Business Opportunitys?

[Simpson]

Basically I have a week to decide wether I do CW for my Business Studies Unit 5 CW or a test (which i don't fancy doing)

- I can either do a start up company (which i have no clue what i could do, internet company selling???? something? Warehouse and website?)

- Or analye expansion or diversification for a current business. (but i don't know anyone with a business to get their accounts / figures so so don't think i could do it? Unless someone wants to share their accounts with me! For ex. wether Tarty should expand into the moutain bike market after opperating in a niche market etc.)

Anyone got any ideas / exp?

[MattB]

Something like an ebay store would work I would have thought.

Have you just gotta sell 1 product or?

[Papa Manual]

You can get accounts (depending on the type of company) from Companies House for a small fee. If I were you I would concentrate on the expansion of an existing business as the current climate would make it quite hard to write a business plan for a brand new one.

Maybe the expansion of something niche like a trials or mountain bike company into a new jurisdiction would be a good idea because you could include loads of shit like market research, currency movements, tax advantages/disadvantages, whether or not you set it up as a branch or incorporate a new company etc.

[Simpson]

You can get accounts (depending on the type of company) from Companies House for a small fee. If I were you I would concentrate on the expansion of an existing business as the current climate would make it quite hard to write a business plan for a brand new one.

Maybe something niche like trials would be a good idea because you could include loads of shit like market research, currency movements, tax advantages/disadvantages, whether or not you set it up as a branch or incorporate a new company etc.

Its needs to be something that I'm interested in. I think starting up a business in the curret economic climate could be good, like something that goes against the trend, ie. bike shops having record sales because people are ditching cars or something along those lines! Yea trials would be a fun business to try to set up i suppose, but realistically the market is already saturated, but I guess that wouldn't matter to anyone looking at a A-level case study would it? Because they wouldn't know? Make up some market reasearch saying X ammount of people are unsatisfyed with the ammount of goods on offer. Other competitors such as tartybikes are making Y profit and venue this year? etc? Warehouse only low over heads, fairly low break-even etc? Vunerubility to exchange rates? What trend they look like? Acting as a sole trader? Distrubuition patterns? Advertisment?

[Papa Manual]

Yea trials would be a fun business to try to set up i suppose, but realistically the market is already saturated, but I guess that wouldn't matter to anyone looking at a A-level case study would it? Because they wouldn't know? Make up some market reasearch saying X ammount of people are unsatisfyed with the ammount of goods on offer. Other competitors such as tartybikes are making Y profit and venue this year? etc? Warehouse only low over heads, fairly low break-even etc? Vunerubility to exchange rates? What trend they look like? Acting as a sole trader? Distrubuition patterns? Advertisment?

Well that's exactly what I did for my A-Level Business Studies coursework. I manufactured the market research and other aspects actually making my proposal sound viable. I got a really good mark but ended up dropping out before completing the year.

Ah yeah, and I did it on the expansion of a bike business .

[Simpson]

Ah yeah, and I did it on the expansion of a bike business .

I suppose to would being it as a start up business, because I think I can draw on so much more infomation and resources? Maybe?

I don't know any bike shop business's well enough to ask for their accounts to work out gearing and stuff to see if the proposal is viable! So can't really do that.

[N.Wood]

Could do something like koxx going from pure trials into what is now k-124 which includes unicycling, bmx, dirt jumping etc etc if you wanted it to be trials related.

[Papa Manual]

I reckon that would be a pretty good idea as long as you didn't waste too much time describing what the sports themselves are. I guess you have to decide whether you want to make one particular thing (such as market research, production, gaining finance etc) the focus or just spend a small amount of time on each.

[JD™]

Pretty much anything UK based in the manufacturing industries which have recently been outsourced elsewhere around the world are loving the climate at the moment, perhaps look at the re-expansion of one of those firms that were forced to downsize due to not being price competitive with far eastern manufacturers?

[M-i-t-c-h]

CW any day!

I did the test and its bloody hard. You have to write soooo much in the tests in a very short period of time. Everyone that did the CW got a higher mark

also do a start up.

Loads of info on when you actually get into in, plus loads of topics you cover. What ever you do, don't do it on trials. just not a big enough market to analyis and put a cost and customer bases to. I know you think you know it inside out but trust me, your life + CW will be much better if you do something boring like a sandwich shop. You can also then send off for stuff like subway franchise information packs which basically is your coursework - local knowlege and a few bits and bobs.

Edited January 28, 2009 by M-i-t-c-h

[Simpson]

Could do something like koxx going from pure trials into what is now k-124 which includes unicycling, bmx, dirt jumping etc etc if you wanted it to be trials related.

I would do... but I don't have any finantial data on the company - like how much money theyv'e borrowed revenue etc. and I'm not bothered about it being trials based at all, but would like it to be interesting.

I reckon that would be a pretty good idea as long as you didn't waste too much time describing what the sports themselves are.

I doubt I would need to describe it much just say it opperates as a niche, with an anual revune of X

Pretty much anything UK based in the manufacturing industries which have recently been outsourced elsewhere around the world are loving the climate at the moment, perhaps look at the re-expansion of one of those firms that were forced to downsize due to not being price competitive with far eastern manufacturers?

Wouldn't be viable or intersting. Because with the dropping value of the £ to the euro, and labour costs it wouldn't work.

[M-i-t-c-h]

Pretty much anything UK based in the manufacturing industries which have recently been outsourced elsewhere around the world are loving the climate at the moment, perhaps look at the re-expansion of one of those firms that were forced to downsize due to not being price competitive with far eastern manufacturers?

[Simpson]

CW any day!

I did the test and its bloody hard. You have to write soooo much in the tests in a very short period of time. Everyone that did the CW got a higher mark

also do a start up.

Loads of info on when you actually get into in, plus loads of topics you cover. What ever you do, don't do it on trials. just not a big enough market to analyis and put a cost and customer bases to. I know you think you know it inside out but trust me, your life + CW will be much better if you do something boring like a sandwich shop. You can also then send off for stuff like subway franchise information packs which basically is your coursework - local knowlege and a few bits and bobs.

Yea the test looks long ting! Like 40 mark questions which are vuage and annoying. Our school has a shit record with CW though, but i think thats due to lack of effort rather than being a reflection on how easy it is, last year out of 30 1 person got a B and the other results were <D's so... Yea the girl who did really well last year did a Bodyshop franchise, guess you can draw on far more data than there is arround for trials.

[M-i-t-c-h]

Yes and the data is supplied by them, so you know at the end of the day the business is going to be viable and therefore makes your coursework much easier. I wouldnt do a franchise, just use there info and wack in sme local knowlege about market sizes, because the marker doesnt have a clue where your from and wont be from your area so you can "make an educated guess" at alot of the figues and they cant mark you wrong.

[Simpson]

Yes and the data is supplied by them, so you know at the end of the day the business is going to be viable and therefore makes your coursework much easier. I wouldnt do a franchise, just use there info and wack in sme local knowlege about market sizes, because the marker doesnt have a clue where your from and wont be from your area so you can "make an educated guess" at alot of the figues and they cant mark you wrong.

I'm guessing you ment you would?

[M-i-t-c-h]

No i wouldnt do a franchise.

Just get info in, compare them in the CW to "your own findings" and decide to not go the franchise root and open your own shop. Even pop down into your local town and find a vacant shop, take some photos of it and wack in the CW. Talk about walk past rates and lack of brand loyalty to most franchises, lack of business control and taylored local needs. Explain you want and entrepreneurial venture not the confines of a franchise model etc

You can go for ever! My last business plan needed to be 10,000 i ended up writing over 20,000....

[Simpson]

No i wouldnt do a franchise.

Just get info in, compare them in the CW to "your own findings" and decide to not go the franchise root and open your own shop. Even pop down into your local town and find a vacant shop, take some photos of it and wack in the CW. Talk about walk past rates and lack of brand loyalty to most franchises, lack of business control and taylored local needs. Explain you want and entrepreneurial venture not the confines of a franchise model etc

You can go for ever! My last business plan needed to be 10,000 i ended up writing over 20,000....

Ok awsome I've just applyed for a Franchise pack from Subway and I'll go on from there! You sure that you wouldn't chose the franchise though? Surely opening a subway is a far more likley sucess than opening "mikes sandwhich shop?" I may invent a shop near the outside of my school which is on the junction of 3 schools, so could offer healthy "lunch time" offers on subs?

[Papa Manual]

My business studies teacher at the time advised me against using franchises in coursework as there's very little scope for what you can harp on about. Also furthering the idea behind the business is fairly pointless as it's already esablished and proved to work dependant on the demand.

[JD™]

Wouldn't be viable or intersting. Because with the dropping value of the £ to the euro, and labour costs it wouldn't work.

That's completely the reason why it IS viable, topical and interesting to the right people. The drop in the value of the pound means that it is commercially viable for UK firms to have their products made in the UK instead of elsewhere. And with unemployment at a ridiculously large amount at the moment, labour costs are falling by the minute. It is time for a new era of UK engineering and manufacturing. Whether that's interesting or not is a matter of personal taste, and obviously it doesn't appeal to you, but it doesn't make it untrue. It also makes it an examiners dream, hence my easy distinction at GNVQ and A at A level - and that's all that matters isn't it?

[M-i-t-c-h]

I find it all very interesting to be honest, i just wasnt sure what you mean't. Is it the same for metals as well as plastics?

[boon racoon]

A supermarket in Oyster Card format. Every person has a card registered to them, and each item on the shelf has a micro chip instead of a bar code.

Then all you do is put everything you want into your shopping bag and walk out the door through a scanner (such as the one for security tags now).

The scanner totals up the cost of everything in your bag, deducts the cost from your card and away you go. No queuing in supermarkets ever again.

Edited January 28, 2009 by boon

[Simpson]

I do belive that they tryed doing it using a blue-tooth system but it wasn't viable because of the price of each chip, say on a 24p potatoe its not worth putting a transmitter on an item such as that! And theft problems.