Business 101 – Business in its Simplest Form
- MIKE BURKE
- Dec 9, 2014
- 2 min read
BUSINESS 101 - WHAT IS IT?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the simplest way to classify business. It may be oversimplified and that is the point. DO NOT mistake this simplicity for lack of insight. Embrace it. Identify the areas of strength and weakness you provide to your business and dig into that.
THAT is how you will make your business successful.
Right, on we go...
BUSINESS IS SIMPLE. What is business? Business is a commercial activity involivng the exhange of money for good or services. So that might sound fairly smart. Well, it should, I stole it from the dictonary. But that really is all business is. Sure there are a lot of complexities, complicated tricks and convoluted vocabulary. All that aside though, business is actually really simple and I will aim to get to the heart of it here.
I'm sure you've GOOGLE'D this already and read tonnes of 'Business-Made-Simple' tips and Top Ten guides from way more famous business leaders than me. The truth is though; those guides really aren't that simple, or 'complete'. They are more "I wish I knew when ..." tips from very smart Entrepreneur's and those lists should just be called "mistakes I made getting started in business" ALL YOU NEED IN YOUR BUSINESS IS 3 KEY AREAS. That is all.
1. ACQUIRE OR CREATE A PRODUCT OR SERVICE
Whether it is manufacturing, importing or reselling a product or creating/providing a service. That is all you need. The rest are definitions, operational efficiency, value delivery. All of it is noise, things to distract from its simplest form.
2. MARKET/SELL YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE B2B (business to business) or D2C (direct to consumer), ALT, BTL, subscriptions, perceived values, it doesn't matter. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER AND COMMUNICATE WITH THEM. How, Where, Demand, Brand Equity, Multi-Channel Strategies... all noise.
3. MANAGE YOUR MONEY Get heaps of cash. How? Receive more money than you pay. This means a profit.
Profit is a good thing in business. TAX, EBIT, GROSS PROFIT margins, overhead optimisation, balance sheet, gear ratio's... yep, you guessed it. Noise.
AND THAT IS IT.
Have something you can market, sell it and keep more money than you pay. THAT IS BUSINESS. It is NO MORE complicated than that.
Don't complicate it, especially at the start. There'll be enough intricacies the further into entrepreneurialism and the more specialised your business gets.
When you are considering getting into business, buying a business or looking to rejunvenate your current company, go back to these basics. Continuously review the strengths and weakness of your business in these 3 areas. Lean on your strengths and improve your weaknesses. If your business is not experiencing the results you are expecting the problem (and therefore future solution) lies within ONE OF THOSE 3 KEY AREAS. The goal of the posts herein are to breakdown business in its simplest forms; from mind-set, skillsets, and breaking through the complicated vocabulary. ENJOY.
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