Running an Enterprise Activity — Open Awards Vocationally-Related Qualification Employability & Work Skills Revision
This element focuses on the practical aspects of planning, executing, and evaluating a small-scale enterprise activity. Learners apply key success factors
Topic Synopsis
This element focuses on the practical aspects of planning, executing, and evaluating a small-scale enterprise activity. Learners apply key success factors to increase the chances of achieving their goals and subsequently reflect on the outcomes to identify areas for improvement. It bridges theoretical knowledge of enterprise with hands-on experience in a controlled setting.
Key Concepts & Core Principles
- Enterprise skills: The ability to identify opportunities, take initiative, and manage resources to achieve goals.
- Market research: Gathering information about customers and competitors to make informed business decisions.
- Business planning: Creating a simple document that outlines your business idea, target market, costs, and expected income.
- Entrepreneurial characteristics: Qualities such as resilience, creativity, risk-taking, and leadership that help businesses succeed.
- Financial basics: Understanding profit, loss, revenue, and costs to ensure a business is viable.
Exam Tips & Revision Strategies
- Maintain a daily log or diary throughout the enterprise activity to capture real-time evidence and reflections, which will strengthen both the completion and review sections.
- Before starting, clearly define what 'success' looks like for your specific activity, and refer back to these criteria when writing your review to demonstrate analytical thinking.
- Use the 'success factors' from the knowledge criteria (e.g., planning, teamwork, marketing) as a checklist to show how you applied them during the activity.
Common Misconceptions & Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming success is solely financial and overlooking other measures such as customer satisfaction or learning gained.
- Failing to record the enterprise activity as it happens, leading to insufficient evidence for the completion and review stages.
- Submitting a review that simply describes what happened without evaluating against the original success criteria or identifying lessons learned.
Examiner Marking Points
- Award credit for a clear plan that identifies at least two specific factors likely to contribute to the success of the enterprise activity, such as effective teamwork or resource management.
- Expect evidence of active participation in completing the enterprise activity, demonstrated through a log, witness statement, or photographic records.
- For the review, require a structured reflection that compares intended success criteria against actual outcomes and suggests at least one improvement for future activities.