7-step lesson hub · Year 9 Finance

Build your business.

Seven short steps. Each one ends with a piece of your real website. By the end of the unit, you'll have a working homepage, an "About Us", and the rest — built from your own ideas.

Step 1 — start here

The Idea

By the end of this step, you'll have the main paragraph for your home page.

today's concepts → Business idea Brand name Tagline Problem-solving
How Sam did it Sam's Dog Walking, Jersey
Reliable dog walks while you're at work. Local, friendly, photo updates included.
I walk dogs for busy people in St Helier and the surrounding parishes. Most owners work office hours and feel guilty leaving their dog at home — I take the dog out, send a photo, and they come home to a calmer, happier pet.
Many dog owners work full-time and can't get home at lunch. Their dogs get bored, anxious, or destructive. I give the dog company and exercise during the day.
Your turn
Brand name Short, snappy, easy to say. Avoid long words or anything tricky to spell. Could your gran remember it after one go?
Tagline One sentence. WHAT you do + WHO it's for. Like an elevator pitch. 5 seconds at a bus stop — go.
Business activity What your business actually does, in plain English. Write it like you're telling a friend, not the examiner.
Problem-solving Every successful business solves a real problem for a real person. No problem = no customer.
Logo / hero image (optional) A photo, logo or sketch — used in your nav bar across every page. Square or round images work best. Skip if you don't have one yet. Use your own photo or a royalty-free site (Unsplash, Pexels) — never an image you've grabbed off Google.
Resized automatically to keep file size small.
This becomes the big paragraph at the top of your Home page.
Step 2 — who's running it

About Us

Choose how your business is set up, why you started it, and tell customers a bit about you.

today's concepts → Sole trader · Ltd · plc Partnership Franchise Charity / social enterprise / co-op Liability Why people start businesses Business ethics Fair trading & Fairtrade Environmental impact
How Sam did it
Sole trader — Sam owns and runs it on his own. Easy to set up, but he's personally liable for any debt.
Spotted a gap in the market — busy dog owners in St Helier had no reliable, single-walker option.
I'm 17 and I've grown up with dogs — we've had three rescues at home and I've been the main walker since I was 10. I did a weekend at Jersey Animal Shelter last summer. I know all the good walking spots from St Catherine's to Plémont.
Your turn
About-us photo (optional) A photo of you, your workspace, or what you make. Replaces the placeholder letter on your About page.
Use your own photo or a royalty-free source.
Types of ownership A core GCSE Business idea. Each type has trade-offs around risk, paperwork, and how big you can grow. Read all of them before picking. Most school-project businesses are sole traders. That's fine.
Liability How much of your own money is at risk if the business fails. Sole traders have unlimited liability (the bank can take your stuff). Ltd, plc and charities have limited liability (your personal money is protected).
Why people start businesses Pick what most matches you. There's no "best" reason — different motivations lead to different choices later (price, risk-taking, hours).
Owner background Customers buy from people they trust. Show your experience, your story, your skills — even small ones count. Why YOU and not someone else?
Our promise to society (Topic 6) Real businesses do more than chase profit — many take a stand on the environment, fair trade, or supporting their local community. Pick the things you'd commit to from day one. Don't tick things you wouldn't actually do — students and customers see through it.
This becomes your About Us section.
Step 3 — who is it for

Your Audience

If you try to sell to everyone, you sell to no-one. Pick a clear target customer.

today's concepts → Market segmentation Target market Customer persona Business justification
How Sam did it
25–55
Working professionals living in St Helier and nearby parishes. They work office hours (8am–6pm), live in flats or small houses with little garden, and own one medium-sized dog.
They have money to pay for a regular service, they care a lot about their dog, but their work hours mean they physically can't get home at lunch. That's the gap I fill.
Your turn
Market segmentation Splitting customers into groups. Age is one way — others are income, location, lifestyle, interests. Pick the group most likely to buy.
Customer persona A clear picture of one typical customer's day. The sharper this is, the easier every other choice becomes. Picture one real person, not "everyone".
Business justification Why this group, not another one? Examiners and bank managers will ask this — be ready with a clear reason.
This shapes the tone, language and look of your whole site.
Step 4 — the product

What You Sell

List exactly what customers can buy from you, and what makes you different.

today's concepts → Product range Features vs Benefits USP Competitors
How Sam did it
• 30-min solo walk — £12
• 60-min solo walk — £18
• Lunchtime visit + feed — £10
• Holiday daily check-in — £15
Photo update every walk · GPS tracked route · Same walker every time · Key collection from home · Insured and DBS checked.
I'm one person, not an agency. The dog gets the same walker every time, and I send a photo every walk so owners feel calm at work.
Your turn
Products or services? A product is a physical thing the customer takes home (candles, prints, food). A service is your time or skill (tutoring, dog walking, photography). Some businesses do both. This changes how the rest of your site reads — "Shop" vs "Services", "Buy now" vs "Book now".
Product range Everything you sell, listed clearly. Be specific — vague offers don't sell.
Features vs Benefits A feature is what it IS ("30-minute walk"). A benefit is what it DOES for the customer ("your dog comes home calm and tired"). Customers buy benefits, not features. For each feature, ask: "so what?"
USP — Unique Selling Point The one thing only YOU offer. Without a USP, why would someone pick you over a bigger competitor? "We're cheaper" doesn't count — there's always someone cheaper.
Product photos (optional) One image per product or service — replaces the coloured letter cards on the Shop page. Slots appear automatically as you list products above.
This becomes your Products / Services section.
Step 5 — the money side

Money & Pricing

Every business has to make more money than it spends. Work out your costs, where your start-up money came from, and how customers pay you.

today's concepts → Profit = Revenue − Costs Start-up funding Cash flow Payment methods Record-keeping Tax (VAT · income · corporation) Fraud & theft prevention
How Sam did it
30-min walk: costs me £3 in fuel + treats, I charge £12 → £9 profit
60-min walk: costs me £4, I charge £18 → £14 profit
Group walk: costs me £3, I charge £10 → £7 profit
Own savings (£300) — he saved up from his Saturday job for the GPS tracker, business cards and dog treats.
Cash on the day · Bank transfer · Apple Pay (he uses a card reader on his phone).
Your turn
Profit = Revenue − Costs Revenue is what customers pay you. Costs are what it costs you to deliver. Profit is what's left. If costs are higher than revenue you make a loss, and the business will fail. Costs include: ingredients, materials, fuel, packaging, your time. Don't forget your time.
Where do you sell? How customers find and buy from you — your distribution channels. Most small businesses use 2–3, not 1. Tick everywhere you'd realistically sell.
Running costs Per-item costs (above) are what each sale costs you. Running costs are what the business spends every month even if you sell nothing — website hosting, materials in stock, packaging, transport, your phone. Also called overheads.
Target revenue & GST Revenue is total money in from sales each month. In Jersey, businesses with turnover over £300,000 must register for GST (Goods & Services Tax) at 5% — like VAT in the UK. Most school businesses are below this, but it's important to know.
The ask (for your pitch) On Shark Tank or Dragons' Den, every pitch ends with "the ask" — how much investment they want and what they'd spend it on. Knowing your ask shows you've thought about how the business will grow. Examples: "£500 to buy bulk packaging and set up a website" · "£2,000 to rent a stall at 6 local markets."
Start-up funding Where did the money to start come from? Most school businesses are bootstrapped (own savings or family). Real businesses also use bank loans, redundancy pay-outs, or investors who get a share of the business.
Payment methods Different customers like different ways to pay. Cash is instant but risky to carry. Cards are clean but cost the business a small fee. Online payments via PayPal or bank transfer reach a wider audience. Pick everything you'll accept — more options = more sales.
Keeping records (Topic 4) Real businesses log every sale. It proves what tax they owe, helps spot fraud or theft, and lets them budget for next year. Pick how you'd track yours.
Tax awareness (Topic 4) Businesses pay tax on their profits. Sole traders fill in a self-assessment; companies pay corporation tax. If sales pass the VAT threshold (~£90,000/year), you also charge VAT. Tax planning is legal; tax evasion isn't.
Fraud & theft protection (Topic 4) Even small businesses lose money to fraud — stolen cash, fake reviews, copied cards. One simple habit prevents most of it.
This becomes your Behind the Scenes page — proof you understand how the money works.
Step 6 — close the deal

Get In Touch

A great website without a clear next step is wasted. Tell the customer exactly what to do.

today's concepts → Call to Action Customer access Conversion
How Sam did it
Book a free trial walk this week.
sam@samsdogs.je
07797 000 000
St Helier, St Saviour, St Clement
Your turn
Call to Action (CTA) Telling the customer the exact next move. "Buy now". "Book a trial". "Call today." Without a CTA, people leave the site and forget you. This is how a visitor becomes a customer — that's called conversion. Start with a verb. Make it free or low-risk if you can.
Customer access Easy contact = more sales. Make it stupid-simple to reach you. Phone is faster but email is less scary for shy customers.
This becomes the Contact section and the buttons across the site.
Step 7 — make it real

Build Your Site

Your answers above are now a working website. Pick a visual theme, preview it, then download the zip to submit.

Pick a visual theme

Each theme swaps colours and fonts across all 7 pages of your site. You can change this any time before downloading.

1. Live preview

This is your real site, built from your answers. Edit any step and click Refresh preview.

2. Download your site

You'll get a zip with index.html and an img/ folder containing your photos. The site already expands your short answers into proper marketing copy using your other answers (audience, area, ownership, etc.).

3. Pitch your business

Like on Shark Tank or Dragons' Den — open a printable cue card with your answers in classic pitch order (hook → problem → solution → audience → offer → USP → numbers → the ask). Print it or save as PDF.

4. Hand it in

Submit the zip via Teams. Make sure your name is in the filename.

Saved ✓