of your school’s workload.

Explore the resources

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