Week 1 · Readings & resources

Week 1 — Readings & Resources

Introduction to Business Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 1 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 71–84 minutes for everything. Each group links back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (17–21 min total)

① Who a business answers to

Chapter 1, Section “Compare the not-for-profit: same tools, different purpose” · Session 1, Segment 2, “The not-for-profit contrast” · Remember: a not-for-profit can run a surplus, but it puts the surplus back into its mission instead of paying it to owners.

Exemption requirements for 501(c)(3) organizations — Internal Revenue Service — the federal tax agency's own short page on what a charitable organization must do to stay tax-exempt; find the line saying its earnings may not go to private owners, and match it to the chapter's not-for-profit definition. Read it as general education, not advice for any organization. (reading, 5–8 min)
For-Profit vs Nonprofit: More than a Tax Status — The Corley Company — a podcast-style episode for nonprofit board members that lists how running the two kinds of organization is alike (revenue, budgets, marketing, paid staff) and how it differs (volunteers, donors, clients, and a required board); it does not discuss where any leftover money goes, so add that difference from the chapter. (video, 10 min) (captions: creator)
What is a Stakeholder? — Two Teachers — a short animated explainer of the groups who have an interest in a business; as you watch, check each group it names against the seven stakeholder groups in the chapter, and bring one example to the Week-1 module overview. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)

② What a business runs on

Chapter 1, Section “Name the factors of production: what a business runs on” · Session 2, Segment 4, “The factors of production” · Remember: land, work, tools, and the bet that ties them together.

Factors of Production: Audio Assignment — Federal Reserve Education — a short audio lesson from the Federal Reserve's education site, with a full transcript, on land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship; read the transcript and note why it says money is not capital. (reading, 6–9 min)
What are Factors of Production? — MooMooMath and Science — a quick walk through the four factors using a coffee shop as the example; pause after each factor and name its match on the chapter's family farm. (video, 4 min) (captions: automatic)
Who Even Is An Entrepreneur?: Crash Course Business - Entrepreneurship #1 — CrashCourse — a lively first episode on what the word entrepreneur means and what kind of risk an entrepreneur carries; listen for how it connects spotting a chance to sell with taking on risk. (video, 13 min) (captions: creator)

③ Scanning outside and sorting the SWOT

Chapter 1, Section “Build the coffee cart's first SWOT: inside versus outside” · Session 2, Segment 6, “The coffee cart's first SWOT” · Remember: inside versus outside first, good versus bad second.

SWOT analysis: An easy tool for strategic planning — Business Development Bank of Canada — a plain-language guide from a small-business lender on running a SWOT and turning it into next steps; read the sections that sort internal factors from external ones and compare its examples with the coffee cart's grid. (reading, 10–14 min)
PESTEL Analysis EXPLAINED — Business To You — a clear tour of the six forces in a PESTEL scan, including where the legal and political forces overlap and why versions of the checklist differ; for each force, think of one example for a business near you. (video, 10 min) (captions: automatic)
The Right Way to Perform a SWOT Analysis — Dr. Liane Davey — a short talk on doing a SWOT well, starting from the world outside the organization; listen for why opportunities and threats come from the environment rather than from inside. (video, 5 min) (captions: creator)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Plan your business: market research and competitive analysis — U.S. Small Business Administration — the federal small-business agency's planning guide, which this course returns to all term; read the market research and competitive analysis section for how owners study customers and competitors, and skip the later sections on plans, costs, and funding for now. (reading, 6–9 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com