business topic 2

• staff wages

  workers 22 and under have to be paid national minimum wage

  workers 23 or over have to be paid national living wage
• businesses can't discriminate

  people can't judge people based on their religion, age, gender, disabilities, or sexual orientation

  people have to be payed same amount

  if discrimination happens, business has to pay compensation
• workers safety

  health and safety legislation helps make sure that risks to people at work are properly controlled

  following health and safety can be expensive
• consumer law

  laws restricting how firms sell their products. if laws not in place business may be dishonest
• consumer laws condition

  product should fit for its purpose

  should match the description

  should be of satisfactory quality
• consumer laws affect a business

  if consumer law broken, business may have to pay money back to the consumer

  case can end up in court
• technology

  technology makes processes faster

  adapting to new tech can be expensive
• e commerce

  is using internet to buy and sell products

  firms have websites where customers can buy products

  businesses can reach wider markets
• businesses can affect impact on environment

  companies can reduce amount of packaging on their product

  companies can dispose waste so it doesn't affect land
• businesses can aim to be more sustainable

  sustainable means working in a way that doesn't damage future generation
• unemployment

  means economy as a whole produces lower output

  some firms benefit from unemployment (can pay desperate people lower wages )

  less employment means less money people can spend
• changes in income

  if prices rise at a faster rate then income

  then people will have to spend greater proportion on needs
• Interest

  when you borrow money, you have to pay it back with interest ~

  meaning you have to pay back more then you borrowed

  if you save money, you earn interest

  means the amount of money you in your savings account increase over time
• low interest rates

  leads to increased spending

  when interest rate is cut, its cheaper to borrow money but you get less interest
• high interest rates

  if there is increase in rates, borrowing money becomes more expensive, but sales get better return on their investment
• market

  can mean three different things

  1. a place where goods are traded between customers and suppliers
  2. trade in a particular type of product e.g. oil market
  3. potential customers for a product e.g. 18-25 market
• globalisation

  is the process by which business and countries around the world become more connected

  means theirs a much larger market that uk businesses can trade with

  can also mean more competition
• advantages of globalisation

  increase sales and profit

  easier for uk businesses to set up factories in other countries

  some companies set up factories in countries where labour is cheaper
• disadvantages of globalisation

  higher wages in uk means can't compete with firms from other countries
• exchange rates

  an exchange rate is the price at which one currency can be traded for another

  tell you how currencies compare

  if a company wants to import products they have to Pay for the product in the currencies of the other country }
• businesses avoiding risks

  doing a business plan at the start makes a business less likely to fail

  need to plan for different scenarios

  business can carry out market research

  should research their competiton