Unit 1 - Exploring Business
Learning Aim A: Explore the features of different businesses and analyse what makes
them successful
P1: Explain the features of two contrasting businesses.
A business provides goods or services in order to meet the demands of people. Some
businesses have the sole purpose of just making a profit. Profit can be shared amongst the
owners, shareholders or retained in the business and used to grow the business. These
types of businesses are called ‘for-profit’ businesses. An example of a for-profit business is
Apple. However, a ‘not-for-profit’ business is the opposite, they do not aim to make a profit
for their owners. An example of a not-for-profit business is the NHS.
The two businesses I will be discussing are Amnesty International which is a not-for-profit
business and my for-profit business is ITV plc.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 by Peter
Benenson with their headquarters based in London. It
first began when Benenson was outraged when he read
that two Portuguese students were imprisoned for raising
a toast to freedom. He then published an article called
'The Forgotten Prisoners’ in which he aimed to bring attention to those who were imprisoned
just because of their views opposing the government. From then on, the organisation has
“grown from seeking the release of political prisoners to upholding the whole spectrum of
human rights.” Amnesty’s work “protects and empowers people - from abolishing the death
penalty to protecting sexual and reproductive rights, and from combatting discrimination to
defending refugees and migrants' rights.” [1] Amnesty has regional offices in hundreds of
countries.
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company and was founded in 1955 as a
competition to the BBC. The company describes their purpose as to
be ‘more than TV’ and aim to “connect millions of people every day
and make content they can’t get enough of...” [2] ITV plc are owners
of 6 main channels that are simultaneously broadcasted across the UK such as the main ITV
channel and CITV which consists of children’s programming. Along with this, they have 13
regional ITV networks across the UK that provide local TV coverage. Furthermore, as of
2020, ITV had a 21.6% audience share. [3]
Types of business ownership for private businesses
Sole trader A person who is the single owner of a ● Barber
business and is entitled to all earnings once ● Corner shop
taxes have been paid, but is also responsible ● Plumber
for any debts. This, therefore, means that ● Electrician
, they have unlimited liability.
Partnership When there are two or more ● Solicitors
owners of a business. This means that they ● Accountants
both share the business’ profits and liabilities.
Cooperative When members, who might be the customers ● The Co-
and workers, own and run the firm. operative
bank
Private limited “A private limited company does not publicly ● Iceland
company trade shares and is limited to a maximum of ● Dyson
50 shareholders.” [4] ● Specsavers
● Poundland
Public limited In a PLC, shares are sold to the public on the ● Tesco plc
company stock market. “People who own shares are ● easyJet plc
called 'shareholders'. They become part ● Sainsbury’s
owners of the business and have a voice in plc
how it operates.” [5] ● SSE plc
● ITV plc
My for-profit business, ITV plc, is a public limited company; this, therefore, means that the
business is on the stock exchange and the owners have limited liability.
Unlimited liability:
This means that if the business goes bust the owners of the business are responsible for
paying back all the debt. This could mean that savings and possessions, such as a house or
vehicle, are at risk of being repossessed.
Limited liability:
This means that if the business goes bust the business owners are not responsible for
paying back all the debt. The business and the owner are legally separated, and therefore
any liability is assigned to the business and the owner’s personal possessions remain
private.
Types of not-for-profit Definition Examples
businesses
Charity A charity is an organisation with the ● Oxfam
purpose to benefit the public. They ● BHF
are required by law to not make a ● Red Cross
profit.
Social enterprise A social enterprise is a company that ● Inspirational
uses its profits to solve things such as Youth
social concerns and to enhance the ● Shakespeare
lives of people or the environment. Schools
Foundation
Public sector Organisations that are government- ● Cabinet Office
, organisation owned and run. They are funded ● CPS
through taxes and work to benefit ● NHS
society.
My non-profit business, Amnesty International, is a charity which means that they are not
allowed to make a profit and are required to benefit the public, which they do by speaking
out against human rights violations.
Sectors businesses can operate in
Primary ● Extraction of raw materials
● Farming
Secondary ● Manufacturing
Tertiary ● Retail
● Transport
● Entertainment
Quaternary ● Public sector
ITV is in the tertiary sector as they produce and distribute media content for the nation and
allow the international audience to stream it.
The different sizes of businesses:
Micro – up to nine staff
Small – between 10 and 49 staff
Medium – between 50 and 249 staff
Large – more than 250 staff
ITV has over 6,000 employees which means that they are a large-sized business.
Reasons for the success of Amnesty International:
A mission statement is a brief statement that describes the purpose of a company as well as
its aims and objectives. Amnesty International’s own mission statement is to "undertake
research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of human rights." [6]
This has always been their mission and it is the reason why the organisation was
established in the first place. It's also why they've been so successful. They carry out their
mission by investigating situations in which they believe there is injustice, raising awareness
through public events and social media, rallying their millions of supporters to protest for
change, and urging governments to uphold international law. As a result, they've been
successful in their work and have been able raise awareness of unspoken concerns and
secure the release of thousands of prisoners around the world, such as the Al Jazeera
employees who were released in 2013 after being accused of spreading fake news in Egypt,
and in their 1999 campaign, they were able to draw attention to 300,000 child soldiers
around the world.
Learning Aim A: Explore the features of different businesses and analyse what makes
them successful
P1: Explain the features of two contrasting businesses.
A business provides goods or services in order to meet the demands of people. Some
businesses have the sole purpose of just making a profit. Profit can be shared amongst the
owners, shareholders or retained in the business and used to grow the business. These
types of businesses are called ‘for-profit’ businesses. An example of a for-profit business is
Apple. However, a ‘not-for-profit’ business is the opposite, they do not aim to make a profit
for their owners. An example of a not-for-profit business is the NHS.
The two businesses I will be discussing are Amnesty International which is a not-for-profit
business and my for-profit business is ITV plc.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 by Peter
Benenson with their headquarters based in London. It
first began when Benenson was outraged when he read
that two Portuguese students were imprisoned for raising
a toast to freedom. He then published an article called
'The Forgotten Prisoners’ in which he aimed to bring attention to those who were imprisoned
just because of their views opposing the government. From then on, the organisation has
“grown from seeking the release of political prisoners to upholding the whole spectrum of
human rights.” Amnesty’s work “protects and empowers people - from abolishing the death
penalty to protecting sexual and reproductive rights, and from combatting discrimination to
defending refugees and migrants' rights.” [1] Amnesty has regional offices in hundreds of
countries.
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company and was founded in 1955 as a
competition to the BBC. The company describes their purpose as to
be ‘more than TV’ and aim to “connect millions of people every day
and make content they can’t get enough of...” [2] ITV plc are owners
of 6 main channels that are simultaneously broadcasted across the UK such as the main ITV
channel and CITV which consists of children’s programming. Along with this, they have 13
regional ITV networks across the UK that provide local TV coverage. Furthermore, as of
2020, ITV had a 21.6% audience share. [3]
Types of business ownership for private businesses
Sole trader A person who is the single owner of a ● Barber
business and is entitled to all earnings once ● Corner shop
taxes have been paid, but is also responsible ● Plumber
for any debts. This, therefore, means that ● Electrician
, they have unlimited liability.
Partnership When there are two or more ● Solicitors
owners of a business. This means that they ● Accountants
both share the business’ profits and liabilities.
Cooperative When members, who might be the customers ● The Co-
and workers, own and run the firm. operative
bank
Private limited “A private limited company does not publicly ● Iceland
company trade shares and is limited to a maximum of ● Dyson
50 shareholders.” [4] ● Specsavers
● Poundland
Public limited In a PLC, shares are sold to the public on the ● Tesco plc
company stock market. “People who own shares are ● easyJet plc
called 'shareholders'. They become part ● Sainsbury’s
owners of the business and have a voice in plc
how it operates.” [5] ● SSE plc
● ITV plc
My for-profit business, ITV plc, is a public limited company; this, therefore, means that the
business is on the stock exchange and the owners have limited liability.
Unlimited liability:
This means that if the business goes bust the owners of the business are responsible for
paying back all the debt. This could mean that savings and possessions, such as a house or
vehicle, are at risk of being repossessed.
Limited liability:
This means that if the business goes bust the business owners are not responsible for
paying back all the debt. The business and the owner are legally separated, and therefore
any liability is assigned to the business and the owner’s personal possessions remain
private.
Types of not-for-profit Definition Examples
businesses
Charity A charity is an organisation with the ● Oxfam
purpose to benefit the public. They ● BHF
are required by law to not make a ● Red Cross
profit.
Social enterprise A social enterprise is a company that ● Inspirational
uses its profits to solve things such as Youth
social concerns and to enhance the ● Shakespeare
lives of people or the environment. Schools
Foundation
Public sector Organisations that are government- ● Cabinet Office
, organisation owned and run. They are funded ● CPS
through taxes and work to benefit ● NHS
society.
My non-profit business, Amnesty International, is a charity which means that they are not
allowed to make a profit and are required to benefit the public, which they do by speaking
out against human rights violations.
Sectors businesses can operate in
Primary ● Extraction of raw materials
● Farming
Secondary ● Manufacturing
Tertiary ● Retail
● Transport
● Entertainment
Quaternary ● Public sector
ITV is in the tertiary sector as they produce and distribute media content for the nation and
allow the international audience to stream it.
The different sizes of businesses:
Micro – up to nine staff
Small – between 10 and 49 staff
Medium – between 50 and 249 staff
Large – more than 250 staff
ITV has over 6,000 employees which means that they are a large-sized business.
Reasons for the success of Amnesty International:
A mission statement is a brief statement that describes the purpose of a company as well as
its aims and objectives. Amnesty International’s own mission statement is to "undertake
research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of human rights." [6]
This has always been their mission and it is the reason why the organisation was
established in the first place. It's also why they've been so successful. They carry out their
mission by investigating situations in which they believe there is injustice, raising awareness
through public events and social media, rallying their millions of supporters to protest for
change, and urging governments to uphold international law. As a result, they've been
successful in their work and have been able raise awareness of unspoken concerns and
secure the release of thousands of prisoners around the world, such as the Al Jazeera
employees who were released in 2013 after being accused of spreading fake news in Egypt,
and in their 1999 campaign, they were able to draw attention to 300,000 child soldiers
around the world.
