Business is any activity that involves the exchange of goods and services for money or another item of value. It can be anything from a small company selling handmade products to a global corporation like Apple or Walmart. The one thing all businesses have in common is that they are enterprises and the aim of every enterprise is to make profit. This profit can be in the form of money, or it could be a benefit to society in some other way. Often people think of business as the creation of a product, but it also includes the processes and services that are involved with making that product.
A business may be a for-profit or not-for-profit entity and may operate as an independent entity, as part of a larger organization or as a branch of a government department. Some of these businesses are listed on a stock market and can be owned by the public. Others may be private or family-owned and operated.
The operation of a business is regulated by commercial law and the structure of the business ownership can vary greatly. The most common type of business is a corporation which has the legal personality of its owners and is therefore considered to be a separate person under the law. Other types of business include a sole proprietorship, partnership and cooperatives.
Many people feel that the ethos of business needs to change and that companies no longer look after their employees or customers, but are simply concerned with profit alone. This view is gaining ground, and a recent poll found that only 18% of Americans felt that the people running corporations looked after them very well.
Business articles can come in all shapes and sizes, from a how-to guide on using a particular product to an article on the impact of new regulations on the industry. The key to writing good business articles is understanding the audience and what sort of information they will find useful. This will help to determine the tone, style and length of the piece.
A good business article should be well-written, and contain accurate and up to date information. It should also be clearly structured so that the reader can follow the argument easily. The style of a business article will depend on the audience and the intended purpose, for example a news story will have a much shorter paragraph structure than an opinion piece. Business writing can also be very technical, but this is usually only when the subject matter is highly specialised. A business article can also be a report or case study, and should contain information that is relevant to the target audience. If an article is a report then the writer should provide references and sources to back up any claims made in the report. This will increase the credibility of the article. Finally, the article should be proofread carefully before it is published. A good proofreader will spot mistakes that the eye might not have seen.