Business Entrepreneurship & Organisation

·Major Topics Covered in this Diploma Program include:

Module 1 - Entrepreneurship: The First Steps in Business

·What a business is, products, goods and services

·The business “idea”, considering skills, knowledge, experience, dangers to avoid

·The Business Plan, importance, matters it should cover, dangers of not producing one

·Capital, money needed in starting a business, sources, savings, loans, banks, advice

Module 2 - Ownership of Businesses

·The profit motive, how profit arises, the “factors of production”, losses, raising capital

·The sole-owner business, activities, advantages and disadvantages, liability, registration

·Business partnership firms, formation, division of profits, advantages, disadvantages, registration

·Limited liability companies, shares, shareholders, advantages of limited liability, incorporation

Module 3 - Location of Businesses

·Types of businesses, industrial, trading, distributive, wholesaling, retailing, service-providing

·Consumers, corporate buyers, necessities, luxuries, the “market” for products, competition

·Where to locate, working from home, passing trade, town outskirts, business parks, trading estates

·Facilities needed by businesses, availability and cost of premises, investigation and research

Module 4 - Buying or Taking Over an Existing Business

·Why ‘going concerns’ might be bought and sold, business terminology, the value of the business

·How the price is to be paid, assistance from vendors, avoiding competition from former owners

·The sale agreement, buying into a partnership, the premises, the lease, other payments

·Share transfers, the board of directors, company officials, duties, directors fees, dividends

Module 5 - Furnishing and Equipping the Premises

·Business needs, layouts, laws and regulations, electrical fittings, telephones, computers

·Walls and ceilings, floor coverings, furniture, heating and/or cooling, doors, windows, security

·Machinery & equipment, paying by hiring, renting or leasing, working asset, depreciation

·The outside, signs, window displays, internal displays, safety considerations, insurance, risks

Module 6 - Ordering and Storing Stock (Inventory) Items

·Products needed, buying, order forms, ordering, choosing suppliers, price, discounts, credit terms

·Receipts of deliveries, action to be taken, storage of stock items, storage costs, location of stores

·Stores doorways, openings, floors, temperature control, stores layout, stores equipment, pallets

·Inventory control, preventing theft and damage, stock records and levels, stocktaking and spot checks

Module 7 - Principles of Selling

·Salesmanship in business, persuasion, benefits of products, methods of selling and making sales

·The selling transaction, the five “steps”, product knowledge, demonstrations of products

·Advertising, aims, advertising media, indirect and direct advertising

·Sales promotion, types of promotions, “sales” to reduce stocks, public relations (PR), marketing

Module 8 - The Human Resource

·People as a “resource”, managing people, business expansion, delegation, organisation structure

·Recruitment, job analysis, job descriptions, employee specifications, advertising for vacancies

·Selecting employees, preparing and conducting interviews, tests, terms of employment, trial period

·Induction aims and planning, training, responsibilities of employers, safety, pay, employee benefits

Module 9 - Financial Matters

·Control over finances, forecasting, its relationship with planning, anticipating sales

·Budgets and budgeting, cash flow, overheads, working capital, current assets & liabilities

·Financial accounting, receipts, payments, revenue, expenditure, profit & loss account, balance sheet

·Credit control, periods of credit, dangers of allowing credit, credit limits, creditworthiness

Module 10 - Business Documents and Bank Accounts

·Issuing and receiving documents, invoices, credit notes, statements, receipts, delivery notes

·Bank accounts, types of accounts, interest paid, cheques, counterfoils, other bank payment methods

·Methods by which customers may pay, cash, cheques, credit cards, transfers, foreign currency

·Checking & passing bills for payment, issuing cheques, the need for accuracy, security

Module 11 - Recording transactions: Principles of Bookkeeping & Accounting

·The books of account, the ledger, the cash, purchases, sales & returns books, computerised accounts

·Drawings, managing petty cash, cash and credit sales, sundry debtors and creditors

·Stocktaking, why it is done, what it involves, stock valuation, work in progress:

·The trial balance, producing the final accounts, adjustments, prepayments, accruals, depreciation

Module 12 - Principles of Economics

·Demand, wants and needs, wealth, prices, consumer budgets, demand and markets, demand curves

·Suppliers and markets, how costs and prices affect supply, supply curves, equilibrium prices

·International trade, exporting, costs, selecting export markets, exchange control, customs duties

·Import, businesses involved, agents, licences, foreign exchange, customs delays, benefits