CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS

Researches has shown that not all organizations that produce goods and services are business enterprise. To quality as a business, an organization must have all the following characteristics listed below.

A. It must be legitimate. The activities the business indulge must be permitted to be in existence by the norms of the land. Any activity not known by the law cannot be assumed or described as business. Peradventure, advance free fraud recognized in common parlance as 419, though many bring money to the fraudster but it cannot explained as business.

B. It must be lucrative. Any business should target at maximizing profit. Profit may be defined as the excess of revenue over cost and serves various objectives.

Basically, a business needs to make profit for profit in turn provides capital for an extensive investment and by extension, tomorrow’s jobs. Profit pays for the economic satisfaction and services of a society provides a basis for measuring improvement just as it is a premium for the risk of uncertainty (Duckers, 1974 :65) thus, churches, mosques and charitable organizations whose goal is not to make profit cannot be described as business.

C. It should be involved in the production of goods and services that meet human wants. That is to say that any business should produce goods and services that is competent of satisfying the needs and wants of humankind.

D. Exchange must be involves. The goods and services produced must be involved. To a large extent, the hunter or fisherman that consumes all the meat he produces cannot be said to be business oriented.

E. Risk consideration. Anyone who owns a business, risks his time, resources and effort; this risk known and taken as latent component in operating a business. It comprise ultimate risk of complete fracture in which owners may loose their entire investment.