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Business & Entrepreneurship

Starting and running a small business on solid ground: customers, costs, pricing, profit, planning and basic operations.

Area status: Launching nextStarter → Proficient

Next in line after the first platform release. Not open to learners yet.

At a glance

  • 8 training programmes
  • Levels: Starter → Proficient
  • Used in 4 seed pathways
  • 12 skills

Training in this area

8 training programmes

Each programme shows its own status. Planned modules are an outline and may change before they are built and reviewed.

Status: Launching nextStart here

Business Foundations

Understand how a small business makes money: revenue, costs, profit, pricing, cash flow, customers and a simple plan.

  • Level range: Starter → Capable
  • 4 related pathways

Planned modules

  1. What a business needs to work
  2. Revenue, cost and profit
  3. Pricing and margins
  4. Cash-flow basics
  5. Customers and suppliers
  6. A one-page business plan

What you’ll practise

  • Calculating revenue, costs and profit for a worked example
  • Testing how a discount changes profit
  • Tracking a month of money in and out
  • Writing a one-page plan

Skills

  • Revenue, costs and profit
  • Pricing and margins
  • Cash-flow basics
  • Basic business planning
  • Customer and supplier records

Examples adapt to your work: the same skills, with examples for firewood seller, farmer, mechanic.

Status: Planned

Business Operations

Run the day-to-day smoothly with routines, stock and order control, simple written procedures and a few useful measures.

  • Level range: Capable → Proficient
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Daily and weekly routines
  2. Stock and orders
  3. Simple written procedures
  4. Measuring what matters

What you’ll practise

  • Writing a one-page procedure
  • Choosing three measures for your business

Skills

  • Running daily operations
  • Customer and supplier records

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Planned

Cash Flow

Keep enough cash to pay the bills: forecasts, payment terms and planning for seasonal ups and downs.

  • Level range: Capable → Proficient
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Cash is not profit
  2. A 12-week cash-flow forecast
  3. Paying and getting paid on time
  4. Planning for seasons

What you’ll practise

  • Building a 12-week cash-flow forecast
  • Planning for a slow season

Skills

  • Cash-flow basics
  • Budgeting

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Planned

Customers & Markets

Understand who your customers are, what they value and who else they could buy from, and test demand cheaply.

  • Level range: Starter → Capable
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Who your customers are
  2. What they need and value
  3. Competitors and alternatives
  4. Testing demand cheaply

What you’ll practise

  • Describing your customers
  • Comparing three competitors

Skills

  • Understanding customer needs
  • Basic business planning

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Planned

Pricing & Margins

Set prices with confidence: cost-plus pricing, margins and mark-up, discounts and pricing for different customers.

  • Level range: Capable → Proficient
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Cost-plus pricing
  2. Margins and mark-up
  3. Discounts and promotions
  4. Pricing for different customers

What you’ll practise

  • Pricing a product from its costs
  • Deciding whether a bulk discount is worth it

Skills

  • Pricing and margins
  • Revenue, costs and profit

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Planned

Starting a Small Business

Test an idea, choose a simple structure, set up banking and records, and find your first customers.

  • Level range: Starter → Capable
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Testing a business idea
  2. Choosing a simple structure
  3. Registration, banking and records
  4. Your first customers

What you’ll practise

  • Testing an idea with five potential customers
  • Planning your set-up steps

Skills

  • Basic business planning
  • Business set-up basics

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Planned

Supplier Management

Choose and compare suppliers, place orders, handle delivery problems and keep supplier records.

  • Level range: Starter → Capable
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Choosing suppliers
  2. Quotes and orders
  3. Deliveries and problems
  4. Keeping supplier records

What you’ll practise

  • Comparing three supplier quotes
  • Handling a short delivery

Skills

  • Supplier management
  • Customer and supplier records

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Coming later

Hiring Your First Employee

Decide whether to hire, write a role description, interview fairly and understand your responsibilities as an employer.

  • Level range: Starter → Capable
  • No related pathway yet

Planned modules

  1. Do you need to hire?
  2. Writing a role description
  3. Fair interviews
  4. Employer responsibilities
  5. The first weeks

What you’ll practise

  • Writing a role description
  • Planning a fair interview

Skills

  • Hiring basics
  • Supervising a team

Best after: Business Foundations

Also relevant

These programmes belong to another area but are useful here. They are taught once, in one place.

Status: Planned

AI for Small Business

Use AI to save time on everyday business tasks, from customer messages and quotes to market research, while checking everything before you use it.

  • Level range: Starter → Capable
  • No related pathway yet
  • From AI & Automation

Planned modules

  1. Where AI helps a small business
  2. Drafting customer messages and quotes
  3. Researching suppliers and markets
  4. Checking numbers and claims
  5. Keeping customer data private

What you’ll practise

  • Drafting and correcting a customer quote with AI
  • Checking an AI market summary against sources

Skills

  • Asking AI clear, effective questions
  • Verifying AI output
  • Protecting data when using AI
  • Using AI for business tasks

Best after: Digital Foundations

Status: Planned

Bookkeeping Basics

Keep money organised: record income and expenses, create invoices and receipts, and produce a simple monthly summary.

Planned modules

  1. Why records matter
  2. Income and expenses
  3. Invoices and receipts
  4. A simple monthly summary

What you’ll practise

  • Recording a month of transactions
  • Creating an invoice and a receipt

Skills

  • Bookkeeping basics
  • Invoicing and receipts
  • Spreadsheet basics

Best after: Business Foundations

Status: Planned

Digital Marketing Basics

Reach customers online with a clear message, a simple online presence and social media you can keep up with.

Planned modules

  1. Who you serve and why you
  2. A simple online presence
  3. Social media for business
  4. Measuring simple results

What you’ll practise

  • Writing a clear one-line offer
  • Planning a month of simple posts

Skills

  • Marketing basics
  • Social media for business

Best after: Digital Foundations

Status: Planned

Freelancing Basics

Find and keep clients, write proposals and simple agreements, and get paid safely, including across borders.

Planned modules

  1. Is freelancing right for you?
  2. Presenting your services
  3. Proposals and simple agreements
  4. Getting paid safely
  5. Avoiding freelancer scams

What you’ll practise

  • Writing a short proposal
  • Spotting a fake client

Skills

  • Finding and keeping clients
  • Getting paid safely
  • Invoicing and receipts

Best after: Remote Work Foundations

Status: Coming later

Trade Business Skills

Digital and business skills for skilled trades: quoting jobs, keeping digital job records, explaining work and getting paid.

Planned modules

  1. Quoting a job
  2. Job cards and digital records
  3. Explaining work to customers
  4. Invoices and follow-up

What you’ll practise

  • Writing a job quotation
  • Recording a job with photos and approvals

Skills

  • Job quoting
  • Digital job records
  • Clear communication
  • Invoicing and receipts

Best after: Digital Foundations

Who it’s for

Professions, goals and skill families

Related professions and industries

Goals it supports

Skill families

Related pathways

Pathways that use this training

Worked out automatically from the training each pathway stage uses.

Current availability

Launching next

  • Launching nextNext in line after the first platform release. Not open to learners yet. 1 training programmes
  • PlannedDesigned and scheduled, not yet being built. 6 training programmes
  • Coming laterOn the roadmap for a later stage. 1 training programmes

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