Preparing to start a business means answering four questions: what is needed, who does what, how it will run and sell, and what must be checked officially. This section takes them in that order.
It sits inside SPM Business, and it leads into business plans.
How do the four skills connect?
Each skill uses facts produced by the one before it.
- Identifying resources needed to start a fictional business lists what the owner must have.
- Connecting entrepreneurial characteristics with actions shows how the owner behaves when a problem appears.
- Planning basic operations and marketing turns resources into a weekly routine.
- Using official sources for administrative requirements checks what the business must do before it starts.
One fictional stall, four steps
Nurul wants to sell potted herbs at a weekend market. She lists what she needs: pots, soil, seedlings, a table and a sign. That is the resources step.
On her first Saturday she sells only 6 pots. She asks three buyers what stopped them, and they say the pots are too big for a flat. She switches to smaller pots the next week. That action shows initiative and willingness to adapt, which is the characteristics step.
She then plans her week: buy seedlings on Wednesday, pot them on Thursday, sell on Saturday. She sets a price and chooses where to stand. That is operations and marketing.
Before she goes further, she checks the official pages on whether a market stall needs registration or a licence. The same case produced all four skills.
Who should start where?
If case questions confuse you because every answer sounds alike, start with the characteristics lesson. If your answers list resources without linking them to the business, start with the resources lesson. If your marketing answers are generic, go to the operations lesson.
When you are ready, try the practice set. The business case answer planner helps you lay out an answer before you write it. For lessons with a teacher, see online one-to-one Business tuition.