BTEC Business L3

A business is any activity that provides goods or services, whether that is to make a profit or not. The common thread in business is that owners and employees are striving to satisfy customers. Nowadays, customers are more informed and have more options in terms of what they buy and who they buy from, so a successful business is one that balances satisfying their customers with selling products or providing services.

In this unit, you will gain an overview of the key ingredients for business success, how businesses are organised, how they communicate, the characteristics of the environment in which they operate, and how this shapes them and their activities. You will also look at the importance of innovation and enterprise to the success and survival of businesses, with the associated risks and benefits.

By developing relevant business knowledge and understanding, this unit will help you to progress to employment, vocational training and higher apprenticeships, or higher education

Marketing is a dynamic field central to the success of any business. You will gain an understanding of how a marketing campaign is developed. You will explore different stages of the process that a business goes through when developing its campaign and develop your own campaign for a given product/service.

You will examine the marketing aims and objectives for existing products/services and understand the importance of relevant, valid and appropriate research in relation to customers’ needs and wants. You will use given market research data and other information to make recommendations about the type of marketing campaign that a business should undertake. To complete the assessment task within this unit, you will need to draw on your learning from across your programme.

This unit will give you an insight into how important marketing is to business. It will enable you to make an informed choice as to whether you want to specialise in marketing in employment, training or higher education.

This unit includes aspects of both personal and business finance. Personal finance involves the understanding of why money is important and how managing your money can help prevent future financial difficulties. It is vital you understand the financial decisions you will need to take throughout your life and how risk can affect you and your choices. This unit will also give you an insight into where you can get financial advice and support.

The business finance aspects of the unit introduce you to accounting terminology, the purpose and importance of business accounts and the different sources of finance available to businesses. Planning tools, such as cash flow forecasts and break-even, will be prepared and analysed. Measuring the financial performance of a business will require you to prepare and analyse statements of comprehensive income and statements of financial position.

This unit will provide a foundation for a number of other finance and business units and will help you to analyse profitability, liquidity and business efficiency. It will give you the knowledge and understanding to manage your personal finances and will give you a background to business finance and accounting as you progress to employment or further training.

International business has a significant influence on the national economy. It takes place in a globally competitive environment and involves both small and large businesses. A number of factors need to be taken into account by businesses that are engaged in international business activities. Governments can influence international business to maximise the benefits to the national economy. Countries join international trading blocs to promote and protect international business.

In this unit, you will explore the benefits and issues associated with international business activities. You will investigate the economic environment and cultural factors in international markets and the influence they have on how business is conducted. You will also examine the strategic and operational approaches to developing business in an international context. To complete the assessment task within this unit, you will need to draw on your learning from across your programme.

This unit will give you a greater understanding of the global business environment, which will help your career choices. The unit also gives you the skills and a firm basis to undertake advanced or specialist studies in international business at higher education level.

Managers are vital to the running of any business; they shape and influence business through their managerial performance and leadership.

In this unit, you will examine how businesses adapt their approaches to management in response to challenges in their environment. Depending on their roles and responsibilities, managers need to develop skill sets that enable them to work effectively in areas such as the management of people, financial, resource and quality management, and the management of change. You will investigate some of the issues that managers and leaders have to deal with in the workplace in making businesses more efficient and ensuring their survival and growth. The effective planning and organising of a business’s activity can significantly influence the success of a business.

This unit will help you to progress to employment, by considering a career working in supervision and management, and/or to vocational training. Additionally you might move on to related higher education having developed a knowledge and understanding of management.

This unit will develop your research skills and your understanding of the role marketing information plays in identifying and satisfying customers’ needs.

In this unit, you will examine the purpose and type of market research undertaken in a business, consider the objectives of the research and the processes followed. You will plan and undertake a research activity using the most appropriate design and sampling method. You will analyse and interpret market research data and present your findings. You will use this knowledge to make recommendations for improvements to the market research process for a selected business.

This unit will give you an insight into the importance of collecting and interpreting marketing information as a tool for making wider marketing decisions, and enable you to make an informed choice on the suitability of this marketing area as a possible employment or training opportunity.