Introduction

All of us, no matter where we live, need a wide range of goods and services to meet our needs. When we want something we go to a market — a physical shop or an electronic marketplace on the internet — where many shops and sellers offer what we want, and we pick whatever suits us best.

How goods reach the market

• The products and services we buy do not appear on their own. They are made available by many different sets of people engaged in economic activities — production, manufacturing, distribution and exchange — all aimed at satisfying the needs and wants of customers.
• Business is the major economic activity concerned with the production and sale of goods and services required by people.

Why business matters to everyone

• Business is central to our lives. Many other institutions — schools, colleges, hospitals, political parties, religious bodies — also shape modern society, but business has a major influence on our daily lives.
• Because of this, it is important to understand the concept, nature and purpose of business.

The chain from production to consumption

• Business starts with production and ends with consumption. Getting a finished product from the maker to the final user takes a series of steps.
• The economic-activity chain runs roughly like this:
  • Production or purchase of goods and services →
  • Exchange — transfer of goods and services, which may be through money (monetary) or through barter →
  • Distribution — the division of income among the factors of production →
  • Consumption — the final satisfaction of needs and wants.

Business as a wider term

• The work of producing goods is covered under Industry.
• The remaining activities that carry goods to the consumer belong to Commerce.
• Taken together, the wider term "Business" includes industry, trade and commerce.

A conversation that sets the stage

• Four Class X classmates — Imran, Manpreet, Joseph and Priyanka — meet at their friend Ruchita's house. Ruchita's father, Raghuraj Chaudhary, a successful businessman, tells them about business as a career.
• When Joseph says business is simply a good way to make a lot of money, Raghuraj corrects him: "there is a lot more to business than merely money." Business, he adds, leads to the growth and development of a country, and its roots can be traced back to ancient times, when trade brought prosperity to the Indian subcontinent.
• Priyanka recalls reading about the Silk Route. This sparks questions: how far back can trade be traced? Why did travellers call India "Swaran Bharat" and "Swaran Dweep"? What drove Columbus and Vasco da Gama to search for India? To find answers about the development, nature and purpose of business, the friends decide to meet their school's commerce teacher — the enquiry this chapter takes up.