Are you clear what a ‘business’ actually is?

People in different cultures perceive ‘business’ in different ways.

Sadly, most ethnic Western Europeans see ‘business’ in a poor light. Many who are employed even fail to understand that if there weren’t any businesses, they wouldn’t have an employer.

The fact is that in western Europe ‘business’ is portrayed by the media as inherently ‘bad’, it’s purpose being to ‘exploit’ people both as ‘workers’ and customers.

Although ‘business studies’ as a subject is taught in the education systems it is almost entirely from the viewpoint of training people to be employees.

Even at MBA (Master of Business Administration) level it’s all about running and operating a company from within rather than establishing and owning a business.

Becoming an entrepreneur is discouraged as being a little ‘shady’ or at least a high risk option.

Setting up and owning your own business is only very rarely seen as a ‘career choice’ and becoming ‘involved’ in an already well-established (and entirely legal) ‘business opportunity’ is often seen as falling for some sort of ‘scam’.

What a business is NOT.

First, although the words are usually considered synonymous, a ‘business’ is not necessarily a ‘company’.

It may use a company as a framework but it’s not the same thing. Some companies are not businesses and vice versa.

Second, owning a business is not the same as being ‘self-employed’. There is a significant difference and it’s not about the business being an officially registered company.

Neither is a business any form of physical entity such as a shop, or a salon, or a hotel, or a fleet of vehicles, or a factory. They may be part of how the business operates, but they are not the business themselves.

What a business IS

Again, most definitions of ‘business’ talk not about what a business is but provide descriptions in terms of what it does or how it operates:

Or in terms of its purpose:

But that’s not the whole story.

In legal terms, a business is an independent entity. It’s not what you do, or what you intend, it’s something you own.

You see . . .

Which means . . .

• That if the income your business receives from its customers or clients depends entirely on the work that you do personally or the time that you spend doing it then it isn’t a business.
• That if the income to the business stops when you for one reason or another aren’t able to ‘work’ then it’s not a business.
• That if when you employ other people to operate the business the income fails to grow when you personally aren’t engaged with it, then again it’s not a business or it hasn’t yet achieved the critical mass that will cause it to become a business.

So, a business is something which –

• generates an ongoing recurring income for you – and, as it’s ‘owner’. . .
• You create and grow

Also . . .

It may be a means to an end by creating income that you will use for another purpose.

Or . . .

It may be an end in itself, when, as well as providing you with an income for life, it fulfils a need or passion that fulfils you in other ways.

Here’s the thing . . .

Do you want a business to generate an income you’ll use for something else?

Or . . .

Do you have a passion that will be fulfilled by turning it into a business?

Or . . .

Do you just want to get out of the world of employment and ‘be your own boss’ or ‘do your own thing’?

Once your business has reached a critical mass you can then spend more time working ON the business so that it becomes independent of you.

For a quick recap watch this short video about what a business, a ‘personal business’ actually is and what it can do for you.