BTEC Tech Award in Enterprise 

Business Studies provides students with a wide knowledge of the world of work. Regardless of whether you decide to start your own business, work for a local, regional or global company you will be required to demonstrate many forms of business acumen.  The teaching of Business Studies provides students with the required skills and general knowledge to ensure they are employable in the world of works competitive environment. 

Within the Business Studies curriculum students have the opportunity to research local businesses, and determine what makes them so successful, they also have the opportunity to generate a range of realistic ideas for a micro business before planning and pitching the idea in a Dragon’s Den style performance! 

Component 1: Exploring Enterprises 

In this component, you will have the opportunity to develop knowledge and understanding of the different types of enterprise and their ownership, looking at the characteristics of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs with reasons for levels of success. You will understand the importance of having a clear focus on the customer and the importance of meeting their needs. Enterprises can struggle if they do not carry out market research. It is important for you to develop relevant skills in market research and to analyse and be able to interpret your findings to support your understanding of customers and competitors. You will explore why enterprises are successful, looking at the impact of factors both inside and outside the control of the enterprise, and investigate ways in which situational analysis can be used to support decision making. You will discover how success can be monitored in an SME. 

Component 2: Planning for an pitching an enterprise activity  

If you are going to succeed as an entrepreneur or as an innovator in business, you need to have great ideas and plan how you are going to put them into practice. Any enterprise needs to plan how it will succeed through working out how it can harness physical, financial and human resources – which means the skills that you and others bring. An entrepreneur will also have to pitch their ideas to an audience in order to secure funding. In this component, you will use the research knowledge gained from Component 1 to consider a number of ideas before developing a plan for a realistic micro-enterprise activity. You will have the opportunity to plan how best to set up the chosen enterprise and how to fund it. You will need to take responsibility for creating and then delivering a pitch for your developed idea to an audience using your knowledge of business, and demonstrating entrepreneurial characteristics, qualities and skills. In the final part of the component you will use feedback to review your plan and pitch for the micro-enterprise activity, reflecting on your plan, your pitch and the skills you demonstrated when pitching. 

Component 3: Promotion and Finance for Enterprise  

The performance of an enterprise can be affected by both internal and external factors. To monitor and improve an enterprise’s performance, you need to be aware of the impact of these factors and the strategies you can use to make the most of opportunities and minimise any threats. In this component, you will assess and analyse financial information in an enterprise context to monitor the performance of an enterprise and strategies to improve its performance. You will investigate cash flow forecasts and statements, exploring the effects that positive and negative cash flow can have on an enterprise, and suggesting ways to improve them. You will consider the different elements of the promotional mix in order to be able to identify target markets and put forward strategies that enterprises can use to increase their success in the future.