Business history and its description

The history of business has been maintained since ancient times. For many centuries, vast experience and traditions of business management have been accumulated, culture and ethics of entrepreneurship have been formed. Let's talk about how the world history of business development evolved, about the most vivid examples of success and starting a business from scratch.

Concept of business

In Russian, the word "business" is synonymous with entrepreneurship, in English this term literally means "business." The essence of this phenomenon is to extract profit from any occupation.

Business is an economic activity connected with risks, the businessman takes responsibility for them. The businessman at the same time has independence in making decisions and in organizing his own business. Business, as an economic phenomenon, is characterized by legal, financial and property responsibility, the systematic nature of profit. In any state there are own laws regulating the activity of entrepreneurs, but in any case they provide for legal registration and payment of taxes on profits.

Forms of business

For the age-old history of enterprise development, its main varieties have developed. The most popular form and historically the oldest is trade, the second in frequency form is production, and the third is the provision of services.

Also there are such varieties as insurance, financial and credit and show business. Organizational and legal characteristics distinguish such varieties of entrepreneurial activity as cooperative, partnership, limited liability company, economic partnership, joint-stock company and family enterprises.

The emergence of entrepreneurship

The history of business is rooted in antiquity. The first entrepreneurs appeared when the surplus of food began to be formed in agriculture. Then the most active people began to exchange products for other household items and food. The period of barter lasted quite a long time, but mostly "businessmen" did business in very small geographical areas. With the advent of money, entrepreneurship processes began to take on a larger scale, financial and insurance dealers began to appear.

Business in the Ancient World

It is documented that the history of business begins in Mesopotamia. There, groups of dealers created partnerships that, through letters of credit, provided various trade finance.

In Ancient Greece, trade was a sphere of state control, and entrepreneurs engaged in providing various services, primarily financial and credit. Rapid business development takes place in Ancient Rome. Entrepreneurs create large banking associations, enterprises for the production of clothing, weapons, household items and furniture. At this time, the work of hired workers begins to be actively used. But the production was mostly manual. During this period, the first accounting and taxation systems for entrepreneurs are formed, and attempts are made to regulate their activities.

Business of the Middle Ages

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the history of business enters a new stage of development. There is a rapid growth of trade, thanks to the Byzantine ties between east and west, new connections are established between European states and eastern countries.

At this time, there is an increase in production, due to the increase in the number of craft workshops. A class of merchants is being formed, which are united in a guild, they combine capital for the purchase of goods in distant lands. In the 14th century, an accounting system was invented in Italy, which later became an important condition for the development of capitalism. By the end of the Middle Ages, large companies began to appear that not only dealt with the sale and transportation of goods, but also produced various goods themselves, employing workers.

Business Development

Since the New Time, a new period has come in the formation of business. The era of great geographical discoveries led to a new surge in entrepreneurial activity. There are big trading companies that equip ships for trade with overseas countries.

In the 16th century the Reformation led to the emergence of Protestantism, which considered work to be an important virtue and considered wealth as a sign of divine blessing. This led to the emergence of a large number of entrepreneurs across Europe, and especially in its north.

At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, the English scholar Cantillon used the word "business" for the first time. From the mid-18th century, the industrial revolution begins , and there are opportunities to quickly produce inexpensive goods in large quantities.

On this wave there is a new class of entrepreneurs-industrialists, who sought to extract profits, expanding production. This class becomes a real "engine of progress," businessmen become the initiators of the introduction of new technologies, look for ways to improve the efficiency of enterprises, and develop new methods of managing companies.

In the middle of the 18th century, the sphere of joint-stock companies and banking expanded, which leads to the fact that business is beginning to be divided into large and small, the gap between them is growing rapidly. In the middle of the 19th century a class of capitalists was formed, which invested resources in the development of production.

Modern business

Since the beginning of the 20th century, a modern stage of entrepreneurship has begun, when there is a rapid growth in the number of businessmen. At this time, the history of business from scratch is characteristic, a great impetus to the development of this sphere is the way out of the world from the financial crisis and the spread of the American idea of personal success for everyone.

At the beginning of the 20th century a new sphere of activity appeared: the manager, scientific methods of business management were introduced, new economic theories were being actively formulated.

In the middle of the 20th century, the 3rd industrial revolution is taking place, which leads to a breakthrough in the field of innovative business. A new round of entrepreneurship is connected with the commercial development of virtual space. E-commerce has become a platform for the realization of their ideas by young businessmen. They were attracted not only by the new, unique sphere, but also by the opportunity to organize a profitable business with small initial investments.

The current stage is characterized by active development of the venture business, which is connected with attracting investors' funds and realizing business projects in high technology and high-tech production areas.

The history of Russian business: the emergence and stages

Russia has its own special path in the sphere of entrepreneurship. Money relations are emerging on the territory of our country only in the 9th century, and then the first stratum of merchants, who travel through the lands of the state and literally extract profit from their activity, begins to form.

The adoption of Orthodoxy slightly slowed down the development of entrepreneurship, but life can not be stopped, and the process of creating one's own business options is gradually gaining momentum. Russia, as an agrarian country, has always been a predominant field for the work of agricultural entrepreneurs. A large number of fairs and markets for the sale of various food products were operating in the country.

Since the second half of the 16th century, the country has entered a period of revival of interaction with other countries, this had a beneficial effect on the creation of family and art businesses. Gradually, the production of goods is growing, groups of artisans are formed, which specialize in the production of their own products.

In the 17th century, the state began to support entrepreneurs by encouraging a business initiative. At the end of the 18th century, with the development of the banking loan system, a steady growth of the number of private entrepreneurs began. Merchant guilds, artisan artels, various associations and communities are being created.

In the 19th century, the history of business in Russia reaches its peak, a large and small business appears, a class of industrialists is being formed. New spheres of production are appearing, Russia is going through the stage of industrialization. Stability of the economy contributed to attracting people to the business sphere.

Everything changed during the Soviet period. The abolition of private property has led to the fact that business has become unprofitable and even illegal. The sphere of entrepreneurship was replaced by state structures. Only after perestroika and the return to the path of a market economy in Russia is once again the opportunity to engage in business.

For 30 years, the country is going through stages of capital accumulation, privatization, distribution of markets and resources. By the beginning of the 21st century, the country had recovered a little. Although the segment of private entrepreneurship again began to decline against the background of the financial crisis. Today, small and medium-sized businesses are actively developing in Russia, the sphere of electronic commerce is being formed, entrepreneurship in the innovative sector is beginning to be created.

Small business

World experience shows that the stable growth of the economy and its development is provided mainly by small and medium-sized companies. Modern small business history shows that it is small private companies that are the locomotive of the economy. In Russia, the experience of creating small enterprises begins in the 90s of the 20th century, when people without large capitals create various production and trading firms.

The government is developing various mechanisms to support small businesses and expects that in 2030 about 60-70% of the population will be employed in this area. During the long history of business there were many examples of colossal successes and failures. So, from scratch, the owner of the largest trading network Wal-Mart once started his business. Sam Walton was able to come up with his own successful business model, which eventually brought him millions of profits and turned a small business into a large corporation.

Success Stories

World experience knows many examples of how people, thanks to their activity and practical grasp, have moved from small firms to huge enterprises. Success stories in business are numerous.

Impressive story of three friends - Sigla, Baldwin and Bowker - who united in their love for coffee and opened a small store, which later became the most famous network of coffee houses Starbucks Coffee. Classic success stories are the examples of Henry Ford and George Parker, who were able to create a huge business with their ideas and enthusiasm.

A separate page in the history of entrepreneurship is show business. This sphere existed even in Ancient Greece. But as an industry, it begins to form in the late 19th century. The history of show business begins in the US, this is promoted by the development of cinematography and sound recording.

The real boom of entrepreneurship in the field of spectacles begins in the second half of the 20th century, when mass culture begins to form. Entrepreneurs appear: entrepreneurs, producers, managers, who make their business profit from actors, singers, writers. Today, show business is a market where a lot of small, medium and large businessmen exist.