Business come together and discuss the business

The business being researched is Gunner Pass. It was set up and is run by Adrian Spires. The business is aimed at young and old people to gain a driving licence. The business also offers refresher courses for people who have come back to driving and may need a refresher. Motorway tuition is also available for customers wishing to gain experience on motorways. The name “Gunner Pass” comes from Adrian being an Arsenal supporter.

All businesses fall under three categories; these are the primary sector, secondary sector and the tertiary sector. The primary sector is when natural resources are used and sold on. For example farming and mining are in the primary sector. The secondary sector is manufacturing the natural resources, an example of this is manufacturing wood into chipboard or metal into cars. Gunner Pass does not extract metal ores and manufacture cars. The final sector is the tertiary sector, this is when a business provides a service such as a catering firm, which provides catering. The business Gunner Pass falls into the tertiary sector, as it provides a service of driving tuition.

Main features of ownership

Gunner Pass is a sole trader. A sole trader is a business that has unlimited liability. This means that if the business goes bankrupt then Adrian will have to sell his personal possessions, which could include his house to settle the debts. Another risk he should be concerned about is 75% of new businesses have to close down within their first eighteen months of opening, so he will be trying hard to avoid that. Other disadvantages include he will have to be working long hours to keep the business up and running, as he works on his own. He won’t want to be ill either because if he is ill the business will temporarily close until he is well.

However he decided to become a sole trader because he won’t have a boss, as he is his own boss. Adrian will also have the job of choosing the company name. All profit the business gets will go straight into Adrian’s pocket. That is a major advantage of being a sole trader, you get to keep all your profit. Apart from all the pros and cons for being a sole trader he decided to run the risk and the business has been running smoothly for nine months.

Main aims and objectives

In business an aim is your target, and your objective is how to aim will be achieved. For example when McDonald’s first opened it 1955 its aim was to survive its first year, sell as many meals as possible and make a profit. Now in the 21st century, McDonald’s is a worldwide business. Its aims are to help charities, be environmentally friendly, expand and beat worldwide competition. Adrian is a sole trader so his aims were to survive in the first few weeks of opening.

To do this he obviously needed customers, so he designed leaflets and distributed them in the local area. He also decided to advertise in the local paper to attract customers. Advertising was a big aim for Adrian, as he needed to make as much profit as possible. All his profit became his own personal money. He needed to adapt to a style of tuition, which would suit his customers. He needed to do this because he had never taught driving lessons before. He wanted to provide a quality service, so satisfied customers could spread the business by word of mouth.

Why is it important for Gunner Pass to set aims and objectives

Adrian main aim was to keep his business up and running for his first few months of opening. To this he needed to advertise his business, he decided to put on special offers to attract customers. This is important to keep the money coming in, as he needs to pay tax on his vehicle and pay for any maintenance. Adrian’s other main aim was to get as many customers booked for a lesson as possible. He advertised in the form of leaflets and in the newspaper.

The more customers he gets then the more profit he will get. Adrian needs keeps advertising as much as he can. He puts money aside to spend on his advertising work. For example if he puts 15 into advertising a week then he would need a 45 back in profit, to make it worthwhile. If he achieves less than 45 profits back a month then he needs to rethink his approach for advertising his business.

Show how successful Gunner Pass is in meeting theses aims and objectives One of Adrian’s aims was to make as much profit as possible. He needed to keep track of his finances to see if his aims as being met. If his aims are being met then he may decide to increase his advertising or type of advertising. Adrian’s business has survived for a successful 9 months so he his achieving his aims of making surviving as possible. He is also achieving his aim of advertising as much as he can. As regular adverts have been appearing in the local paper. When his adverts have been in the paper the number of customers has increased by 30%. Every time he drives his car he is advertising as his car has an advert on it with the businesses number.

Explain why the type of ownership is suited to Gunner Pass Gunner Pass is a sole trader. Adrian chose to become a sole trader as he had never run a business before. The ownership suits Adrian, as he wanted the luxury of keeping all his profit. Keeping and spending his profit was the main reason for starting his business. He also enjoys what he does in his job, as he enjoys training his customers to drive. Adrian has a family to support, so making as much profit was important, but also risky as he doesn’t have any experience. In the future if Gunner Pass is still running well and is successful, Adrian may think to expand and become a plc (public limited company).

Becoming a plc will mean much more paper work. Adrian will have to be working more hours in order to maintain the business. Becoming a plc is a big step for any business. Adrian will need to obtain a Memorandum of Association. This shows the company name, the address where the business is controlled and the type of activity the business runs. Either (primary, secondary, tertiary). If he becomes a plc he will have to hold a regular Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM is a meeting where all people involved in the business come together and discuss the business. The Directors tell the shareholders what their aims are for the next year. The shareholders will either agree or disagree. If the shareholders feel you are doing a bad job then they can sack you. This means the person who started and brought the business up could no longer be part of the business. Adrian has no future plans to become a plc. If he does he will need to expand the business as a whole. Eg. More cars or more employees.