GCSE Business Grade 7–9 Interactive Workbook

Adikoggz is a small business based in Leeds that customises trainers. It was set up by Keilan Kogut in 2018. Customers can supply their own trainers or ask Adikoggz to source and design a new pair. The business charges up to £200 for a new customised pair and also offers a trainer deep-cleaning service for £20. The business began as a hobby. After Keilan showed his designs on Facebook and Instagram, he started receiving requests for unique styles of trainers. This inspired him to turn the idea into a business and it now receives orders from around the world. Keilan still carries out much of the work himself, but rising demand has led him to employ four people. He believes the USP of Adikoggz is the personalised service and the fact that each customer receives a unique product.

Adikoggz is a small business based in Leeds that customises trainers. It was set up by Keilan Kogut in 2018. Customers can supply their own trainers or ask Adikoggz to source and design a new pair. The business charges up to £200 for a new customised pair and also offers a trainer deep-cleaning service for £20. The business began as a hobby. After Keilan showed his designs on Facebook and Instagram, he started receiving requests for unique styles of trainers. This inspired him to turn the idea into a business and it now receives orders from around the world. Keilan still carries out much of the work himself, but rising demand has led him to employ four people. He believes the USP of Adikoggz is the personalised service and the fact that each customer receives a unique product.

Amelia Cooper trained as a plumber six years ago and has worked for a building company carrying out repairs in the Birmingham area. She now wants to start her own plumbing business called Lili Heating Ltd. Amelia believes she has a unique selling point because she is a woman, and many female customers may feel more comfortable with her working in their homes. As part of her business plan, Amelia has set aims and objectives and carried out a large amount of internet-based market research. Her target market wants clear advice about the work required and the prices charged. Amelia also thinks she can reduce advertising costs by encouraging customers to recommend the business to friends and family, but she knows this depends on maintaining very high standards of work. Her business plan also contains financial forecasts to judge whether she might need an overdraft.

Amelia Cooper trained as a plumber six years ago and has worked for a building company carrying out repairs in the Birmingham area. She now wants to start her own plumbing business called Lili Heating Ltd. Amelia believes she has a unique selling point because she is a woman, and many female customers may feel more comfortable with her working in their homes. As part of her business plan, Amelia has set aims and objectives and carried out a large amount of internet-based market research. Her target market wants clear advice about the work required and the prices charged. Amelia also thinks she can reduce advertising costs by encouraging customers to recommend the business to friends and family, but she knows this depends on maintaining very high standards of work. Her business plan also contains financial forecasts to judge whether she might need an overdraft.

Last Course Patisserie Ltd is a small private limited company based in Devon that makes hand-made desserts and puddings. The business was established in 1986. Its owners previously worked in the food industry and believed they could offer better value for money. All desserts are made fresh to order, which has given the business a reputation for flexibility when meeting customer needs. High-quality ingredients are vital. Last Course Patisserie found excellent local suppliers of free-range eggs and dairy products, allowing ingredients to be delivered quickly when needed. The business has recently employed a new head chef from Switzerland who introduced a new range of products that has proved very popular. Demand has increased sharply, but the business is struggling to keep up because its premises are too small. The owners now believe it is the right time to expand and possibly relocate.

Ocado plc is an online grocery retailer with no physical shops. It buys groceries from food manufacturers and other retailers and sells them through its website and app before delivering them to customers' homes. Ocado already has a 62% 'excellent' Trustpilot rating for customer service, which is higher than some rivals such as Asda. It is considering introducing a one-hour same-day delivery service. In 2020, Ocado's sales rose by more than 40% as demand for online grocery shopping increased. Ocado has invested in new warehouse technology and uses just in time stock management. Its robots can pick a customer's order in under five minutes and helped Ocado process an extra 30,000 orders each week. To increase market share further, Ocado is considering expanding its own-label product range.

Ocado plc is an online grocery retailer with no physical shops. It buys groceries from food manufacturers and other retailers and sells them through its website and app before delivering them to customers' homes. Ocado already has a 62% 'excellent' Trustpilot rating for customer service, which is higher than some rivals such as Asda. It is considering introducing a one-hour same-day delivery service. In 2020, Ocado's sales rose by more than 40% as demand for online grocery shopping increased. Ocado has invested in new warehouse technology and uses just in time stock management. Its robots can pick a customer's order in under five minutes and helped Ocado process an extra 30,000 orders each week. To increase market share further, Ocado is considering expanding its own-label product range.

Popeyes is an American fried chicken fast-food chain known for Louisiana-style chicken marinated overnight in spices. Its UK success has surprised the company. To cope with strong demand, Popeyes had to redesign kitchen and serving layouts and retrain employees. Since opening in 2021, its Stratford restaurant in London has become the company's best-performing outlet in the world, often with queues of 50 to 100 people outside. However, the UK fast-food market is highly competitive. Wendy's, Shake Shack and Wingstop have all entered the market since 2018, alongside established chains such as KFC and Burger King. Restaurant managers are struggling to recruit enough trained staff in cities such as London and Birmingham, and this has pushed up wage rates for skilled chefs and kitchen staff.

Popeyes is an American fried chicken fast-food chain known for Louisiana-style chicken marinated overnight in spices. Its UK success has surprised the company. To cope with strong demand, Popeyes had to redesign kitchen and serving layouts and retrain employees. Since opening in 2021, its Stratford restaurant in London has become the company's best-performing outlet in the world, often with queues of 50 to 100 people outside. However, the UK fast-food market is highly competitive. Wendy's, Shake Shack and Wingstop have all entered the market since 2018, alongside established chains such as KFC and Burger King. Restaurant managers are struggling to recruit enough trained staff in cities such as London and Birmingham, and this has pushed up wage rates for skilled chefs and kitchen staff.

Mind Candy Ltd produces games and apps for computers and mobile devices. Its most successful game, Moshi Monsters, was a global hit with 80 million users in 2012. In 2013, Mind Candy made large losses as sales revenue fell. The problems were blamed on the short product life cycle of Moshi Monsters and rising competition. As a result, the company reduced its workforce of software developers. Mind Candy then needed to raise £1.2 million of extra finance to cover existing costs and fund new app development, including Petlandia. The app is free to download and lets users design a virtual version of their pet. The adventure can then be turned into a personalised storybook costing £19.99. After the difficulties it faced, Mind Candy changed its main business objective from growth to survival.

Mind Candy Ltd produces games and apps for computers and mobile devices. Its most successful game, Moshi Monsters, was a global hit with 80 million users in 2012. In 2013, Mind Candy made large losses as sales revenue fell. The problems were blamed on the short product life cycle of Moshi Monsters and rising competition. As a result, the company reduced its workforce of software developers. Mind Candy then needed to raise £1.2 million of extra finance to cover existing costs and fund new app development, including Petlandia. The app is free to download and lets users design a virtual version of their pet. The adventure can then be turned into a personalised storybook costing £19.99. After the difficulties it faced, Mind Candy changed its main business objective from growth to survival.

Amelia Cooper trained as a plumber six years ago and has worked for a building company carrying out repairs in the Birmingham area. She now wants to start her own plumbing business called Lili Heating Ltd. Amelia believes she has a unique selling point because she is a woman, and many female customers may feel more comfortable with her working in their homes. As part of her business plan, Amelia has set aims and objectives and carried out a large amount of internet-based market research. Her target market wants clear advice about the work required and the prices charged. Amelia also thinks she can reduce advertising costs by encouraging customers to recommend the business to friends and family, but she knows this depends on maintaining very high standards of work. Her business plan also contains financial forecasts to judge whether she might need an overdraft.

Last Course Patisserie Ltd is a small private limited company based in Devon that makes hand-made desserts and puddings. The business was established in 1986. Its owners previously worked in the food industry and believed they could offer better value for money. All desserts are made fresh to order, which has given the business a reputation for flexibility when meeting customer needs. High-quality ingredients are vital. Last Course Patisserie found excellent local suppliers of free-range eggs and dairy products, allowing ingredients to be delivered quickly when needed. The business has recently employed a new head chef from Switzerland who introduced a new range of products that has proved very popular. Demand has increased sharply, but the business is struggling to keep up because its premises are too small. The owners now believe it is the right time to expand and possibly relocate.

Aphrodite is a clothes shop formed in 1994 by two brothers, Andrew and Duncan McKenzie. They buy stock in Paris, Milan and London and aim to sell both well-known brands such as Stone Island and Hugo Boss and products from new designers. This broad range helps the business stand out from competitors. Customer service has always been central to Aphrodite's success. Customers in the shop are greeted with a polite and friendly attitude. In 2007 the business launched a website and began selling through e-commerce while trying to maintain its high standards of service online. A neighbouring shop unit then became available. Andrew and Duncan are considering buying it and turning the two shops into one larger premises at a cost of £250,000.

Ocado plc is an online grocery retailer with no physical shops. It buys groceries from food manufacturers and other retailers and sells them through its website and app before delivering them to customers' homes. Ocado already has a 62% 'excellent' Trustpilot rating for customer service, which is higher than some rivals such as Asda. It is considering introducing a one-hour same-day delivery service. In 2020, Ocado's sales rose by more than 40% as demand for online grocery shopping increased. Ocado has invested in new warehouse technology and uses just in time stock management. Its robots can pick a customer's order in under five minutes and helped Ocado process an extra 30,000 orders each week. To increase market share further, Ocado is considering expanding its own-label product range.

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook. By 2020, Facebook plc had become the largest social networking website in the world, with 2.5 billion users and advertising revenues of $70.1 billion. The business has expanded through both internal and external growth and bought over 60 companies between 2012 and 2020, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus. Facebook now wants less reliance on advertising and sees future growth in markets such as virtual reality headsets. It also believes social media is reaching the maturity stage of the product life cycle in many of its main markets. In 2020, Facebook decided to let employees in its European headquarters in Dublin work from home. The company believes remote working will not reduce productivity, will help it attract talented coders, graphic designers and software engineers who cannot afford to live in expensive areas, and will cut office-space costs while improving competitiveness against rivals such as Snapchat and Twitter.

In August 2017, Sainsbury's decided to cut its costs by £500 million to remain competitive. One of the changes it made was to end its membership of Fairtrade. Under Fairtrade, farmers in countries such as Kenya received a higher price for crops such as tea, and Sainsbury's could use the Fairtrade logo on products. This made some groceries more attractive to ethically-minded customers. Sainsbury's replaced Fairtrade with its own scheme called 'Fairly Traded'. Critics argued that this could confuse customers, and protests were held in London. At the same time, Sainsbury's reduced its head office workforce by 1,000. This allowed it to increase wages for shop floor employees by 4.4% to £8 per hour, reducing the wage gap with Aldi. Sainsbury's also wants to retrain shop floor employees to improve customer service in its stores.

Mind Candy Ltd produces games and apps for computers and mobile devices. Its most successful game, Moshi Monsters, was a global hit with 80 million users in 2012. In 2013, Mind Candy made large losses as sales revenue fell. The problems were blamed on the short product life cycle of Moshi Monsters and rising competition. As a result, the company reduced its workforce of software developers. Mind Candy then needed to raise £1.2 million of extra finance to cover existing costs and fund new app development, including Petlandia. The app is free to download and lets users design a virtual version of their pet. The adventure can then be turned into a personalised storybook costing £19.99. After the difficulties it faced, Mind Candy changed its main business objective from growth to survival.

Aphrodite is a clothes shop formed in 1994 by two brothers, Andrew and Duncan McKenzie. They buy stock in Paris, Milan and London and aim to sell both well-known brands such as Stone Island and Hugo Boss and products from new designers. This broad range helps the business stand out from competitors. Customer service has always been central to Aphrodite's success. Customers in the shop are greeted with a polite and friendly attitude. In 2007 the business launched a website and began selling through e-commerce while trying to maintain its high standards of service online. A neighbouring shop unit then became available. Andrew and Duncan are considering buying it and turning the two shops into one larger premises at a cost of £250,000.

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook. By 2020, Facebook plc had become the largest social networking website in the world, with 2.5 billion users and advertising revenues of $70.1 billion. The business has expanded through both internal and external growth and bought over 60 companies between 2012 and 2020, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus. Facebook now wants less reliance on advertising and sees future growth in markets such as virtual reality headsets. It also believes social media is reaching the maturity stage of the product life cycle in many of its main markets. In 2020, Facebook decided to let employees in its European headquarters in Dublin work from home. The company believes remote working will not reduce productivity, will help it attract talented coders, graphic designers and software engineers who cannot afford to live in expensive areas, and will cut office-space costs while improving competitiveness against rivals such as Snapchat and Twitter.

In August 2017, Sainsbury's decided to cut its costs by £500 million to remain competitive. One of the changes it made was to end its membership of Fairtrade. Under Fairtrade, farmers in countries such as Kenya received a higher price for crops such as tea, and Sainsbury's could use the Fairtrade logo on products. This made some groceries more attractive to ethically-minded customers. Sainsbury's replaced Fairtrade with its own scheme called 'Fairly Traded'. Critics argued that this could confuse customers, and protests were held in London. At the same time, Sainsbury's reduced its head office workforce by 1,000. This allowed it to increase wages for shop floor employees by 4.4% to £8 per hour, reducing the wage gap with Aldi. Sainsbury's also wants to retrain shop floor employees to improve customer service in its stores.