🔰 What is Business?
Business means:
"Making goods or services and selling them to people to earn money (profit)."
- Goods: Things you can touch, like pens, clothes, food.
- Services: Things people do for you, like a haircut, teaching, or transporting goods.
Example:
- A shopkeeper sells pens and earns money — this is business because they are selling something to make a profit.
- A person making food at home for family — this is NOT business, because they are not doing it to earn money.
🌍 Ancient Indian Trade & Commerce
India has a long history of trading with other countries. We were very good at it!
🛤️ Trade Routes:
People used special paths or sea routes to move goods from one place to another.
LAND ROUTE: Bengal → Taxila → Central Asia
SEA ROUTE: India ↔ Arabia ↔ Rome (spices, silk, etc.)
Silk Route – A famous land route mainly used to trade silk from China through India to the West.
Spice Route – A famous sea route used to trade spices from India to Europe and other parts of the world.
🏛️ Major Ancient Trade Cities
Some cities in ancient India were very important for business and trade:
| City |
Famous For |
| Taxila |
A big center for education and banking. |
| Varanasi |
Known for its beautiful silk and sandalwood products. |
| Mithila |
Had strong trade links with countries in South Asia (like Java, China). |
| Surat |
Famous for Zari textiles (fancy embroidered cloth) and traded with Iran/Egypt. |
| Pataliputra |
Important for exporting stones to other regions. |
💰 Indigenous Banking System
In ancient times, there were no banks like today. People used a special system called Hundi to transfer money safely.
📝 What is Hundi?
A written paper used to borrow or pay money safely (like a cheque today). It's similar to a cheque or a demand draft we use today. It helped people send money without carrying a lot of cash, which was risky.
Types of Hundi:
| Type of Hundi |
Means... |
| Dhani-jog |
You can pay this Hundi to anyone who holds it. |
| Sah-jog |
You can pay this Hundi only to a specific person named on it. |
| Firman-jog |
You can pay this Hundi only when the sender gives a specific order to pay. |
| Jokhmi |
This Hundi is used in case goods are shipped. If the goods are lost during shipping, the Hundi might not need to be paid. |
🏭 What is Business Activity?
As we learned, business is an activity done mainly for profit.
It involves a series of steps:
- Making goods (producing them).
- Selling them (distributing them to customers).
- Earning money (profit) from the sales.
🔄 Economic Activities – 3 Types
Any activity that is done to earn a living or make money is called an economic activity. There are three main types:
graph TD
A[Economic Activity] --> B(Business)
A --> C(Profession)
A --> D(Employment)
| Type |
What it means |
Example |
| Business |
Buying and selling goods or services for profit |
Shopkeeper, Online Seller |
| Profession |
Providing expert service after special training and education |
Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant |
| Employment |
Working for someone else and receiving a fixed salary or wages |
Teacher, Bank Employee, Factory Worker |
🏗️ Types of Industries
Industries are groups of businesses that produce similar goods or services. They can be divided into three main types:
graph TD
A[INDUSTRY] --> B(Primary)
A --> C(Secondary)
A --> D(Tertiary)
- Primary Industry: This industry uses natural resources directly from the earth.
- Examples: Farming (growing crops), Mining (digging for minerals like coal or iron), Fishing (catching fish).
- Secondary Industry: This industry takes raw materials from primary industries and makes them into finished goods in factories.
- Examples: Manufacturing cars, making clothes from cotton, building houses.
- Tertiary Industry (Service Industry): This industry provides services to support primary and secondary industries, and to individuals. They don't make physical goods.
- Examples: Transport (moving goods and people), Banking (providing money services), Insurance (protecting against loss), Education, Healthcare.
🔁 Commerce = Trade + Services
🛒 What is Trade?
Buying and selling of goods
🛠️ Auxiliaries (Helpers of Trade)
These are the services that make trade possible and easier. Without them, trade would be very difficult.
- Transport – Moves goods from the place they are made to the market or customer.
- Example: Trucks, trains, ships, airplanes.
- Banking – Provides money for business activities, like loans, and helps with money transfers.
- Example: Banks lending money to businesses to buy raw materials.
- Insurance – Covers the risk of loss or damage to goods during transport or storage.
- Example: Getting insurance for goods being shipped overseas.
- Warehousing – Stores goods safely until they are needed by customers.
- Example: A large building where products are kept before being sent to shops.
- Advertising – Promotes products and services to make people aware of them and encourage them to buy.
- Example: TV commercials, online ads, billboards.
🧠 Objectives of Business (Why start a business?)
📋 A business doesn't just have one goal; it has many. Here are some key objectives:
- Profit – The most important goal is to earn income (more than expenses) to keep the business running and growing.
- Innovation – To come up with new ideas, new products, or new ways of doing things to stay competitive.
- Market standing – To be better than competitors and have a good reputation and position in the market.
- Social responsibility – To help society by doing good things, like protecting the environment, providing fair wages, or contributing to the community.
- Good employees – To ensure workers are happy and well-treated, as happy workers are more productive and make the business good.
⚠️ Business Risks (Important for Exam!)
🎲 What is Business Risk?
The chance of loss or not making a profit due to future unexpected problems. It's the possibility that something might go wrong.
Types of Business Risks:
| Type |
Example |
Explanation |
| Speculative Risk |
Loss or profit (e.g., changes in product prices, fashion changes) |
You can either lose money or gain money from this type of risk. |
| Pure Risk |
Only loss (e.g., fire, theft, natural disaster, machinery breakdown) |
There is only a possibility of loss; there is no chance of profit from this risk. |
🧱 Starting a New Business (Basic Steps)
📌 Before starting, you must plan carefully. Here are the basic steps:
- Decide what to sell (product/service)
- Choose small or large scale
- Select ownership type (sole proprietorship, partnership, company)
- Arrange place (location)
- Arrange money (capital)
- Buy machines & equipment
- Hire workers
- Follow tax rules
- Start marketing & sales