new business module

12
BUSINESS SKILLS
Module 1 starts with a brief overview of some basic business
concepts and definitions to make sure all the participants have
a common understanding of what doing business means. It
continues with a case study that serves to illustrate the importance
of a well thought-out business idea and careful preparation
before starting a business. Finally, it provides two simple
forms that help the participants formulate their business idea
and assess their entrepreneurial capabilities.
Session 1: Business basics
1.1 Key learning points of the session
In this introductory session, the participants will learn that:
• a business produces goods or services for customers for
the purpose of generating a profit;
• to generate a profit, they conduct three basic activities:
buying, producing and selling;
• to generate a profit, the income from the business
activity must exceed its total cost;
• entrepreneurs must know the total cost of producing
and marketing their goods or services;
• a business can only generate a profit if customers buy
its goods or services;
• entrepreneurs must know the type of people they want
to sell their goods or services to;
• entrepreneurs must know their competitors and their
goods or services (i.e. quality and prices);
• entrepreneurs must know the infrastructure and market
support services for their market;
• entrepreneurs must know the institutions, rules and
standards that affect their business activity.
Do not present the key learning points at this stage of the
session but rather summarize them at the end.