Structure of the course

This course consists of five sections, with each section focusing on a particular aspect of starting a small business:

1. Small business structures [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]   looks at the different ways in which a small business could be set up and operated in the United Kingdom. The section will encourage you to consider a small business you are planning to set up or one that you are interested in. You will then select an appropriate structure for the business.
2. Small business and marketing looks at sales and marketing approaches for small businesses and how to nurture effective customer relationships. You will then take your small business idea and create a plan for the business to improve the relationships with customers.
3. Small business responsibilities covers legal requirements and financial aspects of small businesses. These include how to transfer money within a business and relationships with regulatory organisations. You will review your business idea and consider the most appropriate legal structure and the financial and legal responsibilities for your chosen business idea.
4. Succeeding in a small business looks at the common features shared by successful small businesses and some of the potential pitfalls in running a small business. You will use this information to produce an action plan to improve the potential for success for your business idea.

Together they amount to approximately 15 hours of study time. Each section has a mixture of reading, video clips, activities and quizzes that will help you to engage with the course content.

A further section, Taking my learning further, will enable you to reflect upon what you have learned within this course. It also directs you to relevant websites and resources, which further relate to the development of your learning and career prospects.

Once you have studied a section, you will be asked to complete a short online quiz of no more than five questions per section. This helps to test and embed your learning. If you pass the quiz (and you do get more than one attempt!), you will be awarded with a downloadable badge for that section.

Starting your small business is designed to allow you to dip in and out of the resources and collect badges as you wish, so that you can study in small chunks to fit around your work and life commitments. If you choose to complete all sections of Starting your small business and collect the full set of badges, you can download a statement of participation that recognises your achievement. You may find this useful to show your employer as evidence of your learning. For more information on how to obtain your badges, read What is a badge?