Reproduced from Mrs Wilkinson's lesson slides, in the order taught.
1
Welcome to A Level Business!
Your Introduction to AQA A Level Business.
2
Welcome to A Level Business! — Stay Informed
Follow Tutor2U Business on Social Media (Instagram, TikTok)
Follow 'Marketing Week' on Social Media
Follow 'The Grocer' on Social Media
Download the BBC News app and set 'Business' under 'My News'
Subscribe to 'The Marketing Week' podcast (interviews with industry professionals from big corporates)
3
Welcome to A Level Business!
(Continued from previous slide)
4
Homework Submission
Homework submitted by deadline set
Teacher assessed / Self-assessed
Purple pen re-draft
5
Knowledge Retrieval
From GCSE Business, can you remember the risks and 3 rewards for an entrepreneur setting up a new business?
3 Risks
3 Rewards
6
Knowledge Retrieval — Answers
3 Risks
3 Rewards
Business Failure, Financial Loss, Lack of Security
Business Success, Profit, Independence
7
Starter Challenge
James Dyson was an engineer who became frustrated with his vacuum cleaner because it kept losing suction as it filled with dust. Instead of accepting this problem, he decided to design a better product.
Dyson spent several years creating and testing more than 5,000 prototypes before he developed a successful bagless vacuum cleaner. Many large companies rejected his idea because they made money from selling vacuum bags and did not want to change their products.
Despite these rejections, Dyson continued working on his idea. Eventually, he launched his own business and introduced his innovative vacuum cleaner to the market. The product became very popular and his company grew into a successful global brand.
What was the source of his business idea? What risks and rewards did James face when he first came up with his business idea?
8Lesson Overview
Becoming an Entrepreneur
Unit 3.1 Marketing & Finance — 3.1.1: Intro to Business, Entrepreneurs & SMART Objs
Learning Objective: To explain the role of an entrepreneur.
To describe the financial and non-financial reasons for setting up a new business
To apply the financial and non-financial reasons of starting a new business to a real-life example
9
Introduction to Theory: Key Terms
Entrepreneur
An individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards.
Profit maximisation
The aim of a business to make the largest possible profit.
Profit satisficing
Making just enough profit to satisfy the demands of the business owners, rather than aiming for the maximum possible. Often linked to non-financial goals.
Social enterprise
A business that has a primary social or environmental mission, reinvesting most of its profits to achieve that mission.
Startup
A common term for a new business — a business that has just "started up".
10
Introduction to Theory: Entrepreneurs
Can you identify these entrepreneurs? — Tom Blomfield, Monzo
11
An entrepreneur is…
…someone who takes the risk to set up a new business.
Characteristics of an entrepreneur:
Resilient
Risk-taker
Focused
Passionate/determined
Innovative
Example: Tom Blomfield — Monzo
12
Financial Vs Non-financial
Financial Reasons for Starting a Business
Non-financial Reasons for Starting a Business
Profit maximisation
Independence / Be your own boss
Wealth creation — e.g. Nikolay Storonsky (Revolut), company valued at $45 billion
Flexibility / work-life balance
Capital gain — e.g. Alex Chesterman (Zoopla), sold the company for £2.2 billion
Fulfil a passion — e.g. Joe Wicks (The Body Coach)
To make a difference ('Social Enterprise' i.e. The Big Issue)
Environmental Mission — e.g. Oddbox (Emilie Vanpoperinghe)
13
Risk Vs Reward
Entrepreneurship involves a trade-off between potentially huge rewards and very significant risks.
The Potential Rewards:
Financial Gain
Autonomy: being your own boss
Sense of Achievement
The Potential Risks:
Financial Loss
Stress and Long Hours
Uncertainty of Income
14
Why Starting a Business is Challenging
Sourcing Capital
Financial Risk
Competition
Managing Cash Flow
Lack of savings; difficulty getting a loan / high interest rates; 'bootstrapping' (funding the business yourself rather than using debt)
No regular income; personal savings at risk; unlimited liability
Market power; larger competitors have access to economies of scale; existing brand loyalty
High cash outflows at start; slow cash inflows
15
Magway: A Failed Business
Magway was an ambitious UK start-up founded in 2017. Its plan — to transform urban deliveries by building a network of underground pipes to transport parcels in small pods, a kind of "hyperloop for parcels". In 2024, Magway ran out of funds and was closed, leaving investors with a loss of around £6 million.
How would you feel if you had invested in this business?
16
Knowledge Task: Risk Vs Reward
Scenario 1: Amir is 18 and has just finished college. He decides not to go to university and instead uses £8,000 of his savings to buy a mobile coffee van. He plans to park near a busy train station early in the morning and outside a park at weekends. There are already two coffee shops nearby, but Amir believes customers will like the convenience and slightly cheaper prices.
Scenario 2: Sophie loves fashion and decides to launch her own online clothing brand selling trendy hoodies. She uses social media (TikTok and Instagram) to promote her products. She orders 500 hoodies from a supplier before launching because buying in bulk reduces the cost per item.
Identify the potential risks and rewards of setting up their business.
17Lesson Overview — Where Are We?
Becoming an Entrepreneur
(Recap of Learning Objective, Key Vocabulary and Success Criteria — see slide 8)
18
Application Task: The Body Coach
Joe Wicks ("The Body Coach") started his business as a personal trainer running bootcamps in a park, before building a leading online fitness and nutrition empire.
Research the story of how Joe Wicks started and grew his business. Explain how his journey demonstrates both financial motivations (e.g., building a multi-million-pound business) and non-financial motivations (e.g., his passion for fitness and his mission to make the nation healthier).
Do you think that the most successful entrepreneurs, like Joe Wicks, are primarily driven by their non-financial passions, versus a simple desire to make money?
19Lesson Overview — Where Are We?
Becoming an Entrepreneur
(Final recap — see slide 8)
Companion Material — beyond the lesson
Real-World Case Studies
Levi Roots — Reggae Reggae Sauce (financial and non-financial motivation)
Levi Roots pitched his jerk barbecue sauce on Dragons' Den in 2007, securing investment from Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh. His motivation combined a financial goal (building a profitable food brand) with a strong non-financial pull — turning a family recipe and his own musical, Caribbean identity into a business. The sauce went on to be stocked by major UK supermarkets.
Source: widely reported UK business press coverage of Dragons' Den investment outcomes.
Deliveroo — Will Shu (risk taken to spot a market gap)
Will Shu co-founded Deliveroo in London in 2013 with Greg Orlowski after noticing it was difficult to get good restaurant food delivered. He personally worked as one of the first delivery riders while building the company. It's a useful example of an entrepreneur being resilient and hands-on in the earliest stage of a business — the theme of this lesson's key vocabulary.
Source: verified via search, September 2026 — Deliveroo company history.
Quick Quiz
Pick an answer for instant feedback. Your score is just for you — it isn't saved anywhere.
1. What is the term for making just enough profit to satisfy the business owners, rather than the maximum possible?
2. Which of these is a non-financial reason for starting a business?
3. What does "unlimited liability" mean for a sole trader?
4. In the Magway case study, what was the main risk that led to the business closing?
Score: 0 / 0
Exam-Style Practice
Define the term 'profit satisficing'. (2 marks)
Model answer
Profit satisficing is where a business aims to make just enough profit to satisfy its owners, rather than the maximum possible — often because the owner is prioritising a non-financial goal alongside the business.
Explain one financial and one non-financial reason why an entrepreneur might start a business. (4 marks)
Model answer
Financial: An entrepreneur may start a business for wealth creation — building a company that grows in value over time, as with Nikolay Storonsky and Revolut.
Non-financial: An entrepreneur may start a business to fulfil a passion, such as Joe Wicks combining his interest in fitness with running his own company, giving him control and satisfaction beyond money.
Analyse the risks a new entrepreneur faces when starting a business, using an example. (9 marks)
Model answer structure
Point: A key risk for a new entrepreneur is financial loss, since most new businesses rely on personal savings or loans.
Application: Magway, a UK start-up developing underground delivery pipes, ran out of funding in 2024, leaving investors with losses of around £6 million.
Analysis: This shows that even an innovative idea can fail if the business cannot secure enough capital to reach profitability, and unlimited liability for a sole trader could mean personal assets are also at risk.
Second point (for full marks): Add a second risk, such as intense competition from established brands with economies of scale, applied to a different example.
Matching Activity
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Key Term Flashcards
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Entrepreneur
An individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards.
Profit maximisation
The aim of a business to make the largest possible profit.
Profit satisficing
Making just enough profit to satisfy owners, rather than the maximum possible.
Social enterprise
A business with a primary social or environmental mission, reinvesting most profits to achieve it.
Unlimited liability
Where the owner is personally responsible for all business debts, risking personal assets.
A*/A Stretch
Synoptic link
Connecting to finance and marketing: An entrepreneur's choice between profit maximisation and profit satisficing doesn't just affect their own income — it shapes pricing strategy (marketing) and how much is reinvested versus drawn out (finance). A profit-satisficing founder like one running a small, ethically-focused business might deliberately price lower than the market could bear, accepting a smaller margin to stay true to their mission.
Examiner's eye
A common mistake at this level is treating "risk" and "unlimited liability" as the same thing. They're related but distinct: risk is the general chance of loss or failure, while unlimited liability is a specific legal consequence of certain business structures (sole trader, ordinary partnership) where personal assets can be used to pay business debts. Naming the specific mechanism, not just "it's risky", is what separates a Level 2 from a Level 3 analysis point.
Wider reading
Look up the term "necessity entrepreneurship" versus "opportunity entrepreneurship" — a distinction used in academic literature on why people start businesses (some out of necessity, e.g. job loss, others because they spot a genuine opportunity). Consider: does this distinction change how we should judge an entrepreneur's risk appetite?
Try This With AI
Before using this: AI tools can get facts or mark scheme details wrong, and the quality of the response depends entirely on the tool you use. Always check anything factual against your notes or ask your teacher — don't take an AI's answer as a guaranteed mark scheme.
Quiz me on the difference between financial and non-financial motivations for starting a business, AQA A-Level Business style. Give me one scenario at a time and mark my answer against what a Level 3 analysis response would include.