Business in the Real World | AQA GCSE Business (8132)

Business in the Real World

151 questions
10 subtopics
Paper 1
Paper 1 and Paper 2

Business in the Real World is examined in both papers, since Paper 1 and Paper 2 each draw on it.

It covers what a business is and why people start one, goods, services, needs, wants and factors of production, business sectors, entrepreneurs and a changing business environment, sole traders, partnerships, limited companies and not-for-profit organisations, business aims and objectives, why business objectives differ and change, stakeholders and their influence on businesses, factors affecting business location, business planning and basic financial terms and Expanding a business and economies of scale.

Sample questions from Business in the Real World

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

What a business is and why people start one

What is a business opportunity?

Show the answer
A business opportunity is a gap in the market that a new business could fill. An example is a product customers want but cannot easily buy.
Goods, services, needs, wants and factors of production

What are the factors of production?

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The factors of production are the resources needed to make goods and services. The four factors are land, labour, capital and enterprise.
Business sectors, entrepreneurs and a changing business environment

How do the three sectors link together in making a product such as bread?

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A farmer grows wheat in the primary sector, and a bakery makes bread in the secondary sector. A supermarket sells the bread in the tertiary sector.
Sole traders, partnerships, limited companies and not-for-profit organisations

What are the drawbacks of being a sole trader?

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A sole trader has unlimited liability and may find it hard to raise finance. The owner often works long hours with no one to share the load.
Business aims and objectives

How is market share calculated?

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Market share is the business's sales divided by total market sales, multiplied by 100. A firm selling £2 million in a £20 million market has a 10% market share.
Why business objectives differ and change

Why do objectives change as a business evolves?

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Once a business has survived, it can aim for growth and profit. Changes in the market or economy may also force new objectives.
Stakeholders and their influence on businesses

What are the main objectives of customers as stakeholders?

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Customers want good-quality products at fair prices. Customers also want good service.
Factors affecting business location

Why is the availability of labour a location factor?

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A business needs enough workers with the right skills nearby. Areas with skilled workers or lower wages can attract businesses.

The 10 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
What a business is and why people start one	What a business is for, the reasons people start one, social enterprises and charities, and the four functions of operations, human resources, marketing and finance and why they must work together.	13
Goods, services, needs, wants and factors of production	Goods against services, needs against wants, land, labour, capital and enterprise as the factors of production, and opportunity cost in business decisions and in giving up a job to start up.	13
Business sectors, entrepreneurs and a changing business environment	The primary, secondary and tertiary sectors and how they link, what makes an entrepreneur and why they take risks, their objectives, and why the business environment keeps changing.	14
Sole traders, partnerships, limited companies and not-for-profit organisations	Sole traders, partnerships, private and public limited companies and not-for-profit organisations, limited against unlimited liability, how profit is shared, and choosing the right structure for a business.	16
Business aims and objectives	Aims against objectives, survival, profit maximisation, growth, market share and how it is calculated, customer satisfaction, ethical objectives, shareholder value, and measuring success beyond profit.	20
Why business objectives differ and change	How size, competition and not-for-profit status shape objectives, the move from survival to growth, market dominance, international expansion, ethical aims and the effect of an economic downturn.	12
Stakeholders and their influence on businesses	Owners, employees, customers, suppliers and the local community, what each wants, how business decisions affect them, how they can push back, and managing conflict between stakeholders.	13
Factors affecting business location	Nearness to the market and to raw materials, the supply of labour, competition and costs, why online businesses have more freedom, and how a firm weighs one location factor against another.	11
Business planning and basic financial terms	What a business plan contains and why lenders want one, the benefits and drawbacks of planning, revenue, fixed, variable and total costs, and working out profit and loss.	15
Expanding a business and economies of scale	Organic growth through franchising, new stores, e-commerce and outsourcing, mergers and takeovers, purchasing and technical economies of scale, diseconomies of scale and calculating average unit cost.	24

Business in the Real World is 151 of the 659 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.