Business refers to an organization or enterprise that engages in commercial, industrial, or professional activities with the aim of generating profits or income. Business activities can range from a small-scale enterprise to a large multinational corporation. The primary objective of every business is to maximize profit while providing a valuable service or good to its customers or clients.
History of Business
The concept of business has been present throughout human history. Early civilizations such as the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese engaged in trade and commerce to exchange goods and services. The development of the market system during the medieval period led to the establishment of merchants and trading activities in Europe. The Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century marked a significant change in the way business was conducted. The invention of machines led to mass production and the rise of capitalism, which helped to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Types of Businesses
There are several types of businesses that exist today, each with their unique characteristics and purposes. These include:
Sole Proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a type of business owned and operated by a single individual. This individual is responsible for all the profits and losses of the business and is personally liable for any legal actions against the business.
Partnership: A partnership is a business entity where two or more individuals share the responsibilities, profits, and losses of the business. Partnerships can be formed between individuals or corporations.
Limited Liability Company (LLC): A limited liability company is a hybrid of a partnership and a corporation. It provides its owners with the legal protections of a corporation while allowing them to maintain the tax benefits of a partnership.
Corporation: A corporation is a separate legal entity from its owners. It can own assets, enter into contracts, and sue or be sued in its name. Corporations are owned by shareholders, who are not personally liable for the actions of the corporation.
Business Operations
Business operations refer to the various activities that a business undertakes to achieve its objectives. These operations can be broadly classified into three categories: production/operations, marketing, and finance. Each of these areas plays a critical role in the success of a business.
Production/Operations: This area deals with the production of goods or services that a business provides to its customers. It involves the planning, scheduling, and managing of resources such as people, materials, and equipment.
Marketing: Marketing activities are aimed at attracting and retaining customers. This area involves market research, advertising, sales, and promotion.
Finance: Finance involves managing the financial resources of a business. This includes accounting, financial planning, budgeting, and managing cash flow.
Business Challenges
Running a successful business involves overcoming several challenges. These challenges include:
Uncertainty: The business environment is uncertain and complex. Business owners must be prepared to adapt to changes in the market, technology, and other factors.
Competition: Competition in the marketplace can be intense. Businesses must differentiate themselves from their competitors to remain successful.
Financial Constraints: Businesses require capital to start and grow. Securing funding can be challenging, especially for small businesses.
Employee Recruitment and Retention: Finding and retaining skilled employees can be challenging, especially in a competitive labor market.
Conclusion
Business is an essential aspect of modern society. It provides goods and services to customers, generates jobs, and contributes to economic growth. Running a successful business requires careful planning, proper management, and an ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Despite the challenges, the potential rewards of owning a successful business are great, both financially and personally.
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The US dollar has risen to a five-week high against major currencies amid inflation worries at home, while abroad growth concerns are causing traders to sell the Euro. Trade pressure on China heightened the country's concerns about a global recession due to disappointing economic data, with new evidence expected to come to light following yesterday's retail sales report.
Oil prices fell on Monday as worries over demand from top oil consumers, the US and China, abated optimism regarding OPEC+ cuts and renewed US purchases for reserves. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was down by 0.5% to $69.67 a barrel, while Brent crude futures fell 0.6% to $73.74 a barrel. Safe-haven investments, including the US dollar, strengthened last week as broader concerns regarding the US economy resulted in a decline in oil prices for a fourth consecutive week — the longest streak of weekly declines since September 2022.
China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), has left interest rates unchanged and rolled over maturing medium-term policy loans. The bank’s statement confirmed it was keeping one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans totalling ¥125bn ($18.08bn) to designated financial institutions at the rate of 2.75%. The bank injected a net ¥25bn of fresh funds into the banking sector by allowing ¥100bn-worth of MLF loans to expire this month, it added. The PBOC also injected ¥2bn through a seven-day reverse repo, while maintaining interest rates at 2%.
Asian stock markets were unsteady ahead of China's policy rate decision, with investors also closely watching US Federal Reserve officials. After the US consumer sentiment dipped to a six-month low in May and long-term inflation expectations rose to their highest level since 2011, US Treasury yields and the US dollar increased. This reversal in emerging markets created anxieties for investors. A runoff presidential election in Turkey also heightened anxieties and made the lira less valuable against the dollar.
Japan's wholesale prices rose 5.8% in April compared to the same period last year but have slowed for the fourth consecutive month, indicating consumer inflation may begin to moderate as cost push pressures ease. The data supports the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) belief that core consumer inflation will slow later in the year when past spike effects in raw material costs dissipate. The corporate goods price index rose 5.8%, and the yen-denominated import price index fell by 2.9% year-on-year, following a 7.4% increase and a revised 9.6% gain in March, respectively.
Investors are concerned about the US dollar's potential default risk amidst a standoff between Democrats and Republicans. The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six major peers, remained unchanged at 102.39 after sliding 0.26%, falling from its five-month high. The US borrowing limit has been brought to the forefront of investor worries, with a potential deadline of 1 June. The dollar had been boosted by safe-haven demand during a sluggish COVID-19 recovery in China and US consumer inflation expectations, which suggested a Federal Reserve rate hike in June.
A barbecue frenzy is gripping China. Can street food revive the economy?
CNN
23-05-16 01:34
China is set to allow street peddlers to operate in many of its cities to try to revitalise the economy and tackle youth unemployment, which stood at 19.6% in March and is expected to worsen with a record 11.6 million college students expected to graduate this year. Several cities relaxed their rules on street selling this year, following on from a viral sensation featuring an outdoor barbecue in Zibo, a little-known city in China's Shandong province. CNBC said the trend revealed the Chinese leadership's struggle to tackle the country's economic challenges. Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the SOAS University of London said: "It does look like the Chinese leadership cannot find better ways to create employment and thus maintain stability and order than encouraging young people to be street vendors. For workers or graduates with skills for the digital era, taking on street vending is a sign of desperation rather than creative thinking."
Australian consumer sentiment fell in May due to a surprise interest rate increase from the Reserve Bank of Australia and a "mildly disappointing" federal budget. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment decreased by 7.9% to record pessimism amongst respondents. The RBA increased interest rates because of near 30-year high inflation rates, but Westpac chief economist Bill Evans believes the RBA will sustain ratings because of economic weaknesses, though the risks are evenly balanced.
The last episode of BTM Night School talks about various markets including stocks, bonds and commodities with Katie Martin, the FT’s Markets editor and Ethan Wu, a member of the FT’s Wall Street team. They examine the fundamental reasons why last year was a terrible year for stocks, how bonds can be used to interpret inflation and which markets give an indication of the “real” economy. The series is produced with Blinkist.
Elon Musk has been subpoenaed by the US Virgin Islands as part of its legal case against JP Morgan. The territory suspects Epstein attempted to refer Musk to JP Morgan, and has requested all communications between Musk and the bank and any with Epstein, documents concerning their accounts at the bank and documentation relating to Elon’s payments to Epstein. The Virgin Islands are accusing JP Morgan of facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking by providing him banking facilities, a claim JP Morgan has dismissed. The Twitter founder has become the latest billionaire to be served a subpoena by the islands.
Emerging markets-focused asset manager Ashmore is being tipped to return to favour, with a share price currently languishing at 234.4p, compared to 2020's peak of 570p and a peak of investments under management of $94.4bn in June 2021. Factors that dragged Ashmore's shares down include: a trend towards growth and technology rather than emerging markets; economic uncertainty and the Ukrainian conflict damping sentiment; and Ashmore's own investments performing below customers' expectations. However, a return to favour for emerging markets, plus scarcity in the debt market, could be a catalyst for Ashmore and the areas in which it invests, according to Questor.
The freezing of income tax thresholds will force one in five taxpayers to pay higher rate income tax by 2027, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The six-year freeze, which is the Treasury's biggest revenue raiser since tax hikes introduced in the 1970s, will mean that an estimated 7.8 million people will pay tax rates of 40% or higher by 2027. The situation, which is due to the impact of "fiscal drag", will result in certain workers, including nurses and teachers, being drawn into the higher tax band for the first time.
Activision Blizzard's has won approval for its £55bn merger with Microsoft by EU regulators, but has been blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK. The CMA said the merger could buy Microsoft a stranglehold on cloud gaming which would stifle competition. When the CMA's decision was revealed Activision protested that it showed the UK was closed to growth businesses and putting investment at risk.
Equity Group Holdings reported pretax profits of KES16.9bn ($124m) for the first quarter of 2023, up 10% from the previous year. The firm’s loan book increased, with net loans up 21.2% to KES756.3bn from KES623.6bn. With operations in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equity is one of the largest banks on the continent. It confirmed on Monday that it was setting up a new business, Equity Insurance Agency, after receiving regulatory approval.
India's Kajaria Ceramics beats Q4 profit view on stronger demand
Reuters
23-05-16 09:43
Kajaria Ceramics reported a 13% rise in consolidated net profit to INR1.08bn ($13.21m) in the quarter ended 31 March, beating analysts’ expectations, due to strong demand for the company's products. The New Delhi-based ceramic tile maker also reported a 9% rise in consolidated revenue from operations to INR12.05bn, but said consolidated core profit margins fell to 14.60% from 15.06% a year earlier due to increased expenses as rising natural gas prices took their toll.
Baidu, the Chinese search engine, saw a 10% increase in revenue in Q1 2021 to ¥31.14bn ($4.54bn), helped by the end of Covid-19 restrictions in China, according to Refinitiv data. Revenue from Baidu Core, which includes search-based ad sales, cloud offerings and autonomous driving initiatives, rose 8% to ¥23bn in the quarter, while revenue at its streaming service iQIYI rose 15% to ¥8.3bn.
Eurostat has confirmed that the Eurozone grew by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2015 with a sharp increase in exports that boosted the Eurozone trade surplus. The statistics also showed that employment grew by 0.6% in Q1 2015 for a 1.7% YoY rise. The better net trade result came mainly from higher exports of machinery, vehicles and chemicals, and a drop in imports of energy.
Burnbrae Farms, Canada's largest egg producer and supplier, is increasing the prices it charges supermarkets and independent retailers for eggs by 4 cents a dozen as of 11 June, marking the second price increase in as many months. Retailers say they have no choice but to pass on the hikes to consumers, though they lack transparency from the producer regarding where the increases are coming from, leading to calls for more transparency in Canada's supply-management system. Egg prices in the country rose 16.5% YoY, according to Statistics Canada, due to pandemic-fuelled inflation and supply-chain issues.
Vodafone has revealed a turnaround plan that includes cutting 11,000 jobs across the business over the next three years, with redundancies likely in the UK, after admitting its financial year performance is “not good enough”. CEO Margherita Della Valle, appointed in May, also pledged to simplify the company and cut out complexity. The news came as revenues for the past year remained static, with declines in South Africa, Spain and Italy, and growth in Europe and Turkey protecting the company’s overall performance. Della Valle’s predecessor Nick Read is currently in talks to merge Vodafone’s UK operations with rival Three. The deal has been delayed by competition and national security concerns.
