Andrew Cave: My name's Andrew Cave and I'm the spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses.
For an entrepreneur you generally go into business because of something you feel passionate about.
What you don't always think about is that you are your own Head of HR, you're your own accountants off.
Parvel: My name is Parvel,I'm self-employed and I train and assess people working on the construction site.
In the construction industry maths is very important.
All self-employed builders have to pay 20% tax when they submit their invoices.
So the sub-total is £250 and to work out the 20% tax deduction, in this case, we'd have to take a fifth of £250 and the fifth is £50.
So we deduct £50 from £250 to get £200.
Andrew Cave: If you're running a business such as a florists, it's absolutely essential that you have the basic literacy and numeracy skills.
Female, florist, long dark hair: As a florist, we have to write quite a lot of letters to clients and so, for example this one, I've divided the letter into three paragraphs.
So the first section, we have discussing the wedding and then the second paragraph, go on to talk about the prices of that.
And then the final paragraph is summarising and information.
Male, market trader, stripey top: Lovely, cheers darling, thank you.
I need to make sure that I get the right price so when people have a few things I just jot them down so then I know I've added the right prices up.
Andrew Cave: If you're a market trader you're probably not going to have a till that you can use to do all of your adding up and subtracting and if you've got a lot of customers coming to you, you want to be able to serve them as quickly as possible to make sure that by the end of the day you've got a healthy profit.
Male, market trader, stripey top: The melons are 75p, strawberries are £1.80 and the cherries are £1.20.
Andrew Cave: It will take you more time and more effort if you do not have those basic skills.
So it's worth putting the time in to get that right in the very beginning.
Male, market trader, stripey top: So that equals £3.75, thank you.
Quick tips for tutors
These resources cover some of the literacy and numeracy skills that may be needed to work in business and as an entrepreneur. They also signpost to further websites to find more information about this vocational area. All the resources can be cross-referenced to the national adult literacy or numeracy curriculum and will also be relevant for learners on Functional Skills courses.
Downloadable Factsheets
Entry 3 - Working in business as an entrepreneur
Summary of the skills required for starting up and running your own business.
Level 1 - Keeping weekly business accounts
How to work out if your business is making a profit or loss - includes a cashbook record example.
Level 1 - Useful words for entrepreneurship and business
Summary of common words used in business and as an entrepreneur, including tips on remembering how to spell them.
Downloadable Worksheets
Entry 1 & 2 - Business plans
An activity in helping to put a business plan together.
Entry 3 - Skills for business
Assess your skills for work-related tasks in running your own business by completing this chart.
Entry 3 - Writing a quotation for business
Exercise in understanding how a quotation is written, with questions on the different elements of a business quotation.
Level 1 - Keeping business records
Exercise in completing an accounts book and working out the balance.
Level 1 - Entrepreneurial and business words in use
Exercises in matching business words to their definitions, and writing sentences using business words in their correct context.
