Part 2: Arty Parties Suzie was twenty nine when she took voluntary redundancy from her well paid job in magazine advertising. At the time, she lived in central London. She had a two year old daughter and a son, aged six. She and her husband Dave, a struggling musician, agreed to move back to where Suzie's family roots were in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Suzie would set up her own marketing consultancy as a sole trader, working from home. Dave would look after the children but also earn some money by giving private piano lessons. For Suzie in particular, this move was about improving quality of life for her family and living somewhere that was a nice place to bring up children. Suzie was tired of the rat race and the big city life. She knew, however, that there were risks and an opportunity cost in not just looking for another job. Eastbourne is a quiet, pleasant, middle sized town on the South coast. The average age of the population is well over forty, as the biggest group by far are reasonably well-off retired people, living in their own houses or one of the town's many retirement homes. Tourism plays a part in the local economy but, as with most English seaside towns, the seafront has seen better days. A year later, although Suzie has managed to get a reasonable amount of work for her new business, and has no regrets about moving, the family are struggling financially. Suzie is looking for new and different business opportunities. After hearing from a single friend about speed dating, Suzie came up with the idea of running what she called 'Arty Parties'. This would be a mixture of a book club and speed dating, with graduate level people paying for the privilege of attending organised social evenings. Suzie felt that this could be a lucrative part time income to supplement her main business. However she recognised that the idea needed a lot of work and a proper business plan. One thing she wanted to think about was protecting the business idea from being copied by others. 1. Explain what is meant by the following terms: i) Opportunity cost ( 3 marks) ii) Sole trader ( 3 marks) 2. What are the risks and rewards for Suzie of becoming an entrepreneur? (6 marks) 3. Explain what support the government may be able to provide Suzie. (4 marks) Hint: such assistance schemes come and go with changes of government. You might like to do some research on the internet to see what is currently available. 4. Discuss whether it may be possible for Suzie to protect her 'Arty Parties' business idea (5 marks) 5. Examine how Suzie could go about generating ideas for her 'Arty Parties' business plan. What views do you have about the likely strength of demand for the product she is thinking about? ( 8 marks)