Intro to Business Unit 1 What is a Business

University:
University of California, Berkeley
Course:
UGBA 10X | Foundations of Business
Academic year:

2022
Views:

73

Pages:

3
Author:

Nyasia Cardenas

Unit 1: What is Business? According to Dictionary.com, business is “a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern.” While the goals of various businesses are different, they all seek to provide goods and services to meet the needs and wants of people and society in general. Types and characteristics There are three types of businesses: 1. Manufacturing ○ These types of businesses produce the product and sell it directly to customers or to middlemen who can then conduct the sales. i. examples: steel and plastic factories. 2. Service ○ These types of businesses sell intangible goods to their customers. ○ In the case of tangible goods, services can be stored and/or separated from providers. ○ This is not the case for intangible goods. These businesses offer professional services. i. examples: law firms, schools. 3. Merchandise ○ This is a middleman sort of business strategy. ○ the businesses buy products from manufacturers, wholesalers...etc. They then sell the products at a retail price. ○ “Buy-sell” method: this is a method where one buys at a lower cost than the rate at which they sell the products for. i. examples: grocery stores and supermarkets Revamping Revamping means to change something in order to make it better. In business, it does not mean to completely overhaul it--simply to change or improve certain parts of it. There are six steps in revamping a business: 1. Determine opportunities for products and services. ○ Look for ways the company can better the products they are selling or the services that they provide. ○ For example, a restaurant may be able to better its services by implementing a delivery system. 2. Evaluate the demand for the product or service. ○ In a business, it is important to evaluate how much a certain product or service is actually being bought by consumers--how much they are being used. ○ Many businesses evaluate this by asking consumers and customers to complete a short survey or poll. ○ If something is not being used very much, it may be beneficial to eliminate it. 3. Set up and manage people, facilities, and pieces of equipment. ○ In many cases, during a revamp, a business will set up new services/products. ○ To manage this--depending--on the situation, new people of different skill sets may be needed to hire, alongside newer technologies. 4. Produce the goods or services. ○ Now comes the step for actually creating and setting up the goods and services respectively. ○ Spend time implementing and executing it. 6. Market the goods or services. ○ It is important to market the new goods and services as people may not be aware of the revamp period or the new products. ○ Refer to the marketing unit for more information about this. 7. Keep records and financial analysis ○ It is crucial to keep track of how well the new products and services are doing in terms of profit. ○ It is not necessary for every part of the revamp to be successful. It would be ideal; however, it is not always the case.