Business and Its Significance

Entrepreneurship can create businesses of varied kinds such as large or small, home based, online, franchise, service or manufacturing business. Making money is considered the essence of a successful business venture.

Businesses seek to create wealth for their owners by selling something consumers want. In the process they:

• Bring into the market a stream of new products and services using new technologies
• Create livelihoods for us in the form of employment
• Generate revenue for governments as taxes of different kinds

Businesses can be:

• Large companies with global scale of operations
• Medium sized businesses that typically employ 500 or less people
• Small business employing 100 or less persons
• Microbusinesses that are often home based business and have 10 or less employees

Small businesses of our own make us comparatively independent and also enable us to make good money if we have what it takes. New technologies open up new business opportunity with less competition.

Types of Businesses

There are standard and comprehensive classifications that cover all types of businesses. These include North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and NACE codes in Europe. The following is a short classification:

• Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining: These industries produce raw materials
• Manufacturing: Manufacturing industries convert raw materials into components for other industries or goods for final consumers
• Utilities: Generation and/or supply of electricity, heating and water, and sewerage and waste management services
• Construction: Building and infrastructure projects
• Wholesale and Retail Trade: Getting manufactured products to final consumers
• Transporting and Storage: Transporting people and goods; warehousing
• Accommodation and Food Service: Hotels, resorts, restaurants and more
• Information and Communication: Publishing, movie and music production, telecommunications and more
• Financial and Insurance: Banking, insurance, pension funds and more
• Real Estate: Buying, selling and renting of properties
• Professional and other Services: Legal, accounting, architectural, healthcare, entertainment, technical testing and more
• Education: Primary, secondary, higher and other education

Business Management

Business startup and success involve a lot of hard work:

• Marketing: Gathering market information, developing marketing strategies and organizing to implement the strategies
• Financing: Finding the money to set up the business and also to run it till cash inflows equal outflows
• Staffing: Selecting the right mix of talents and skills, and training/motivating them to perform with dedication
• Technology: Finding and using technologies that provide a competitive advantage in the form of novel products or lower costs of production
• Producing and Delivering: Whether you sell a product or service, you have to organize to deliver it at a cost that will generate a profit
• Compliance: Complying with numerous government regulations and ethical business practices that will allow us to focus on the business instead of fighting with government and the public
• Monitoring and Controlling: Generating decision support information about external market conditions and internal operations, and using them to control the business

Business Management Articles

Responsible Business According to US Government

World's Top Business School

Technology Commercialization

Researching Your Market