Meaning of Business

A business (also known as a company, enterprise, and firm) is a legally

recognized organization designed to provide goods or services, or both, to
consumers, businesses and governmental entities. Businesses are predominant in
capitalist economies. Most businesses are privately owned. A business is typically
formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the
business itself. The owners and operators of a business have as one of their main
objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for work and
acceptance of risk. Notable exceptions include cooperative enterprises and state-
owned enterprises. Businesses can also be formed not-for-profit or be state-owned.

The etymology of "business" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual
or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term
"business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the singular usage
(above) to mean a particular company or corporation, the generalized usage to refer
to a particular market sector, such as "the music business" and compound forms
such as agribusiness, or the broadest meaning to include all activity by the
community of suppliers of goods and services. However, the exact definition of
business, like much else in the philosophy of business, is a matter of debate and
complexity of meanings.

Ten Important things to succeed in today’s Business

1. Website: If you have a business you MUST have a website. It's like a phone
number. You wouldn't dream of opening up shop without a phone number, would
you? Websites are inexpensive to set-up and maintain. Odds are you can access and
update it yourself with an appropriate template. If you require little or no updates to
your site, that's even better. Put up your business name, your phone number and an
e-mail address.

2. Cell Phone: If you have employees, customers, or both...you must have a cell
phone. It is the single best way to keep in touch with your business.

3. Voicemail: Have a personal voicemail box and check it regularly. Make sure you
call people back. Also, keep it cleaned out. You don't want to miss an important
message because your "mailbox was full." Be courteous on your greeting and let
people know that you will be back in touch with them. Then, get back to them.
(Preferably on your cell phone.)

4. Business cards: You must have business cards. They must be good business
cards. They should have all the necessary information on them. Name, address, what
you do, telephone number, e-mail, fax, cell phone number, and website. In this
digital world people still cling to a little 5-inch piece of cardboard. Handing someone
your business card is the best way to make them a client.

5. Florist: Set up an account with a local florist. Make sure he or she is reliable. Use
your florist to show clients appreciation. Most florists these days can handle more
than just flowers. They can handle gift baskets, wine, balloons, cologne, you name it.
Thank people who help you get business and they will get you even more business.
6. Goof Kit: We all make mistakes. We all forget appointments, overbook, come
down with the flu, and screw up orders. Have a plan in place for when these things
happen. This is when the florist will come in handy.

7. Domestic Help: There is only so much time in a day. Any time you spend away
from your business is time that you could be making money. If you have to mow the
lawn, subtract an hour. If you have to clean the house subtract two more. That's
three hours a week you could be working. If you make about $100 an hour at your
business and you pay some neighborhood kid $25 bucks to mow your lawn, you still
net $75. Spend your time taking care of your business. Let someone else take care
of your grass.

8. Dependability: There are so many choices out there today that dependability is a
MUST. You have to be there when you say you will. You have to do what you
promise at the quoted price. Customer service is the most important thing you need,
no matter what your business. Without customers, there is no money.

9. Marketing Plan: Don't get this confused with an advertising budget; they are not
the same things. Advertising is expensive and often ineffective. Marketing is free, for
the most part, and much better for business. Marketing includes things like, a write-
up in the local newspaper, a segment about your products and services on television,
a radio interview with you as the expert guest, or a huge event that attracts media
attention.

10. Confidence: Nobody ever succeeded without it. You must be confident when
dealing with customers, vendors, and your employees. Confidence is a must when
you start running up your credit card and taking out small business loans. You must
be confident when a client asks, "Can you really do that for me?" After all, if you
don't have confidence in your own business, why should anybody else?

Leadership: A Necessary Skill in Today's Business World

Leadership, the ability to motivate groups of people towards a common goal, is an

important skill in today's business world. Without strong leadership, many otherwise
good businesses fail. Understanding the characteristics of strong leaders and
cultivating those skills is useful for those pursing a career in business.

Many of the world's most respected leaders have several personality traits in
common. Some of the most recognizable traits are the ability to initiate change and
inspire a shared vision, as well as knowing how to "encourage the heart" and model
the skills and behaviors that are necessary to achieve the stated objectives. Good
leaders must also be confident enough in themselves to enable others to contribute
and succeed.

The Ability to Initiate Change -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Good leaders are never satisfied with the status quo and usually take action to
change it. In addition, strong leaders bring about change for the common good by
involving others in the process. F.D.R. sought practical ways to help struggling men
and women make a better world for themselves and their children. His philosophy
was, "bold, persistent experimentation...Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it
frankly and try another. But above all, try something." Being willing to take risks by
trying new ideas and involving others in the process of change is a key quality of
strong leaders.

Inspiring a Shared Vision -- The Leadership of Martin Luther King

Leaders, through their words and actions, must have the ability to draw others into a
common vision by telling others where they intend to go and urging them to join in
that vision. Martin Luther King's vision of a country free from racial segregation and
discrimination, so poignantly expressed in his famous "I have a dream..." speech,
exemplifies this critical leadership trait. King had a vision of a better America, and
his ability to bring both whites and blacks together to march against segregation
changed America profoundly.

Model Leadership -- Mohandas K. Ghandi

Strong leaders not only need to have a vision and the ability to initiate change, they
must model the values, actions, and behaviors necessary to make the vision reality.
Ghandi not only created and espoused the philosophies of passive resistance and
constructive non-violence, he lived by these principles. According to Indira Gandhi,
"More than his words, his life was his message." By choosing to consistently live and
work in a manner that exemplified the values he believed in, Ghandi engendered
trust, becoming a role model for others looking to affect change without resorting to
violence.

Encouraging the Heart -- The Leadership of Winston Churchill

On December 29, 1940, London was hit by one of the largest aerial attacks of World
War II. Somehow, St. Paul's Cathedral survived. Two days later a photo showing a
silhouette of the dome of St. Paul's, surrounded by smoke and flames ran in the
paper with a caption that read, "It symbolises the steadiness of London's stand
against the enemy: the firmness of right against wrong." Churchill recognized the
importance of St. Paul's as a morale booster. His instructions were clear on that
December night, "At all costs, St. Paul's must be saved." Leaders must be able to
encourage the hearts of those who share their vision, providing a sense of confident
optimism even in the face of enormous difficulties.

Leadership Training For Business Success

Leaders are rarely (if ever) born, which is why online leadership training can make a
real difference if you are currently pursuing your bachelor's degree. By combining
your online business degree with leadership training classes, you will not only gain
confidence, you'll learn the skills necessary to inspire others to success. Online
leadership training isn't just for those with online business degrees or even
bachelor's degrees. Online training can be used to improve leadership skills
regardless of a student's educational background or the type of industry she
presently works in. After all, good leaders are always in demand.

The importance of quality in today's business world

There are numerous factors that are involved when a potential customer decides
from whom they will purchase goods or services. A decision may be price driven, or a
product may be so unique that there is only a single source for it.
In almost all cases, a customer will also consider the reputation of the vendor. If that
supplier has a record of consistent quality and service, a potential customer is more
likely to place their business into its hands.

How does a company ensure that it is providing the quality its customers seek? The
reality is that there are only a few benchmarks by which to compare. ISO (the
Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization) registrations are
one such area, and measure manufacturing and environmental practices.

However, another area that is of great interest, particularly to larger companies, is

the number of total quality measurement tools that are becoming more
commonplace. For example, Sun Chemical Corporation is beginning to implement the
Six Sigma program developed by Motorola and popularized by General Electric.

These are challenging undertakings that are designed to work throughout the entire
corporate structure. It goes well beyond improving efficiencies in the manufacturing
and inventory segments, to areas as diverse as purchasing, accounting and even
answering the phone.

These programs are designed to improve a company's ability to compete as well as

its standing with its customers. We all know bow irritating it can be to return
defective products, to be bounced around from extension to extension when trying to
find a simple answer, or trying to get an incorrect invoice fixed. These are the kinds
of problems that are unnecessary, and can ultimately cost a company a customer.

Being able to provide the highest level of quality from the first phone call from a
customer through the shipping process and beyond has become essential to their
ultimate success.