Types of Business Activity

Classification of Business and Industrial Activity

Primary Activities

Primary businesses and industries are those which extract (i.e. mine, quarry, farm, fish
or drill) things normally provided by nature, for example:

 fish from the sea

 metal from the earth
 food from the land

They produce raw materials in the form of oil, iron, coal or limestone, which are used
to make other products. Also, they may also produce final products such as fish or
fruit.
Secondary Activities

Secondary businesses and industries are those involved in manufacturing products.

That is, they turn the raw materials produced by the primary industries into things that
can be sold and used. For example:

 metal into cars

 wood into furniture
 wheat into bread

Tertiary Activities

Tertiary businesses and industries are those involved in selling goods and services.
For example, banks, window cleaners, hairdressers and lawyers do not make things
but instead sell a service or their expertise. Other examples include transport, tourism,
insurance and places of entertainment such as leisure centres and cinemas.

Chain of Production

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary businesses and industries all depend upon each
other; one cannot exist without the other. There is a chain of production which links
all 3 kinds of activity. For example, the chain of production for a wooden chair might
be:

Forester >>>> Furniture Manufacturer >>>> Furniture Shop

And the chain of production for a woolen sweater might be:

Sheep Farmer >>>> Knitter >>>> Market Stall