OCR Cambridge National inBusiness and

Enterprise(Level 1 / 2)

R061Introduction to Business

Introduction

Businesses are affected by their competition, social factors and how well they perform as well as by the economy and society they are a part of.

Businesses come in all shapes and sizes. Each one will have its own objectives, type of ownership and rate of success.

Ownership

Each type has its own characteristics as well as its own benefits and drawbacks.

There are different types of business ownership:

•Sole trader

•Partnership

•Private Limited Company

•Public Limited Company

Objectives

Every successful business has a set of objectives. They will have a plan and a set of

goals to get them where they want to be.

Success or failure can depend on the business objectives. It is often true

that as things change businesses need to alter

their objectives in order to remain successful.

Key Concepts

ProductionMaking, testing and ensuring the quality

of the product.

Human ResourcesAll companies need to hire the right

people, offer training and sometimes fire them!

The key concepts in:

FinanceHandling the cash. Raising finance,

breaking even or making a profit are all part of the finance dept.

MarketingThe 4 Ps. Product, Price, Promotion and

Place.

Economic FactorsThe state of the economy affects day-to-day business as we go through times of plenty and times of hardship.

When times are good customers spend their money but when times are hard they

cut back.

This obviously affects the success or failure of a business and sometimes even the largest of organisations go under.

Quality Control

A successful company will make sure the

service and products they sell go through

quality control to achieve this.

If a business gets a bad reputation, for how

long do you think customers will continue

to buy its products?

It is very important that the services or products a business sells have been

checked to ensure they are fit for purpose. Customers want value for

money and reliability.

TechnologyThe internet has seen the rise of large internet businesses such as Amazon as well as many small companies and

sole traders using the web to easily sell their services to the

public.

In the modern world it is important that businesses

make good use of technology to cut down on costs and

promote their services and products.

You will learn…

What helps to make a business

successful.

Why businesses

need objectives.

The different types of

business and why they are

not all the same.

About methods of raising

finance and about the

importance of cash flow.

How technology and environmental concerns affect

modern businesses

About pay, working

conditions and performance management.

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