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 have been using since Lesson 1. Today's work — your business objectives — goes in the Lesson 3 section. Save the file at the end.
Now we know what a business is and how it can be owned, the next question is why anyone would bother starting one. One short clip on needs, wants, and what people actually trade — the foundations of why businesses exist at all.
Teacher notes — Stage 1
Before playing
Ask pairs to listen for three things: needs, wants, and factors of production.
The clip is IGCSE-flavoured — pause if your students drift on opportunity cost; that term comes back in Stage 2.
Timing cue
Around 5 minutes including settling. If the clip runs long, pause once needs, wants and factors of production have all been covered.
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 · Why do people actually start businesses?
1. In pairs, brainstorm five different reasons someone might start a business. Try to go beyond "to make money."
2. The class will pool the reasons on the board. Are most reasons financial, personal, or social? Sort them.
B · Aims vs objectives — and what makes one SMART
An aim is where the business wants to go ("be a successful local café"). An objective is a measurable target on the way there ("£250,000 revenue in year 1"). Good objectives are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time-bound.
3. "Sell more cakes." vs "Sell 100 cakes a week by end of month 3." — which is the aim and which is the objective? Why does the difference matter?
4. Read section 1.3 of your Topic 1 textbook chapter. List two financial objectives and two non-financial objectives a small Jersey business might pursue.
Teacher notes — Stage 2
Running block A — motivations
Push past "make money" early. Fish for: independence, solving a problem, following a passion, helping a community, building something to leave behind.
Connect motivation to ownership type from L2: a social mission usually picks social enterprise, a passion project often starts as sole trader.
Running block B — aims vs objectives
Don't let the SMART acronym become a checklist students recite without using. Always ask "specific compared to what?" and "measurable how, exactly?".
Use prompt 3 as the bridge — a single comparison is more memorable than five rules.
Pair task — {}
15 min
Now write objectives for the business you've been developing. Three short-term objectives for year 1, and three medium-term objectives for years 2–5. Each one must be SMART. At least one of the six must be non-financial.
Worked example
Island Eats — three short-term objectives
Year 1:
1. Financial
Hit £25,000 monthly revenue by end of month 6.
2. Customer
Reach 200 unique customers ordering at least once by end of month 4.
3. Non-financial — quality
Average Google rating of 4.5 stars or higher across all reviews by end of year 1.
In your Topic 1 Workbook, go to
Lesson 3 — Stage 3 — Pair task
Write three short-term and three medium-term objectives for your business. At least one must be non-financial. Each must be SMART — if it isn't, your peer pair will spot it in Stage 5.
Teacher notes — Stage 3
Circulation priorities
Pairs writing all six as financial — push them to a non-financial. Reputation, customer satisfaction, hiring quality, environmental footprint all count.
Pairs writing vague objectives ("be successful," "grow") — ask "how would you know you'd hit it?" Until they can answer, it's not measurable.
Stretch: "What would have to be true in year 1 for you to feel confident hitting your year-3 objective?"
Self-check — is this objective SMART?
8 min
Four objectives. Decide whether each one is SMART or not. 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
"Increase Instagram followers" → marked SMART: students treat any direction word ("increase," "improve") as good enough. Push for a number and a deadline.
"Break even by month 6" → marked NOT SMART: students assume SMART means "lots of words." Sometimes the simplest objective is the best one.
"Be the best in Jersey" → marked SMART: students miss that "best" isn't measurable. Best by what?
After the quiz
Have a pair convert one of the failed objectives into a SMART version on the board, live. That's the move they need to be able to do.
Class discussion — when objectives clash
Q. A café owner has two objectives: "Maximise profit by year 2" and "Pay all staff at least the Jersey Living Wage by year 1." Can both be true at the same time? What might she have to give up to keep both? Which would you prioritise, and why?
Real businesses always face trade-offs between objectives. A "good" set of objectives is one where the trade-offs are visible and intentional, not hidden.
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 3 — 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. Pick the vaguest objective and rewrite it to be SMART. (Tests whether they can apply the criteria, not just recite them.)
Q2. Are any objectives unmeasurable in practice (even if specific on paper)? Which one and why? (Tests realism — measurability requires data they actually have.)
Q3. Are the medium-term goals realistic in the timeframe? Pick one that feels too easy or too hard. (Tests calibration.)
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 objective v1 → v2
v1"Increase customer numbers in year 1."
v2"Reach 300 repeat customers (ordered 3+ times) by end of year 1, measured via order-system data."
Why we changed it: peer pair flagged "increase" as direction-only with no target. Adding a number, a definition of "repeat," and a measurement source makes the objective verifiable.
In your Topic 1 Workbook, go to
Lesson 3 — Stage 6 — Iteration
Fill in three things: v1 (your original objectives), 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 3 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 4 (Sue Baker case study) where you will apply Sue's situation to your own 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 two lessons
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. You'll see how SMART objectives play out — or don't — in a real business.
Lesson 5 — USP & standing out. Brand, differentiation, Dragons' Den pitch clip. You'll write a USP for your 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.