Key Terms
● Business activities- This refers to the tasks completed by a business to achieve its
objectives, e.g buying, selling and producing products or services.
● Retail Customers- These are customers who buy finished products, e.g frozen peas
from a supermarket.
● Business customers- These are businesses that purchase products or services from
another business.
● Limited Liability- This is when the owners of a business are liable for the debts
incurred by the business only to the value of their investment in the business.
● Unlimited liability: This is when the owners of a business are personally liable for
all debts incurred by the business if the business itself does not have the funds to
repay them.
Types of business activity
● Primary activity: The key purpose of primary activity is the extraction and
harvesting of raw materials. This includes mining, agriculture, fishing, and oil and
gas extraction.
● Secondary activity: The key purpose of the secondary activity is to manufacture
products. These can be finished products sold to retail customers or components
sold to business customers and used in the production of other products.
● Tertiary activity: The key purpose of the tertiary activity is the provision of services.
These can be services to the public, such as hairdressers, schools, banks and
supermarkets, or services to businesses, such as transport.
Sectors of Operation
● Private Sector: Businesses operating in the private sector aim to make a profit.
They range from small local businesses, such as an electrician, to large
multinational corporations.
● Public Sector: The public sector is responsible for providing a wide range of public
services, such as health care, education, libraries, the armed forces, maintaining
public roads, etc. The public sector is financed via sources including taxation,
council tax payments, business rates, licence fees(e.g BBC) and selling products
and services.
● Business activities- This refers to the tasks completed by a business to achieve its
objectives, e.g buying, selling and producing products or services.
● Retail Customers- These are customers who buy finished products, e.g frozen peas
from a supermarket.
● Business customers- These are businesses that purchase products or services from
another business.
● Limited Liability- This is when the owners of a business are liable for the debts
incurred by the business only to the value of their investment in the business.
● Unlimited liability: This is when the owners of a business are personally liable for
all debts incurred by the business if the business itself does not have the funds to
repay them.
Types of business activity
● Primary activity: The key purpose of primary activity is the extraction and
harvesting of raw materials. This includes mining, agriculture, fishing, and oil and
gas extraction.
● Secondary activity: The key purpose of the secondary activity is to manufacture
products. These can be finished products sold to retail customers or components
sold to business customers and used in the production of other products.
● Tertiary activity: The key purpose of the tertiary activity is the provision of services.
These can be services to the public, such as hairdressers, schools, banks and
supermarkets, or services to businesses, such as transport.
Sectors of Operation
● Private Sector: Businesses operating in the private sector aim to make a profit.
They range from small local businesses, such as an electrician, to large
multinational corporations.
● Public Sector: The public sector is responsible for providing a wide range of public
services, such as health care, education, libraries, the armed forces, maintaining
public roads, etc. The public sector is financed via sources including taxation,
council tax payments, business rates, licence fees(e.g BBC) and selling products
and services.
