Business Start Up Course

Distance Learning Support

As a valued student of Start Learning you will have the facility to use our personal tutor service.  At Start Learning we have a friendly team of highly qualified and experienced tutors.  A tutor will be allocated to our student for 12 months, starting from when study materials are received.  The tutors are contacted via email and are responsible for marking assignments and guiding you through the course to ensure you are ready for your examinations.

Entry Requirements

There are no entry requirements for this course. At Start Learning we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and study further, so we try to keep our entry requirements to a minimum.

Recommended Hours of Study

Students will receive tutor support for 12 months. The pace of study is up to the student. 

Course Contents

 · Have you the appropriate skills?

· Skills audit

· Have you the entrepreneurial

· spirit?

· Your attitude

· Your motivation

· Your goals

· Generating ideas

· How businesses are born

· Using tools to create ideas

· Your unique product

· proposition

· Developing your idea further

· What business are you entering?

· What are you selling?

· Who are your customers?

· Why will people buy your

· product?

· What makes your business

· unique?

· What is the interest?

· Will it work?

· Getting opinions

· Buying into a business

Unit 2

 

Finding business ideas

 

Unit 1

 

Self-employment: to be or not to be?

 

· Will the idea work?

· What is the business idea

· exactly?

· How will you produce the

· product/give the service

· How will you resource the

· business

· How will you market the

· product/service?

· How will you organise the

· business?

· From conception to birth

· Start-up stages

· The risks and minimising them

· Start-up needs

· Keeping records

· Networking

· Diary management

Unit 3

 

Checking out your idea

 

Unit 4

 

From idea to business

 

· Why is a business plan

· necessary?

· What should be in a business

· plan?

· The business description

· Personal information

· Aims and objectives

· Market information

· Organisation of the business

· Financial information

· Investment requirements

· Putting the plan together

· Using the plan for monitoring

· and control

· Rising costs

· Cashflow difficulties

Unit 5

 

The business plan

 

Business Start-up

 

Course contents

 

· How to finance a business

· Assessing your initial financial

· needs

· Funding yourself vs. external

· funding

· Start-up costs

· Managing cashflow

· Bridging the gap

· Reducing the gap

· Types of funding available

· Seeking potential investors or

· lenders

· Why do people invest?

· Identifying the most

· appropriate investor

· Action planning

· Monitoring performance and

· forecasting future needs

· Types of business structure

· Sole trader

· Partnership

· Limited company

· Co-operative

· Choosing your business structure

· Action planning

· Putting your business structure

· in place

Unit 6

 

Obtaining finance

 

Unit 7

 

The business structure

 

· Before launching your business

· Can you protect your business

· idea?

· Patents

· To register or not to register

· Registered designs

· Copyright

· Trade and service marks

· Choosing the most appropriate

· form of protection

· Getting started – the law

· The structure of your business

· Sole trader or partnership

· Choosing a business name

· Will you need a licence?

· Consumer credit

· Data protection

· Financial services

· What insurance cover will you

· need?

· Vehicle insurance

· Employer’s liability insurance

· Other forms of insurance

· What if you wish to employ

· people?

· Action planning

Unit 8

 

Legal requirements

 

· Basic decisions

· What type of premises?

· What is a suitable location?

· What premises are available?

· The options

· Taking on premises

· Buying or leasing premises?

· Planning permission

· Setting up in premises

· Before you start

· The importance of pricing

· Costs, volume and profits (CVP)

· Profit target

· Fixed, variable and total costs

· Profit, loss and break-even

· Making decisions using CVP

· analysis

· Pricing

· Variable mark-up

· Premium pricing

· Adjusting the price

· Action planning

· Manufacturers

· Retailers or wholesalers

· Service businesses

· The business plan

Unit 9

 

Staff, location and premises

 

Unit 10

 

Business Start-up

 

Course contents

 

· Meeting customers’ needs

· Market research

· Features and benefits

· Promotion and distribution

· Promotion

· Distribution

· The importance of image

· The name of the business

· Design as image

· Planning your marketing effort

· Using your image

· Developing a marketing plan

· Selling

· Developing your selling skills

· Managing quality

· Monitoring marketing, sales and

· quality

· The need for supplies

· ‘Inputs’ and ‘outputs’

· Building relationships with

· suppliers

· Effective buying

· The buying process

· Working out what you need

· How much and how often

· should you buy?

· Finding and choosing suppliers

· Payment to suppliers

· Buying and the business plan

· The cashflow forecast

· Action planning

Unit 11

 

Marketing and selling

Unit 12

 

Finding suppliers

 

· Basic decisions

· Your network of contacts

· Professional advice/assistance

· Staff or contractors?

· Managing contractors

· Employing your own staff

· Recruitment options

· Finding candidates

· Interviewing and selection

· Staff induction and

· development

· Employment law

· Investors in People

Unit 13

 

Building your team

 

· Customer service

· What will be special about your

· customer service?

· Additional features of customer

· service

· Customer service quality

· Business quality

· Where might you expect

· problems with business

· quality?

· Dealing with business quality

· problems

· Monitoring customer service

· and business quality

· Customer complaints

· Improving customer service and

· business quality

· Quality accreditation

· Costs of customer service and

· business quality

 

Qualifications

Upon successful completion of the course, learners will receive a Start Learning Diploma. This course does not lead to a formal qualification. However, it will provide you with excellent knowledge for  an NVQ Owner Management qualification.

Language of Course

English

Assessment

This course is marked through a process of continuous assessment guided by your tutor. This means that your qualification will be awarded according to your performance on assessments rather than by taking an examination.