What is business? A business concept originated from old English containing one adjective and one suffix. A suffix ‘ness’ is added to adjective ‘busy’ to become a noun, busyness. The busyness refers to the state or condition of having a great deal to do to the extent of anxiety. If a business becomes busyness, it would become stressful and unhealthy and unfair to endorse. A business is a long term engagement but busyness shouldn’t be like that.

A dictionary definition of business is as follow.

1. A person’s regular occupation or trade: work, line of work, line, occupation, profession, career, employment, job, day job, position, pursuit, vocation, calling, field, sphere, walk of life, trade, craft, etc.
2. Commercial activity: trade, trading, commerce, buying and selling, dealing, traffic, trafficking, marketing, merchandising, bargaining, etc.

Let me highlight vitally important points here.

The Game

Business is a game like any kinds of game comprising playground, rules, players and winners. We will look at each a little further below.

1. Playground: – I will not be taking much time on business playground discussions as such. Briefly it includes all material resources employed on business operations other than humans such as finance, premise, furniture, and IT infrastructure among others.
2. The Players: – It is clear from the above definitions that each of us is in business in one way or the other. Whether we are employees or employers or self employed or even we are in some form of connection with others around us we are already in business. No one is excluded from being in business; everyone is playing the game, right?!

Let’s take one demonstrative example to make clearer what I am talking about. Broadly business can be categorised as service, manufacturing, and retail. Consider a car manufacturing business. A car passes through all these three business categories from beginning of its manufacturing to its intended use. Manufacturer makes a car while service provider distributes or transports, and retailer sells a car to final user or driver. There are owners or employers as well as employees and customers in each of this stage. In line with our definition, employers are in business, employees and customers are all in business too. Everyone is in business! Everyone is player!

3. The Rules: – The fundamental element of a business is the presence of a win-win situation. The rules must be designed in such a way that everyone involved benefits from taking part. Business should fulfill a condition where no one is exceptionally and adversely affected. It doesn’t make sense for anyone to get involved to be negatively affected.
4. The Winners: – Every player in business must be a winner unlike other games. A business is a unique game as long as it embraces core ethical principles where everyone gains something from taking part either in the form of profit or wage or satisfaction. No one would like to take part in a losing business. Can you see how it works now?

A long time ago, I learned at college about business as being an activity whose primary objective is profit maximisation. I agree with this objective to a certain degree if the reason behind is hardworking and creating wider opportunities for a wider society. But still profit maximisation as a primary objective contains some sense of selfishness. If you are filled with selfishness, you would only go for a win no one else except yourself. You would strive for win-lose rather than win-win. If you are filled with selfishness, it would be a norm for you to oppress and exploit others around you. That means you are overlooking and breaking the fundamental rule of a business. You might get ahead in wealth and financially but you are fallen behind ethically. This is rather a failure not a success.

The same is true for employees. If you are employed by someone, you are earning a profit share from that entire investment. You are clearly a shareholder and a business is yours too. You are there as long as that business exists and invests continually. Therefore, give everything required from you to the best of your knowledge and skills to satisfy your employer so that he or she willingly pay you a salary and wage that you deserve and happily continue to employ and reward you.

That is why I believe understanding these underlying principles and embracing them into your business irrespective of your legal ownership enables everyone involved to get ahead not only in wealth and financially but also ethically. This is what business and success should look like.

I strongly recommend the following books. I am quite sure you love and get inspired by reading them irrespective of your religious background.

• Business Secrets from the Bible: Spiritual Success Strategies for Financial Abundance https://amzn.to/2JcqjBN.
• Timeless Wisdom, Wealth and Righteousness from Above: 52+ Money Making and Management Devotionals for a Happiness Project: Lessons from Jesus Christ and … Mom Management Master the Game Book 1) https://amzn.to/2IVvgvz.

More resources:

• Cyber Security
• Ransomware Attacks
• No Pain but Gain: Take It!
• A Plug-in that makes e-Business at Ease

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