School Assessment: The Business Model, the Business Plan and the Folio
What school assessment rewards
School assessment in Business Innovation is built around a business model and a business plan that you develop, test and refine, supported by a folio of evidence. You must be able to name and apply the core components: the value proposition (what problem you solve and for whom), customer segments, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships and cost structure. You also need to explain how these components interact - a change in one forces changes elsewhere. For example, shifting from a direct-to-consumer channel to a retail partnership alters revenue streams, cost structure and customer relationships simultaneously.
You must understand the innovation process: identifying a problem, generating and screening ideas, prototyping, testing with real users, gathering feedback, and iterating. The folio is where you prove this happened. Assessors look for dated evidence, decisions justified with reasoning, and reflection on what failed and why.
Traps that cost marks
- Describing your business rather than analysing it. "We sell coffee" is description; "our cost structure is dominated by fixed costs, so we need volume above 150 units weekly to break even" is analysis.
- Confusing a business model with a business plan. The model explains how value is created and captured; the plan is the forward-looking document covering operations, marketing, finance and risk.
- Presenting the final idea as if it emerged fully formed. Assessment rewards documented iteration, including dead ends.
- Ignoring feasibility. A value proposition with no evidence of demand is a guess.
Worked example and rule of thumb
A student proposes a reusable coffee cup hire scheme. Rather than listing features, she maps each component, then tests: she surveys 40 potential customers, runs a two-week trial at one café, and records that 60 per cent of users forgot to return cups, raising replacement costs. She revises the model to a deposit system and documents the change with dates, data and reasoning. That documented pivot is what earns credit. Rule of thumb: every claim in your folio should answer "how do I know?" - with evidence, not opinion.