What is a business?

Have you ever sat down considered what a business actually is?

In today’s article, I want us to think about what a business is and what does it do.

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Now, a business is a simple process; we have an input, a process, and output. We take in something, we process it to add value, make it even more significant than what it currently is, or better or improved. And then we send it back out. And that’s what the customers purchase. And every business works in the same way, whether this is a product business, selling goods and services, or whether it’s a service business where you’re trading time and expertise.

Somewhere along this continuum, every single business sits and all these goods and services. Are all there to help deal with the problems that your client has, that your customers have, and how they can get to where they want to be.

So when you start looking at actually what is a business, and you look at the dictionary definition, it talks about, you know, something being an organization or economic system, where the goods or services can be exchange or barter with each other, or trade something for money.

A simple explanation for a vast subject!

But for me, that’s such a simple explanation for a vast subject.

Many businesses can become very complex, even with a simple process of solving a problem that our client has with a solution that we have.

But, by marrying these two sides together for monetary exchange, we create something beneficial to all parties.

And every business needs to grow because, over time, many things don’t stay the same. — A well-known example of this, from the photographic industry, is “Kodak”. Kodak was the biggest name in photography back in the day. And in the 1970s, when they first developed digital photography, they decided they didn’t want to cannibalize their own existing business. They didn’t go big on releasing and embracing that technology.

Now, we all know the output of that decision was today! Digital cameras today are available every ware, including smartphones. And Kodak is, is no longer a big brand name that we hear about every single day in the photography industry.

So, this story shows us that business must change and innovate. Moreover, our business, more than likely, needs to change over time as well.

Therefore, when we’re looking at our own business solely as the input, the process and the output. We need to think about how’s that going to change for you over time? How are you going to make sure that you’re able to identify the fundamental problems that your clients are having? And how you can marry them the critical solutions that you have.

At the same time, you need to be looking at what the new solutions are emerging in your area of expertise. As well as keeping an eye on what your clients will lack in the future? So, therefore, you can stay ahead of the game and make sure you’re not one of those businesses that are left behind.

So, I’m going to challenge you to think about how your business fits into the simple paradigm of input process and output. And ask you to look at whereabouts on the continuum of goods and services, your business sits, and think about how you can make your business even better for tomorrow and the year ahead.