1

Quote

Dear Business Studies Teacher

Do not follow where the path may lead.

Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

— Muriel Strode

Nov

20

18

Well done on surviving another academic year!

During the past 11 months you have probably done some “bundu-bashing” where

there were no paths and in the process, you created many trails for your learners to

follow to success. We hope that during the 2018 academic year these newsletters

have contributed to your teaching and the learning of the kids in your class.

This newsletter will be our last for 2018. But rest assured, early in January 2019 we

will be back with some more amazing quotes, cartoons, jokes, thinking activities and

fantastic news articles.

On an unfortunate and serious note, we would like to make teachers aware of

websites that help learners to sell “their summaries and tasks” to other

people. One such website called Stuvia, came to our attention, as a learner

from an IEB school duplicated large portions of our textbook and attempted to

sell it on the site. We have taken legal action and will do so every time we

become aware that someone distributes or buys our work illegally. This could

mean the offenders ends up with a criminal record. Please keep making your

students aware of the consequences of not respecting copyright.

Wishing you happy matric marking if you are involved with that process.

May you all have a fantastic break and rest over December.

It is well deserved

2

Nov

20

18

Some corny jokes to end the school year …

With this being the last newsletter of 2018, we thought we would include some

corny (and hopefully slightly funny) jokes for teachers (http://www.teachhub.com/top-20-teacher-

jokes and https://www.ranker.com/list/teacher-jokes/jack-napier )

Teacher: John, you know you can't sleep in my class.

John: No! Not unless you were just a little quieter. Then I could!

Does it count as differentiated instruction if I print worksheets in different colors?

Pupil: I don't think I deserved zero on this test!

Teacher: I agree, but that's the lowest mark I could give you!

What do you call a teacher without students over the December holiday?

Happy 😊

Teacher: Why do you have cotton wool in your ears? Do you have an infection?

Pupil: Well you keep saying that things go in one ear and out the other. So I am

trying to keep it all in!

The little boy wasn't getting good marks in school. One day he tapped the teacher

on the shoulder and whispered ..."I don't want to scare you, but my dad says if I

don't get better grades, somebody is going to get a spanking."

What's the Difference Between a Teacher and a Train?

The teacher says "Spit your gum out" and the train says, "Chew, chew!"

Why Did the Teacher Jump into a Lake?

To test the water!

Yeah, all corny. But we did warn you

3

NON-ACADEMIC Critical Thinking 😊 (because we all need a break …)

Guess the word:

1

2

3 Who is bigger: Mr. Bigger, Mrs. Bigger, or their baby?

4 First, I threw away the outside and cooked the inside. Then I ate the outside and threw

away the inside. What did I eat?

5 Romeo and Juliet are found dead on the floor with some water around. The windows

are open and a strong wind draft is blowing the curtains around. How did they die?

6 The number 8,549,176,320 is a unique number. Why is it so special?

7 What number comes next in the following sequence? 2 4 8 10 20 _

https://icebreakerideas.com/brain-teasers/

Answers on the last page

Nov

20

18

4

General Business Article

Black Friday and your business: A trade-off between

volume and value

Nov 22 2018

On Black Friday, a sale is essentially a trade-off between volume and value, says Dr

Yudvir Seetharam, head of analytics at FNB Business. Enormous discounts offered during

Black Friday sales have been known to induce a spending frenzy among consumers.

During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the average spend per South African taking part is

R1 600, with clothing electronics and entertainment making up the bulk of purchases each

year, Seetharam says.

"A business can increase sales by either selling more at the same price, or by selling the

same amount at a higher price. Therefore, the basic formula applied during Black Friday

and Cyber Monday is the reduction of price to make up the deficit through increased

volumes," he explains. Therefore, he cautions, promotional discounting should be weighed

up carefully, and used strategically under certain circumstances.

There are three main benefits for businesses holding sales.

The first is creating brand awareness. "When a business wants to increase its brand

awareness, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have the capacity to launch brands to the

public that may have never heard of them before. "This affords a brand the opportunity to

use the promotional period to grow the number of people that are not aware of the

existence of that brand," he says.

The second is drawing more customers. "When a business needs to increase customer

traffic to either their store or website, promotional periods allow a business to use price

differentiation to interest a customer to visit their store or website." Seetharam emphasises

that this may not result in a purchase. However, it means that the business has an

opportunity to place itself in a space where it is considered by a greater number of possible

customers.

The third is clearing stock. Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions can be used to

free up storage space for new products. "Before taking part in Black Friday, a business

must examine its profit margins and ensure that it is able to forecast sales. You can use

promotional mechanics to forecast, however, this should only be done if the profit margins

are healthy," Seetharam advises.

https://www.fin24.com/Entrepreneurs/Resources/black-friday-and-your-business-a-trade-off-between-volume-and-value-

20181122

Nov

20

18

5

General Business Article

Is your debt good or bad? Here's how to tell the difference

Nov 18 2018

All debt is not necessarily bad, says Nkazi Sokhulu, CEO and co-founder of credit life insurance

provider Yalu. "Good debt is used to generate long-term value that provides you with an asset at

the end of your loan term and increases your net worth - in other words, it has some investment

value," explains Sokhulu.An example would be a bond used to purchase a home.

"With low interest rates, and as long as you bought wisely, your property should grow in value so

that at the end of the loan, you have a tangible asset with a monetary value that outpaced what you

originally paid for it, including the interest on the loan," explains Sokhulu.

A student loan is another example. "Getting a tertiary education is likely to secure you a higher

future income as a skilled individual. If you’re in a position to obtain part-time work while studying,

make a point of paying off as much as you can afford on your student loan each month," suggests

Sokhulu. "That way, by the time you start your professional career, your loan could already be paid

off, or at a minimal balance – which is a huge head start in life.”

A car is an example of an asset that most people cannot afford to purchase without vehicle finance.

"Although a car is a depreciating asset and the interest rates on the loan are typically higher, it's

essential for most people to get to work and transport their families around, given the parlous state

of public transport in South Africa," says Sokhulu. "The best thing you can do is to pay in extra

every month over and above your installment to reduce your outstanding balance as quickly as

possible and save on high interesting bearing monthly payments."

Bad debt typically has high interest rates and is usually incurred to fulfill a want, rather than a real

need, and does not leave you in a better financial position.

"Good or bad, too much debt of any kind can leave you trapped in a financial crisis. If you are

considering taking on any type of debt, do a thorough financial assessment and make sure that you

can afford the repayments and the costs that come with the credit finance," cautions Sokhulu.

"Pay special attention to the terms of the loan, and any special conditions, the interest rate and the

cost of credit life insurance which most loan providers make mandatory as a condition of the loan."

Read more at https://www.fin24.com/Money/Debt/is-your-debt-good-or-bad-heres-how-to-tell-the-difference-20181118-3

Nov

20

18

6

Petrol theme

Pick n Pay will now give you 20 cents back for every litre

petrol you buy at BP

James de Villiers, Business Insider SA Nov 22 2018

Pick n Pay retail managing director Petro Da Silva at the launch of their BP rewards programme

on Thursday morning (James de Villiers, Business Insider South Africa). Pick n Pay Smart

Shoppers will get back 20 cents in points per litre petrol purchased at BP fuel stations, the retailer

announced on Thursday.

The offer, effectively immediately, will last until the end of March, after which consumers will earn

10 cents per litre of petrol, which they’ll only be able to spend at Pick n Pay stores. The retailer

promised additional benefits at the pump, which would allow them to further boost their savings.

At a media briefing at the BP Rosemead petrol station in Cape Town, next to the Pick n Pay head

office, chairperson Gareth Ackerman said the reward benefit has been three-and-a-half years in

the making.

“You know the saying: rich people love low prices, poor people need low prices,” Ackerman said.

He said that at the moment Smart Shoppers can only use their petrol savings at Pick n Pay

stores, but technology would soon hopefully allow spending at BP as well.

By Thursday morning, 4,000 Pick n Pay Smart Shoppers already made use of the benefit.

BP Southern Africa head of marketing Tebogo Mekoa explained that the savings consumers

earn, through Smart Shopper points, will be available in real-time at Pick n Pay stores.

At the event, Pick n Pay founder Raymond Ackerman said he’d worked hard to introduce petrol

discounts in South Africa throughout his career. In the late 1970s, the entrepreneur took on the

State, who tried to block discounted fuel offered by the retailer. “Today is a fantastic sign showing

in what way Pick n Pay is growing,” Ackerman Senior said.

In his short remarks, the 87-year-old said that in the 1960s many people, including his friends,

left South Africa, but he and his wife decided to stay. “And thank God that we stayed. Today, we

need to call back the people who left the country to come and help fix the country,” Ackerman

said. “There are too many people [who are] negative about South Africa, there is such an amount

of work for us to do to fix things, and we all need to come together to fix this country.”

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/pick-n-pay-smart-shopper-20-cent-petrol-fuel-saving-bp-fuel-stations-2018-11

Nov

20

18

7

Petrol theme

South Africans are cutting back on trips to malls and petrol

stations – here are the biggest losers

Business Insider SA Aug 28 2018

A new survey shows that South Africans are driving less as petrol prices and the weak

economy start to bite.

The data analysis firm Lightstone Explore and the vehicle security group Tracker have

developed an economic monitoring report based on a sample of 250,000 vehicles.

Analysis of some 500 million vehicle trips over the past twelve months, covering more than

seven billion kilometres, shows that the distances covered by South African motorists is down

8% in June 2018 compared to July 2017.

Consumers have been hit hard by very sharp fuel increases in recent months and travelers are

either making alternative travel arrangements (carpooling or public transport) or they are opting

to work from home, says Trevor Holmes, managing director at Lightstone Explore.

The survey also looked at visits to some 1,000 shopping centres and more than 3 200 service

stations – and found a sharp decline across South Africa. Visits to service stations are down

10% on a year ago.

The service station industry is not showing any positive upturn with June 2018 being the worst

month over the last 12 months, the survey showed.

“We must remember that service stations fill a dual purpose of various retail activities and of

filling up with fuel,” explains Holmes. “The drop in visits is therefore indicative of people not

requiring as much fuel as often and also in part that the retail activity at these service stations

has decreased.” BP, Sasol and Total experienced the biggest declines, while Engen (which

hosts Woolworths Foodstops) saw the smallest drop.

Visits to shopping centres in the first half of 2018 were 5% lower than the last half of 2017, and

this decline holds true even when the effect of December Christmas shopping and January

retail slowdown is excluded from the comparison, Lightstone said. “The decline has not been

equally severe at all shopping centres with Fourways Mall experiencing the biggest decline,

possibly due to renovations at the centre.”

For the full article and some interesting stats, visit

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/south-africans-are-cutting-back-on-trips-to-malls-and-petrol-stations-here-are-the-biggest-

losers-2018-8

Oct

20

18

8

Answers to the Fun Brainteasers

1 Popcorn 2 Burger King

4 The baby, because he is a little Bigger. 3 Corn on the cob

5 Romeo and Juliet were goldfishes. The wind tipped their bowl over, hence killing

them!

6 This is the only number that includes all the digits arranged in alphabetical order.

7 22 (the sequence alternates +2, x2)

8 BONUS: Are you able to spot TEN faces?

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please reply to this

email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line. If you

know of anybody that would like to be added to our mailing

list, please ask them to send a request to

consumopublishers@gmail.com

Estie and Zain

The Consumo Team

We believe in “Innovate to Educate and Educate to Innovate”. Together we ARE the Business Studies community!