LO1 — Describe what makes a business successfulOpen your Topic 1 Workbook alongside · keep saving across lessons
Stimulus — watch together
5 min
Workbook check: Open the Topic 1 Pair Workbook you started last lesson — same file, same business idea. If you cannot find it, fetch it from the version your pair saved at the end of Lesson 1. Today's work goes in the Lesson 2 section.
Now we know what a business is, the next question is who owns it. Five forms — sole trader, partnership, private Ltd, public Ltd (plc), and social enterprise. One short clip walks through them all.
Teacher notes — Stage 1
Before playing
Ask pairs to write down the five forms of ownership they hear in the clip — they'll need them for Stage 2.
Pause briefly after "limited liability" appears in the video; that's the term most students miss.
Timing cue
Around 5 minutes including settling. Don't over-narrate — the Tutor2u clip is dense enough on its own. Discussion comes in Stage 2.
Whole-class discussion
12 min
Two discussion blocks. Talk in pairs first, then share with the class. No workbook writing yet — the workbook starts in Stage 3.
A · Quick classify — Jersey businesses
Click each card to reveal what type of business it is and why. Use these as examples in the discussion below.
B · Liability, control, growth
For each prompt, talk in pairs and have one pair answer for the class.
1. Why does a sole trader have unlimited liability? What could go wrong if her business fails?
2. Why might two friends choose a partnership over both becoming sole traders?
3. What is the single biggest reason a small private Ltd would choose to "go public" and become a plc? What do they give up?
4. Read section 1.2 of your Topic 1 textbook chapter and the BBC Bitesize ownership types page. Pick the type you think fits Jersey best — and one you think fits least. Be ready to defend both choices.
Teacher notes — Stage 2
Running block A — flip cards
Don't reveal the cards too early. Let pairs guess first; the surprise is the teaching moment.
The Hospice charity shop card is the bridge to social enterprise — students often miss that it counts as a business at all.
Running block B — liability, control, growth
Prompt 1 (unlimited liability): the answer they need to reach is "her personal assets — house, car, savings — can be taken to pay the business's debts." Push past "she'd lose money."
Prompt 3 (going public): trade-off is access to capital vs. loss of control. Founders dilute ownership and answer to public shareholders.
Pair task — {}
15 min
Now you know the five main forms of ownership, pick one for the business you invented in Lesson 1. Justify your choice on three counts: liability (what protects you if it fails?), control (who calls the shots?), and growth (how does this type help — or limit — getting bigger?).
Worked example
Island Eats — ownership choice
"We chose private limited company (Ltd) for Island Eats."
Liability
Limited liability protects our personal assets if the business fails — important because we are taking out a loan for the bikes and kitchen kit.
Control
The two of us hold all the shares so we make all decisions. No outside shareholders to answer to.
Growth
An Ltd makes it easier to bring in a small investor later or take a business loan, compared with a sole trader or partnership.
In your Topic 1 Workbook, go to
Lesson 2 — Stage 3 — Pair task
Pick one ownership type for your Lesson 1 business. Write three short statements: liability, control, growth. Don't change the business idea — only the ownership.
Teacher notes — Stage 3
Circulation priorities
Pairs picking "plc" for a Jersey-scale business — push back. Ask whether they can realistically list shares on a stock exchange.
Pairs defaulting to "sole trader" for everything — ask what happens if the business owes £50,000 and fails. Their personal assets are exposed.
Stretch: "If you wanted to bring in a third partner in year 2, would your chosen type make that easy or hard?"
Self-check — match the ownership type
8 min
Four scenarios. Pick the most likely ownership type for each. Click to answer — you'll get immediate feedback. No writing in your workbook for this stage.
Answer all four to see your score.
Teacher notes — Stage 4
Common wrong answers and what they tell you
Two friends bakery → marked "private Ltd": not wrong in principle but partnership is the simpler default. Use this to teach the choice between simplicity and protection.
Multinational on the LSE → marked "private Ltd": students miss that "Ltd" shares are not publicly traded. Reinforce the distinction.
Community café → marked "sole trader": students forget social enterprise exists as a category. Connect back to the Hospice card from Stage 2.
After the quiz
Reinforce: ownership type is a choice, not a label. Each has trade-offs in liability, control and growth — the same three lenses students just used.
Class discussion — why does Jersey have so many sole traders?
Q. Walk down King Street, look at the local independent shops. Most are sole traders or small partnerships, very few are Ltd. Why do you think that is? Is it the right choice for them?
Hint: think about set-up cost, paperwork, and scale. The "right" form depends on size and risk.
Peer critique — swap and review
10 min
Swap laptops with the pair next to you. Read their locked-in business idea in their workbook. Then give them structured feedback by writing in your own workbook.
How the swap works
Physical swap. Pick up your laptop, take it to the pair you've been assigned (your teacher will direct). Read their idea from their workbook on screen. Come back to your own laptop to write feedback in your own workbook. Then do it in reverse — they'll critique yours.
In your Topic 1 Workbook, go to
Lesson 2 — Stage 5 — Feedback we gave
Answer the three critique questions below for the pair you were assigned. Then, when they critique you, you'll record what they wrote under Feedback we received.
The three critique questions
Q1. Which ownership type did they pick? Does it actually fit their business idea? (Tests fit — ownership has to match the scale and risk of the business.)
Q2. Did they cover all three counts — liability, control, AND growth? Which was weakest? (Tests completeness.)
Q3. If you were the bank, would you lend money to their business under this structure? Why or why not? (Forces them to think about how outsiders see the choice.)
Teacher notes — Stage 5
Pair assignment
Quickest method: pair 1 ↔ pair 2, pair 3 ↔ pair 4, etc. No one pair critiques alone. If odd number, one trio swaps in a triangle.
What to watch for
Students writing "nice idea" or "good" — that's not critique. Push for specific observations.
Students unable to answer Q1 in one sentence — that's useful diagnostic information about their partner's clarity, not a failure.
Iterate — rewrite with feedback
10 min
Now use what your peer pair told you. Rewrite your business idea so it's sharper. Both versions stay in your workbook — that's the evidence of thinking, not an admission of getting it wrong the first time.
Worked example — Island Eats ownership v1 → v2
v1Private Ltd — limited liability, two founders share control
v2Private Ltd with both founders as 50/50 directors and a written shareholders' agreement covering what happens if one of us wants to leave
Why we changed it: peer pair pointed out that "two of us share control" hides a problem — what if we disagree, or one wants out? Adding the shareholders' agreement future-proofs the partnership without changing the structure.
In your Topic 1 Workbook, go to
Lesson 2 — Stage 6 — Iteration
Fill in three things: v1 (your original ownership choice and justification), v2 (rewritten using peer feedback), and what you changed and why. The "why" is the most important part — it shows your thinking.
Before you finish — save your workbook
You are 2 of 5 lessons through Topic 1. Two quick steps before you close it:
Each of you writes a one-sentence reflection under Reflection — Student A / Student B.
Save the file. Bring it back open in Lesson 3 to add objectives to the same business. Do not submit yet — one Topic 1 submission at the end of Lesson 5.
Teacher notes — Stage 6
Plenary
Last 3 minutes: ask two pairs to read out their v1 → v2 and the "why." This makes iteration visible as a skill, not just a task. Reinforces that feedback isn't criticism, it's data.
Looking ahead — the next three lessons
Lesson 3 — Motivations & objectives. Why people start businesses; SMART objectives. They'll write three short-term and three medium-term objectives for their business.
Lesson 4 — Sue Baker case study. A real café in its first year — read section 1.4 of the textbook, then a four-question group analysis.
Lesson 5 — USP & standing out. Brand, differentiation, Dragons' Den pitch clip. They'll write a USP for their business and do the final v1→v2 iteration of the whole plan.
Each lesson has its own Pair Workbook submitted to its own Teams assignment. The same business idea carries through all five.