An entrepreneur is the person who takes the risk of starting a business. The exam rewards you for linking motives, traits and challenges to the case study.
Is every business owner an entrepreneur, and do I need to know what makes a good one?
An entrepreneur starts and runs a business, taking on risk in return for reward. People start up for financial reasons, such as profit, and non-financial reasons, such as independence. The role shifts from doing everything to leading and delegating as the business grows.
Year 12 (7137/7138): This is AS content in unit 3.1.1, so it is examined on AS Paper 1 in 2027 and A-level Paper 1 in 2028. Learn the motives, the six characteristics, the challenges and the changing role. Expect Define, Explain and Analyse questions at AS, then Assess and Evaluate.
Year 13 (7132, June 2027): Your course is the outgoing specification. Entrepreneurs sit inside 7132 section 3.1, What is business? Use this page as revision of the idea and as a source of case-study links, especially for how a founder's role changes with growth.
An entrepreneur is a person who spots an opportunity, organises resources and takes the risk of starting a business. The reward is profit. The risk is losing the money and time invested.
The specification splits reasons into financial and non-financial. Strong answers say which one drives the person in the case, because motives affect later decisions.
| Financial reasons | Non-financial reasons |
|---|---|
| Profit and a higher income than employment offers | Independence: being your own boss |
| Building wealth by growing or selling the business | Doing work you enjoy or care about |
| Financial security for the family | Flexibility, a better work-life balance, or a social or ethical aim |
A key idea is opportunity cost: the next best alternative given up. A founder who leaves a salaried job gives up that income. So a non-financial motive can outweigh a lower income.
Illustrative figures: Maya leaves a job paying £28,000 to open a café. She forecasts profit of £20,000 in year 1 and £34,000 in year 3. In year 1 she is £8,000 worse off than in her job, because £28,000 less £20,000 is £8,000. In year 3 she is £6,000 better off. Independence may explain why she accepts year 1.
None of these guarantees success. Marks come from applying a trait to the case, for example resilience after a poor first year.
New firms start and old ones close all the time. The ONS (Office for National Statistics, the UK statistics body) recorded 317,000 UK business births and 280,000 business deaths in 2024.[1] A business death is when a firm de-registers and stops trading, so it is not always a failure.[1]
At first the entrepreneur does almost everything: selling, buying, paying bills. As staff join, the role moves towards planning, leading and delegating. Delegation means passing authority for tasks to others.
The change brings its own challenges. The founder must trust managers, build a structure and communicate the vision to more people. Some founders find this hard, so a professional manager may be hired. Greggs shows one path: John Gregg founded it in 1939, and when he died in 1964 his son Ian took over the bakery.[2]
Evaluation means weighing arguments and reaching a judgement. On this topic, the judgement usually depends on four things.
A good judgement names the factor that decides the answer. For example: success depends most on managing cash in the first two years, because a lack of cash ends firms that have good products.
Every AQA Business question uses one of five command words, each with a fixed mark tariff, and quantitative questions sit inside the 9 and 15-mark formats. The A-level papers have no 2 or 4-mark questions. Open each format to see how this topic appears in it. All questions here are original Curriculum Circle practice questions, not board questions.
On this topicAsks for a precise meaning of a term such as entrepreneur or opportunity cost.
What earns the marksAO1 only: two marks for an accurate definition, often with a short extension or example.
CC practice questionDefine the term 'entrepreneur'. (2 marks)
On this topicAsks why a motive or trait matters, tied to a short context.
What earns the marksAO1 for the idea and AO2 for applying it to the named business.
CC practice questionExplain one non-financial reason why Tariq might have left his job to open a bicycle repair shop. (4 marks)
On this topicAsks for a developed chain of reasoning on one challenge or characteristic.
What earns the marksAO1 and AO2 for knowledge and context, plus AO3 for a clear cause and effect chain.
CC practice questionAnalyse how poor cash flow might affect a new bakery run by one entrepreneur. (6 marks)
On this topicAsks you to weigh how far a trait or challenge affects start-up success, then judge.
What earns the marksAO1 to AO3 for argument, plus AO4 for a supported judgement.
CC practice questionAssess the importance of resilience to the success of a new online clothing business. (9 marks)
On this topicAsks you to choose between two courses of action open to a growing founder.
What earns the marksAll four AOs: knowledge, context, analysis and a justified recommendation.
CC practice questionPriya's five-year-old cafe chain has grown to 12 sites. She can keep making all key decisions herself or delegate to area managers. Evaluate which option she should choose. (15 marks)
On this topicThis topic has no formula. Case data such as forecast profit, start-up costs and salary given up is used to compare financial and non-financial motives.
What earns the marksAO2 and AO3 for using numbers correctly, and AO4 for judging what they mean.
CC practice questionA founder earns £30,000 in a job. Her new firm forecasts profit of £18,000 in year 1 and £36,000 in year 3. Assess whether the financial case justifies leaving her job. (9 marks)
| Weight | What it is | What it means on entrepreneurs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AO1 | 32.5% AS · 24.44% A-level | Knowledge and understanding of terms, concepts, theories, methods and models | Know the financial and non-financial reasons, the six characteristics, the challenges and how the role changes. Define entrepreneur accurately. |
| AO2 | 27.5% AS · 24.44% A-level | Application to the business context in the case study | Tie every point to the business in the case: its sector, size, stage and the founder's stated motive. |
| AO3 | 20% AS · 26.66% A-level | Analysis of issues and their impact on individuals and organisations | Build chains such as: no track record, so the bank refuses a loan, so the founder lacks stock, so sales fall. |
| AO4 | 20% AS · 24.44% A-level | Evaluation of quantitative and qualitative information to make judgements | Judge which trait, motive or challenge matters most and say what it depends on, such as stage of growth or sector. |
Weightings are approximate and taken from the AQA AS 7137 and A-level 7138 specification [0].
Rhys has run a small craft brewery alone for three years. It now employs 14 people and sales are rising. Evaluate whether Rhys should hire a general manager to run daily operations or stay in charge himself. (15 marks)
Hiring a general manager frees Rhys to plan growth, because daily tasks such as scheduling and ordering would be handled by someone else. That could lead to new customers, so sales could rise. It also removes pressure on his time, which matters if his motive was a better work-life balance. However, a salary adds fixed cost, so profit falls unless sales rise.
Hiring is the better choice if the brewery is already growing fast, because Rhys's time is then worth more spent on strategy than on routine tasks. Staying in charge may suit him if he is passionate about brewing and values control. The judgement depends on whether the extra sales cover the manager's salary within a year, and on whether Rhys can delegate without losing quality.
Greggs was founded by John Gregg in 1939, and its first shop opened on Gosforth High Street in Newcastle in 1951.[2] When Gregg died in 1964, the bakery was taken over by his son Ian.[2] It shows a founder's role passing to a second leader as a firm grows.
Innocent Drinks says its three founders crushed £500 worth of fruit into bottles and sold them from a stall at a small West London music festival.[3] A sign asked whether they should give up their jobs, and customers voted by putting empties in a yes or a no bin.[3] In a school talk on 2 June 2026, co-founder Richard Reed said it took 18 months of hard work, persistence and resilience before Innocent became established.[4]
In 2024 the ONS recorded 317,000 UK business births and 280,000 business deaths.[1] The business death rate fell from 10.8% in 2023 to 9.8% in 2024, the lowest since 2016.[1] The data shows that new firms start and close every year, so start-up risk is real but not certain.
Everything above is the topic page. The pieces below take it further. Each one trains a particular assessment objective rather than covering the topic again, and they are added over the year.
Figures and facts were checked against these sources on 2 November 2026. Worked numbers labelled "Illustrative figures" are invented for teaching.
The CC Business revision platform and the Inner Academy's recorded lessons hold the full practice set and worked answers for this topic.
See the Business platformThe Inner Academy