6 Basic Business Activities

The day of a business owner consists of decisions that impact daily productivity and company growth. To help run the company more efficiently, the company owner puts together policies and programs that address basic business activities. These comprehensive guidelines make it possible for all employees to understand how to carry out basic business tasks and allow the company to operate more efficiently. Identifying basic business activities makes business planning easier.

Crafting a Budget

Every company creates a budget that dictates how revenue is utilized in daily operations and in the pursuit of future growth. Each department manager gives input on the costs of ongoing operations, and then a budget is created that allows the company to track all spending and revenue. The budget from the previous year is compared to that year’s actual results to create a guideline for creating the next year’s spending plan.

Accounting Operations and Management

Accounting is the process of managing the flow of money in and out of the company. Areas that come under the accounting group are accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, customer credit accounts, collections and tax accounting. Accounting reporting is responsible for annual tax filings, monitoring company costs and maintaining financial relationships with vendors and customers.

Marketing Plans and Brand Recognition

Marketing helps to develop company and brand recognition in the marketplace as well as develop advertising pieces that the buying public would see. The marketing group develops comprehensive marketing plans that use sales projections to help determine the best way to use company resources to gain more exposure for the organization and its products.

Growing Sales and Building Relationships

Sales is the group that maintains direct contact with the customer base. The sales group reaches out to prospects to help expand the customer base while also maintaining relationships with existing clients to secure repeat sales. The sales force is skilled at matching up company solutions with customer needs to create product demand.

Hiring Qualified Employees

The human resources aspect of an organization is important to maintaining current operations as well as planning for future expansion. A company needs to actively search out qualified candidates whose qualifications match current available positions, or who can be kept available should a personnel need arise.

Customer Service and Preserving Relationships

Customer service maintains corporate revenue by resolving customer issues and preserving the buying relationship. The customer service group does not proactively seek to expand the company’s revenue base by providing solutions to customers. Proactive customer interaction is reserved for the sales group. The customer service department is who the customer calls when they have a shipping, product or billing issue.