Business (AS & A Level) · May / June 2026 · Paper 21 · Question 2

Drive Wise (DW) DW operates a franchise as a franchisor. Driving instructors can become a franchisee and sell driving lessons under the DW brand. DW has grown very quickly, gaining a 25% share of the market in three years. Driving instructors must prepare a business plan when applying to become a DW franchisee. To prepare the business plan, the driving instructor must carry out primary market research to assess potential customer demand for driving lessons in their area. DW sets budgets each year. The budget for advertising was $25 500 in 2025. However, DW actually spent $31 800 on advertising in 2025. The prices for DW driving lessons are set by DW’s finance manager, who uses break‑even analysis to make pricing decisions. In addition to driving lessons, DW sells a ‘learn to drive’ book which customers can buy from its website with next day delivery. The book is very popular, and the business uses JIC (Just in Case) inventory management. DW’s website generates over $28 000 of revenue each year from sales of the ‘learn to drive’ book. The website is updated by the website manager and an IT assistant. The website manager designs the website and resolves any technical problems. The IT assistant helps the manager with simple programming and administrative tasks. The website manager will retire in two months’ time. A new website manager will need to be recruited. The human resource manager needs to decide whether the new website manager should be recruited internally or externally. 5 10 15 20

Read automatically from the paper; the printed page above is exact.