Yo brethren!!!, how is the Christmas rush coming?
Remember, January is coming!!! *in my GOT voice*.. dont “spend spend ku spend” this festive season.
Before we dive neck deep into the ocean of tools and software, it is vital that we establish a common ground on the subject matter, else we might end up “drowning” in the tools like literarily.
In the series, we are going to have a conversation around Technology strategies for (small) Businesses, hence, it is vital that we generally agree on what a business is and what a business is not.
If you google the word “Business” right now, I am sure You will get a minimum of 1 Million results; some relevant, some outdated, some trash, some outright gibberish. Therefore I will save You the stress, we will take 2-3 good definitions of the word Business, then I will give You my own definition of business, then we will go ahead to agree whether You are in business or not.
Businessdictionary.com defines a Business as
an organization or economic system where goods and services are exchanged for one another or for money.
Note the words “organization” and “economic system”, they sound kinda complex right?
Investopedia.com defines Business as
an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities. Businesses can be for-profit entities or nonprofit organizations that operate to fulfill a charitable mission or further a social cause.
Notice the word “organization” comes to play here too.
Robert Hughes, and Jack Kapoor defines business as
the organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, the goods and services that satisfy society’s needs.
Those are some of the definitions of business that I found quite interesting on the internet..others are either speaking grammar like Honorable Patrick Obaighon or regurgitating outdated textbooks.
So what do I define as business, I define Business as a PROCESS of MEETING PEOPLE NEEDS in a way that your Cost Price is lesser than your Selling Price (AKA Profitably).
By the way, I learned this definition from my Boss way back in the days.. Have You read the Book I wrote on the lessons I learnt from my first (and most likely last) Boss? You should download it here.
Let us break my definition down..
There are 2 major keypoints in that definition;
- MEETING PEOPLE’S NEEDS
- PROFITABLY
For You to be in business, You must be meeting a particular NEED(S) for people and/or organizations.
This could be done by offering Products or Services that solve some problems for these people (AKA Your Customers).
If You are selling something nobody needs, then can we say You are in Business?.. Your answer is as good as mine.
The other side of the coin is PROFIT.
Well, except You are running a NGO or a Not-For-Profit-Organization, then we can exempt the Profit part from your own definition otherwise, no matter how important the need you are meeting is, if You are not doing so at a profit, You will soon be out of business. Even those doing “God’s work” declare Profits these days.
Are You still with me?
You should..we are going somewhere interesting.
So this is the part where I put you on the hot seat.
With the above definitions, can You look Jesus (or whoever You serve) in the face and confidently say You are in Business?
Dont forget, for You to be in Business, You must:
- Be meeting people’s needs through a product(s) and/or service(s).
- Be doing so at a Selling Price that is higher than You cost price such that when You “do the math”, your Selling Price minus your Cost Price will not a negative number.
If You answered Yes to the 2 questions above, chop knuckle!!!… You are on the right part.
If You answered No, “No lele”, that is why we are running this series, follow Me (as I follow Jesus…LOL) and we will make You a a Fisher of Money.
Dont forget to drop your email address so the next post can be sent directly to your mail and in the spirit of Christmas, I have some goodies for You.
Download them below.
In the next article, we will examine why your Business is a SMALL business.
See You in the next one.
I am Seun Ogunmola I help People and Organizations to leverage on Technology to achieve their goals Faster, Easier and Cheaper.
I also write on diverse subject areas including Finance, Business, Productivity and Governance.