Investigating the Business Environment
Scenario
You have decided that you would like to start a business. You need to secure funding for your business idea in order to launch it, so you have organised a presentation for a group of potential investors. If they think that you have identified a business opportunity they would like to invest in, they will invite you to present your business plan at a later date.
You will research local businesses to understand the local business market and to see whether there is a gap in the market that your new business could fill. In order to do this, you will need to consider both current trends and the current business environment, and their impact on businesses.
You will need to produce a presentation summarising the local business environment and a leaflet assessing the factors that could affect the success of your start-up idea. Remember that you need to keep a list of your sources of information.
Task 1
Factors and trends affecting business
The potential investors want to know how the business environment and current trends are likely to affect your start-up business's chances of success. You will need to research and collect information on the local and national factors which affect the business environment.
Your presentation should include information on the likely effect of the following factors on a start-up business:
• local factors (e.g. competitors)
• national factors (e.g. political factors).
You will need to include a section in the leaflet which explains how changes in the current business environment may impact on a start-up business.
Your leaflet should inform your audience about current trends and how they affect start-up businesses. Research and comment on your sources of information for each of the following:
• social trends
• technology trends
• ethical trends
• environmental trends.
Use examples of each trend to explain how these will impact on your start-up business.
To support your argument, you need to demonstrate how these trends have affected another start-up business. Select a business from your area that is comparable to your business idea in terms of sector and size. Then select two trends from the list above and compare their impact on the existing start-up business you have selected. To do this, you will need to identify the similarities and the differences between the impacts of these trends on the existing start-up business . This can be presented in table format.
• The investors want to know whether your business idea is likely to succeed. Summarise your leaflet with an assessment of the current risks, opportunities and trends in the business environment that will affect your business idea. You should say how these factors in the business environment will affect your business. You will need to back this up with evidence from your research and show that you have used trustworthy and relevant sources of information.
Evidence you must produce for this task
• Leaflet
• Presentation slides
• Handouts
Sources of information
Textbooks
Bentley, P., Carysforth, C., Chandler-Corris, L., Glencross, K. and Nield, M. (2013), BTEC First Business Student Book, Harlow: Pearson, 978-1-44690-136-6.
Websites
www.entrepreneursforum.net
The North East Entrepreneurs' Forum: case studies and resources focusing on entrepreneurs in the north-east.
www.data.gov.uk
The government's open data site.
Newspapers and journals
Thurrock Gazette (Various weeks).