Introduction to Business

1
Introduction to Business

• Wants and Needs
• Dr. Steve Hays
• Freshman Seminar
• Bishop Kearney High School

2
Wants and Needs Drive the Economy

• Suppose you have 20.00. You could use it to buy
  lunch or go to a movie. Which of these things do
  you want, and which do you need? What determines
  the difference between what you want and what you
  need?

3
Definitions

• Wants
• Things that you do not have to have to survive,
  but would like to have
• Needs
• Things that you must have in order to survive
• Was the last thing you bought a want or a need?
• Why do people worry so much about wants and needs?

4
Do Not Be Anxious - Matthew 625-33

• Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about
  your life, what you will eat or what you will
  drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.
  Is not life more than food, and the body more
  than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air
  they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
  and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
  not of more value than they? 27 And which of you
  by being anxious can add a single hour to his
  span of life? 7 28 And why are you anxious
  about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field,
  how they grow they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet
  I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not
  arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so
  clothes the grass of the field, which today is
  alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will
  he not much more clothe you, O you of little
  faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying,
  What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or
  What shall we wear? 32 For the Gentiles seek
  after all these things, and your heavenly Father
  knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first
  the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
  these things will be added to you.
• ESV Reformation Study Bible (2005)

5
Satisfying Wants and Needs

• Goods
• Physical products
• Services
• Tasks that businesses perform for consumers (most
  companies that sell goods also provide services
  to their customers)

6
Resources

• Most people have unlimited wants for goods and
  services
• Most consumers are able to satisfy their basic
  needs
• Few people have enough resources to satisfy all
  their wants
• What do we mean when we talk about resources?
• Resources are items that people can use to make
  or obtain what they need or want
• Money, fuel, labor

7
Make the Most of Resources

• Resources limit the number of needs and wants
  people can satisfy
• To make the best of limited resources, consumers
  must determine what their needs are and satisfy
  them first
• How can you make the most of your resources?

8
The Decision Making Process
Identify the Situation Whether the problem is
one that occurs daily or comes up only a few
times in a lifetime, must identify the problem
Identify possible courses of action Take time to
think through the situation so you can identify
and consider all the important alternatives
Determine the Pros and Cons Consider your values
and goals when determining the advantages and
disadvantages of each alternative
Make a decision Use the information you have
gathered to rank the alternatives and make a
decision. Once you make a decision, you can plan
how to reach your goal.
Evaluate your decision once in effect, ask
yourself whether you achieved the results
expected. Would you make the same choice again?
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Personal Decision Making

• You may not use all of the steps of the decision
  making process every time you but something
  however, the longer a decision may affect your
  life, the more you need to evaluate your options
  and consider the possible consequences

10
Business Decision Making

• Competition among businesses is intense
• Businesses must best decide how to use and
  conserve their resources
• Decisions must be thoughtful and consistent with
  goals

11
Competition

• What is it?
• The contest between businesses to win customers
• Why is competition possible?
• Because companies have the freedom to produce the
  products they think will be the most profitable
• For companies to successfully compete in the
  global economy, they must offer quality products
  with outstanding service at competitive prices
• How can companies accomplish this?

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Business Activities

• When developing products and services, companies
  undertake the following business activities
• Identify opportunities for products or services
• Evaluate the demand for products or services
• Obtain start-up money and operating capital
• Manage production of goods and services
• Market the goods and services
• Keep records to satisfy the government and
  improve processes
• The first two should be supported by market
  research

13
Market Research

• What is it?
• The act of gathering and analyzing information
  about wants, needs, and preferences of consumers
  in a certain market

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For Discussion

• How do profit and competition motivate
  businesses?
• How does business impact you and how do you
  impact business?

15
Homework

• Find one article in the newspaper, a magazine, or
  online regarding current events in the world of
  business. Read the article and write a minimum
  two paragraph summary of the article and how it
  is impacting the business world locally,
  nationally, or globally. Also consider how it
  affects you.
• Attach the article to the written assignment.