AQA (9-1) GCSE Business – revision list year 10

3.1 The purpose and nature of businesses

3.1.1 The purpose and nature of businesses

Content Additional information

• Purpose of business • Understand what a business is and the reasons for starting a business
• Understand the difference between goods and
• Reasons for starting a business services, needs and wants
• Understand the meaning of factors of production –
• Basic functions and types of business • Define opportunity cost
• Understand primary, secondary and tertiary
• Business enterprise and • Understand the terms enterprise and entrepreneur
entrepreneurship • Outline the characteristics of an entrepreneur
• Outline the objectives of an entrepreneur,
• Dynamic nature of business • Understand that businesses face a constantly changing business
environment

3.1.2 Business ownership

Content Additional information
• Understand the different legal structures that businesses adopt
• Sole traders • Analyse the benefits and drawbacks of each legal structure)
• Understand the concept of limited liability and which legal structures
• Partnerships benefit from this
• Evaluate which legal structure would be most appropriate for a
• Private limited companies (ltd) variety of business examples, including new start-up businesses and
large established businesses.
• Public limited companies (plc)

• Not-for-profit organisations

3.1.3 Setting business aims and objectives

Content Additional information
• What are business aims and objectives • Understand the main aims and objectives for businesses:
• Understand the role of objectives in running a business
• Purpose of setting objectives • Understand how and why the objectives set will differ between
businesses
• Role of objectives in running a business • Understand how and why the objectives set may change as businesses
evolve
• Changing objectives • Understand the success of a business can be measured in other ways
than profit.
• Use of objectives in judging success

3.1.4 Stakeholders
Content Additional information
• Main stakeholders of business • Understand what is meant by a stakeholder and who the main
stakeholders of a business are
• Objectives of stakeholders • Understand stakeholders’ main objectives
• Understand the impact and influence stakeholders have on businesses
• Impact of business activity on and their objectives and how businesses may face conflict between
stakeholders stakeholders.

• Impact and influence stakeholders

have on businesses
3.1.5 Business location
Content Additional information
• Factors influencing the location • understand the factors that influence where a business is located
decision of a business

3.1.6 Business planning

Content Additional information

• The purpose of business planning • Understand the reasons why businesses create plans
• Understand the main sections of a business plan
• The main sections within a business plan • Analyse the benefits and drawbacks of business planning
• Understand the difference between variable costs, fixed costs and
• Basic financial terms total costs
• Understand the concept of revenue, costs, profit and loss.
• Basic financial calculations

3.1.7 Expanding a business

Content Additional information
• Methods of expansion • Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of methods of growth
• Understand the methods used by businesses when expanding
• Benefits and drawbacks of expansion • Understand the benefits of growth and the drawbacks of growth
• Understand the meaning of purchasing and technical economies of
• Economies of scale scale
• Understand that with growth businesses increase the risk of
• Diseconomies of scale diseconomies of scale occurring
• Calculate and interpret average unit costs.

3.5 Marketing

3.5.1 identifying and understanding customers

Content Additional information
The importance of identifying and satisfying the importance of identifying and satisfying customer needs, in order to:
customer needs • Provide a product or service that customers will buy
• Increase sales
• Select the correct marketing mix
• Avoid costly mistakes
• Be competitive

3.5.2 segmentation
Content Additional information
Types of segmentation understand how and why different businesses use segmentation to target
customers, including:
• Gender
• Age
• Location
• Income

3.5.3 The purpose and methods of market research

Content Additional information
Purpose of market research • understand why businesses conduct market research, such as to identify
market opportunities and to get a better insight into their customers and
Collect information about: competitors.
• Demand
• Competition
• Target market
Methods of market research to include • identify the benefits and drawbacks for various market research
primary and secondary: techniques and select the best method for a given business.
• Questionnaires
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Focus groups
• Internet research
• Printed press eg newspapers
Use of market research: • interpret and use qualitative and quantitative market research findings to
information that may help decision making help make appropriate decisions for different types of business.
• manipulate and interpret data from tables and charts.
• identify market size and market share.

3.5.4 The elements of the marketing mix: Price, Product. Promotion and Place (4Ps)
Content Additional information
Pricing methods, including: • understand the main features of the pricing methods and the impact they
• Price skimming will have on a business.
• Price penetration
• Competitive pricing
• Loss leader
• Cost-plus
The factors that include pricing decisions, • recognise the factors, internal and external, which might influence the
including: pricing decision, particularly as businesses grow and expand.
• Costs • evaluate these factors and use them to assess the suitability of pricing
• Nature of the market methods for a given business.
• Degree of competition • understand the basic relationship between price and demand ie as
• Product life cycle prices rise demand is likely to fall.

Product • benefits and risks of developing new products.

• importance of product design, image and the needs of the target market
when designing new products.
Product differentiation: • significance of having a USP in a competitive market and the importance
• Unique Selling Point (USP) of a good brand image.
• Brand image
The product lifecycle: • understand the product life cycle and demonstrate how demand for a
• Research and development product or service might change over time.
• Introduction • evaluate the effectiveness of extension strategies and when they would
• Growth be suitable.
• Maturity
• Decline
• Extension strategies:
• Updating package
• Adding more or different
features
• Changing target market
• Advertising
• Price reduction
Product portfolio • understand how and why businesses might broaden and balance their
product portfolio using the Boston Matrix.
• identify and explain the four categories of the Boston Box.
Promotional methods • promotional methods which are likely to be used by a given business.
• benefits and drawbacks of promotional methods used by businesses.
Advertising including: • analyse factors influencing the selection of the promotion mix to assess
• Newspapers their suitability for a given business.
• Magazines
• Television
• Internet
• Billboards

PR:
• Sales promotion
• Point of sales displays
• 2 for 1 offers
• Free gifts
• Samples
• Coupons
• Competitions
• Sponsorship
• Social media

Factors influencing the selection of the

promotional mix:
• Finance available
• Competitor actions
• The nature of the product or service
• The nature of the market
• Target market

Reasons for promotion:

• Inform/remind customers about the
product
• Create or increase sales
• Create or change the image of the
product
• Persuade customers to buy the
product
Place (the different channels of distribution • different channels of distribution used by businesses to gain access to
used by businesses): potential customers.

• Retailers • analyse the appropriateness of each distribution method for a given

• Wholesalers scenario.
• Telesales
E-commerce and m-commerce • analyse the growing importance of e-commerce and m-commerce and
how it can extend the reach of businesses to include international
markets.
• benefits and drawbacks of a business using e-commerce and m-
commerce.
• Integrated nature of the marketing • importance of the four elements and how they work together.
mix • recommend appropriate marketing activities for a given business.
• recognise how the marketing mix evolves over time and evaluate how
• Using the marketing mix to inform businesses may react to this.
and implement business decisions

3.6 Finance (year 10)

3.6.1 Sources of Finance

Content Additional information
• Methods businesses use to raise • Understand the main internal and external sources of finance available
finance (including family and friends, retained profit, a new share issue, obtaining a
• Appropriateness of sources of loan or mortgage, selling unwanted assets, overdrafts, trade credit, hire
finance purchase and government grants)
• Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of each method for a given
situation
 • Evaluate the suitability of sources of finance for new and established
businesses.

3.6.2 Cash flow

Content Additional information
• Importance of cash to business • Understand the consequences of cash flow problems and the effect of
positive cash flow
• Interpreting cash flow forecasts • Understand how and why cash flow forecasts are constructed
• Complete and interpret sections of a cash flow forecast
• Difference between cash and profit • Evaluate possible solutions to cash flow problems

3.6.3
Content Additional information
• Basic financial terms • Understand the difference between variable costs, fixed costs and total
costs
• Basic calculations • Understand the concept of revenue, costs, profit and loss

3.2.2 Ethical considerations

Content Additional information
Ethical considerations • identify and analyse where there may be a possible trade-off between
ethics and profit.
• Ethical behaviour requires businesses to act in ways that stakeholders
consider to be both fair and honest.

Revision websites:

• GCSE bitesize https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zvwb382

• Tutor2u: https://www.tutor2u.net/search?q=GCSE+business and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA_xlFX1Nj0&list=PLp8BSCLLWBUCYeHDKb2N2MVDar54Qparx
(revision videos)
• Seneca: https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/blog/gcse-business-revision/
• https://www.gcsebusiness.com/ (specification is AQA GCSE 9-1)