Enterprise and Entrepreneurs

• Financial/commerical enterprise


  main objective is to make a profit
• Cultural enterprises

  • provide consumers with access to art,music festivals and other events
  • can be local or national
  • can be for-profit or not-for-profit
• Social enterprises

  • provide services or deal with social/economic/environmental issues
  • they are not charities and do not depend solely on donations
• Role of financial enterprises in society:

  • provides goods and services
  • creates employment and spin-off enterprises
  • contributes to economic growth
  • generates revenue for the government
• Role of cultural enterprises in society:

  • provides access to music, sport, film, theatre and visual arts
  • creates employment
  • encourages tourism
  • provides entertainment
• Role of social enterprises in society:

  • provides essential services
  • feature a social, environmental and ethical objective
  • creates employment
  • raises awareness of social issues
• Forms of business ownership:

  1. Sole traders
  2. Partnerships
  3. Private limited companies (Ltd)
  4. Public limited companies (PLC)
  5. State-owned companied
  6. Co-operatives
  7. Franchise
• Sole traders:

  • own and run their own business
  • keep all profits and make all decisions
  • easy to set up
  • unlimited liablilty
  • challenging to be an expert in all areas
  • long working hours
• Partnerships:

  • a minimum of two people conducting business with an aim to make a profit
  • limited parners enjoy limited liability
  • more capital with additional partners
  • better decision-making and a number of people with varying skills
  • relatively easy to set up
  • profits must be shared
  • general partners are liable for all debts
  • different points of view
  • death of a partner is the end of a partnership
• Private limited companies (Ltd):

  • a company which has 1-149 shareholders who invest money and recieve a profit based on the size of their investment
  • limited liability
  • business continues even if a shareholder dies
  • easy to raise finance by issuing more shares
  • profits are shared
  • more complex to set up
  • one vote per share
• Public limited companies (PLC):

  • company quoted on stock exhange, where shares are bought and sold
  • minimum of 7 shareholders but no maximum number
  • limited liability
  • business continues even if a shareholder dies
  • easy to raise finance by selling more shares
  • profits are shared
  • more complex to set up
  • one vote per share
• State-owned companies:

  • formed by the government
  • creates emploment
  • generates revenue for government
  • complete control over certain services
  • lack of funds/resources
  • loss must be funded by taxpayers
  • lack of profit can lead to lack of motivation
• Co-operatives:

  • individuals come together a pool their resources to establish an organisation with a common goal
  • limited liability
  • one vote per member
  • creates employment
  • may lack expertise
  • no incentive to invest in extra shares
• Franchise:

  • Individual pays a lump sum and usually royalties (a percentage of profits) to sell under an established name
  • proven formula
  • training and support
  • bulk buying/help in advertising/social media, etc.
  • little control
  • costs and royalties
• benefits of entrepreneur to society

  • job creation
  • contributions to charitis and not-for-profit organisations
  • community development
  • infrastructure development
• benefits of entrepreneur to economy

  • better standard of living
  • spin-off business
  • economic growth
  • globalisation and trade
• skill


  something you can learn over a period of time such as communication, delegation and planning
• characteristic/quality

  something you are born with and improve on as you get older such as determined, innovative and decisive
• internal methods of idea generation

  • brainstorming
  • research and development
  • SWOT
  • online tool (social media)
• external methods of idea generation

  • competitors
  • trade exhibitions
  • government departments including the Local Enterprise offices (LEOs)