Business Studies — IGCSE

Answer: Creditable factors include proximity to existing customers and delivery costs, rent and rates, competition, foot traffic, staff availability, and whether the site supports both retail and wholesale.

1. Factor one, named and justified for this business (1 mark)
2. Factor two, named and justified for this business (1 mark)
3. Uses the context given: supermarkets, second branch, Serowe (1 mark)
4. A recommendation that follows from the two factors (1 mark)
5. A reason for the recommendation that a sceptical owner would accept (1 mark)

Use the context in the question by name. The word "Serowe" in your answer is often the difference between application marks and none.

Answer: Sole trader

1. One owner
2. Personally responsible for debts = unlimited liability

The giveaway is liability, not size. Many small businesses are companies precisely to separate the owner from the debts.

Answer: Contribution per unit = selling price − variable cost per unit = P15; total contribution = 1,000 × P15 = P15,000

1. Definition: the amount each unit contributes towards fixed costs and profit
2. Per unit: 40 − 25 = P15
3. Total: 1,000 × 15 = P15,000

Definitions must not use the word being defined. "Contribution is what it contributes" is the most common reason a definition mark is not awarded.

Answer: A justified recommendation, e.g. spend most of it on primary research aimed at the three specific unknowns — a short survey of local employees and two focus groups — because the owner needs to know about this district, and published data will not answer it.

1. Identify what is unknown and specific to this business (class timings, price sensitivity)
2. Primary research answers it directly; secondary data (national reports) is cheaper but generic
3. A specific method with a reason earns marks: survey of local employees, focus group of existing gym users, trial membership offer
4. Balance: keep part of the budget for a low-cost secondary check (local competitor pricing)
5. A decision is required — spend on primary, with a reason

"Recommend and justify" needs a decision. A balanced essay that never says what to do scores in the middle band, however good the English is.

Answer: Self-mark against the levels below: a decision is required, and the best answers make the decision conditional on something specific (for example, a signed contract with a tour operator for the shoulder months).

1. Case for — twelve rooms at high season prices increases revenue; building in the low season avoids lost bookings
2. Case against — a loan must be serviced through the low season, when the guesthouse is only half full, and the owner has no other income
3. The specific risk — demand in the shoulder months is assumed, not evidenced
4. Decision — proceed only if off-season demand is confirmed in advance (contract with an operator, or a smaller first phase), otherwise the loan is the danger rather than the building

Write the decision in the first line of your final paragraph, then justify it. Markers look for the judgement, and a judgement buried at the end of a long sentence can be missed.

Answer: Depreciation of the delivery van

1. Cash flow records money actually moving
2. Depreciation spreads the cost of an asset over time and involves no transfer of money

This is the classic distinction question. If no money changes hands, it belongs in the income statement, not the cash-flow forecast.

Answer: Job rotation

1. Non-financial means no money changes hands
2. Job rotation changes the tasks a worker performs

One-word test: could it appear on a payslip? If not, it is non-financial.