1.2.1

Sole Traders

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Types of Business Ownership - Sole Traders

Every business needs a legal structure that defines who owns it. A sole trader is a single person who is the exclusive owner of a business. They can still have employees and the owner is entitled to keep all of the profits after tax but is also personally liable for the business’ debts.

Advantages

Advantages

  • They are the easiest type of business to set up.
  • The sole trader gets to be their own boss.
  • The sole trader decides what to do with the profit.
  • It is easy to change the legal structure if circumstances change.
Disadvantages

Disadvantages

  • Unlimited Liability means that there is no legal distinction between the sole trader’s assets and the business’ assets.
  • It can be hard to raise finance. Banks often see sole traders as riskier.
  • All the responsibility for making business decisions is yours. Having someone to share decision making with, can improve performance.
  • It can be harder to retain (keep) good employees as they aren’t necessarily given a share of the profits.
Jump to other topics
1

What is Business?

1.1

Understanding the Nature of Business

1.1.1Why Businesses Exist1.1.2Business Aims & Objectives1.1.3Revenue & Costs1.1.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Cost Leadership1.1.5Profit1.1.6End of Topic Test - The Nature of Business
1.2

Understanding Different Business Forms

1.2.1Sole Traders1.2.2Limited Liability1.2.3Non-Profit1.2.4Franchising1.2.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Franchising at Blockbuster1.2.6Key Business Terms1.2.7Shareholders1.2.8End of Topic Test - Different Businesses
1.3

External Environments

1.3.1External Environments
2

Managers, Leadership & Decision Making

2.1

Understanding Management

2.1.1Managers2.1.2Management Theories2.1.3End of Topic Test - Management
2.2

Understanding Management Decision Making

2.2.1Scientific Decision Making2.2.2Intuition Decision Making2.2.3Influences on Decision Making2.2.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Taylorism & Jack Welch2.2.5End of Topic Test - Management Decisions
2.3

Understanding Stakeholders

2.3.1Stakeholders
3

Decision Making to Improve Marketing Performance

3.1

Decision Making to Improve Marketing Performance

3.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives
3.2

Understanding Markets & Customers

3.2.1Market Calculations3.2.2Market Research3.2.3Market Mapping3.2.4Methods of Market Research3.2.5Interpreting PED & YED
3.3

Market Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning

3.3.1Segmentation3.3.2Niche & Mass Markets
3.4

Marketing Mix

3.4.1Marketing Mix3.4.2Product Decisions3.4.3Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming3.4.4Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration3.4.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Pricing & Competition3.4.6Promotional Decisions3.4.7Promotional Decisions 23.4.8Promotional Decisions 33.4.9Distribution Decisions3.4.10Distribution Decisions 23.4.11Digital Marketing3.4.12Evaluating Digital Marketing3.4.13A-A* (AO3/4) - The Marketing Mix & Promotion
4

Decision Making to Improve Operational Performance

4.1

Setting Operational Objectives

4.1.1Setting Operational Objectives
4.2

Analysing Operational Performance

4.2.1Operations Data4.2.2A-A* (AO3/4) - The Problem with Operations Data
4.3

Increasing Efficiency & Productivity

4.3.1Capacity4.3.2Productivity & Efficiency4.3.3Technology & Efficiency
4.4

Improving Quality

4.4.1Importance of Quality4.4.2Measuring & Identifying Quality4.4.3Total Quality Management4.4.4Evaluating Total Quality Management4.4.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Toyota Production System
4.5

Managing Inventory & Supply Chains

4.5.1Improving the Supply Chain4.5.2Inventory4.5.3Outsourcing
5

Decision Making to Improve Financial Performance

5.1

Financial Objectives

5.1.1Setting Financial Objectives5.1.2Influences on Financial Objectives
5.2

Analysing Financial Performance

5.2.1Cash-Flow & Budgets5.2.2Break-Even & Profitability Analysis
5.3

Sources of Finance

5.3.1Internal Sources of Finance5.3.2External Sources of Finance5.3.3Factors for Financing5.3.4A/A* (AO3/4) - Debt
5.4

Improving Cash Flow & Profit

5.4.1Improving Cash Flow & Profits
6

Improving Human Resource Performance

6.1

Human Resource Objectives

6.1.1Setting Human Resource Objectives6.1.2Human Resource Management
6.2

Analysing Human Resource Performance

6.2.1Analysing Human Resource Performance6.2.2Analysing Human Resource Performance 26.2.3Analysing Human Resource Performance 3
6.3

Improving Organisational Design

6.3.1Job Design6.3.2Organisational Design6.3.3Human Resource Flow6.3.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Amazon & Netflix Org Design
6.4

Improving Motivation & Engagement

6.4.1Motivating & Engaging Employees6.4.2Taylor's Theory6.4.3Maslow's Theory6.4.4Herzberg's Theory6.4.5Different Incentives6.4.6Evaluating Incentives
6.5

Improving Employer-Employee Relations

6.5.1Improving Employer-Employee Relations6.5.2A-A* (AO3/4) - The Winter of Discontent
7

Analysing the Strategic Position of a Business

7.1

Mission, Corporate Objectives, Strategy

7.1.1Business Mission & Corporate Objective7.1.2Mission, Corporate Objectives & Strategy7.1.3SWOT Analysis7.1.4A-A* (AO3/4) - SWOT Analysis
7.2

Financial Ratio Analysis

7.2.1Financial Ratios
7.3

Overall Performance

7.3.1Non-Financial Data7.3.2Core Competences7.3.3Assessing Business Performance7.3.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Assessing Financial Performance
7.4

Political & Legal Change

7.4.1Political & Legal Change
7.5

Economic Change

7.5.1Economic Environment7.5.2Business Considerations from Globalisation7.5.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Interest Rates in the UK
7.6

Social & Technological Environment

7.6.1Social & Technological Environment7.6.2Lifestyle & Technological Environment7.6.3Corporate Social Responsibility
7.7

Competitive Environment

7.7.1Porter's Five Forces7.7.2A-A* (AO3/4) - The 5 Forces
7.8

Investment Appraisal

7.8.1Investment Appraisal
8

Choosing Strategic Direction

8.1

Choosing Areas of Competition

8.1.1Choosing Areas of Competition8.1.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Diversification
8.2

Choosing How to Compete

8.2.1Choosing How to Compete
9

How to Pursue Strategies

9.1

Change in Scale

9.1.1Growth & Retrenchment9.1.2Challenges of Growth9.1.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Diseconomies of Scale
9.2

Assessing Innovation

9.2.1Assessing Innovation
9.3

Assessing Internationalisation

9.3.1Internationalisation9.3.2Sourcing Resources & Entering Markets9.3.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Internationalisation in Guatemala9.3.4Managing Internationalisation9.3.5Impact of Internationalisation
9.4

Digital Technology

9.4.1Assessing Use of Digital Technology9.4.2Impact of Digital Technology
10

Managing Strategic Change

10.1

Managing Change

10.1.1Managing Change
10.2

Managing Organisational Culture

10.2.1Managing Organisational Culture10.2.2Organisational Structures
10.3

Managing Strategic Implementation

10.3.1Managing Strategic Implementation
10.4

Problems with Strategy

10.4.1Problems with Strategy10.4.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Divorce of Ownership from Control

Practice questions on Sole Traders

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  1. 1
    Features of sole traders:True / false
  2. 2
    What is the term used to describe the lack of distinction between a sole trader's assets and their business' assets?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Which of the following is a disadvantage of being a sole trader?Multiple choice
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End of Topic Test - The Nature of Business

Limited Liability