It is the activity of making money by producing or buying and selling products for the sole purpose of making profit.
FORMS OF BUSINESS
- Sole proprietorship
- Partnership
- Corporation
- Cooperative
- Limited liability partnership
- Franchise
- A company limited by guarantee
- A company limited by shares
- A company limited by guarantee with a share capital
- A limited liability company
- An unlimited company with or without a share capital
- Companies formed by letters patent
- Charter corporations
- Statutory companies
CAPITAL
When businesses need to raise money they sometimes offer securities for sale. Capital may be raised through private means, by an initial public offering or IPO on a stock exchange, or in other ways.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF BUSINESS
- Agriculture
- Financial services which include banks, brokerage firms, credit unions, credit cards, insurance companies, asset and investment companies such as private equity firms, private equity funds, real estate investment trusts, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, mutual funds, index funds, and hedge funds, stock exchanges, and other companies that generate profits through investment and management of capital.
- Entertainment companies
- Industrial manufacturers
- Real estate
- Retailers, wholesalers, and distributors act as middlemen and get goods produced by manufacturers
- Transportation business
- Sports
- Utilities produce public services such as water, electricity, waste management or sewage treatment.
- Service businesses
ACTIVITIES IN A BUSINESS
- Accounting
- Finance
- Manufacturing
- Marketing
- Research and development
- Safety
- Sales
TRADE UNION (LABOUR UNION)
A trade union is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is “maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing, and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies.
COMMERCIAL LAW
A very detailed and well-established body of rules that evolved over a very long period of time applies to commercial transactions. The need to regulate trade and commerce and resolve business disputes helped shape the creation of law and courts.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Businesses often have important “intellectual property” that needs protection from competitors for the company to stay profitable. This could require patents, copyrights, trademarks, or preservation of trade secrets. Most businesses have names, logos, and similar branding techniques that could benefit from trademarking.
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Business and Management are the disciplines devoted to organizing, analyzing, and planning various types of business operations.
Fields of business management include-:
- Advertising
- Entrepreneurship
- Hospitality Management
- Information Systems Management
- International Business
- Nonprofit Management
- Operations Management
- Public Administration
- Sales Management
- Supply Chain Management
Business and Management is feeling the impact of technological advances and changes. With big data and artificial intelligence allowing many tasks to be automated, the nature of business is changing every day.