Business Entrepreneurship · Classes 9-10 · Chapter 1
Commerce and Direct Services.
A factory has finished making biscuits, yet the job is not half done. To reach a village shop they need a truck, a store, money, cover against loss and some publicity. That whole stretch between factory and buyer is commerce. Beside it sits another kind of work, where a person sells their own skill as the service.
1. Commerce: the branch that distributes
Commerce is the branch of business that distributes products and services. Getting the raw materials used in business or industry to the producer, and getting the finished goods or services to the consumer: all of these activities together are commerce. Industry makes the goods; commerce puts them in people's hands.
In the modern age commerce is also termed Business to Business.
While goods are bought and sold, problems of finance, risk, place, time and information may arise. Removing them takes help from transportation, storage, banking, insurance, distribution and advertisement. The book's chart adds a sixth constraint: possession, which means ownership.
On the road from factory to buyer there are six shut gates. Switch on the elements of commerce one by one and see which gate each one opens.
the road of six constraintsswitch on an element
Do the goods reach the buyer?
The road and the order of the gates are only a picture; the book gives the constraints as a list.
2. Six constraints, six elements
Each row of the chart pairs one constraint with the element that removes it. Tap the constraint or the element and the line below tells you what it does.
the book's chartgo from constraint to element
Six constraints
constraint
element
Possession
Exchange of goods and services
Placement
Transportation
Timing
Storing
Finance
Banking
Risk factors
Insurance
Information
Advertisement
Exchange. It removes the constraints of ownership.
Transportation. It removes the constraints related to place.
Storing. It removes the constraints related to time.
Banking. It removes the constraints related to money.
Insurance. It removes the risk factors.
Advertisement. It removes the obstacles related to information and circulation.
All six rows seen. Every constraint has its own element.
Now spot the constraint from a situation. In each one, ask which problem is being solved.
imagined caseswhat problem is solved?
Which constraint?
Pick up a case, then drop it in a box. Is it place, time, money, risk, news or ownership?
Right. Next one.
Not yet. Ask which problem the case is solving.
All in place. Place goes to transportation, time to storing, money to banking, risk to insurance, news to advertisement, and ownership to exchange.
3. Direct services
Self-employed professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers earn money by giving specialised services in exchange for payment. These activities are called direct services. No product is made or passed on here; what is sold is the professional's own skill.
The book's examples: a doctor's chamber, a lawyer's chamber, an engineering or architect firm, an audit firm, internet service and caregiving.
Direct services are a significant part of modern business. Of the eight names below, decide which belong to this branch and which belong to industry or commerce.
sort themindependent profession, service for money
Direct service?
Pick up a name, then drop it in a box.
Right. Next one.
Not yet. Ask: is this an independent profession serving for money, or is it work of making or distributing?
All in place. Textile mills are industry, that is, manufacturing. Transportation is a part of commerce. The other six are direct services.
Last, run through the definitions on four cards. Think of the answer first, then turn the card.
definitionsthink, then flip
Defining commerce
QuestionWhat is commerce?
AnswerThe branch that distributes products and services; all activities from raw material to the producer and goods to the consumer.
AnswerSelf-employed doctors, lawyers and engineers.
4. Check yourself
Three questions in the exam's style. Start with the first.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 1
Which is identified as the branch that distributes goods or services?
Right. Commerce is the branch of business that distributes products and services.
'Audit firm' does not fit here. The book says: Commerce is the branch of business that distributes products and services.
Industry: the carrier of production. The correct answer is Commerce.
Direct services: self-employed professionals' services for money. The correct answer is Commerce.
In the second, match a constraint with its element.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 2
Through the import of a ship from Canada, the elements of commerce have removed these constraints,
i. Place ii. Time iii. Possession
Statement ii is false: Buying (ownership) and bringing (place) the ship are the issues here; the time constraint is removed by warehousing.
Right. i and iii are true; ii is false: Buying (ownership) and bringing (place) the ship are the issues here; the time constraint is removed by warehousing.
Statement ii is false: Buying (ownership) and bringing (place) the ship are the issues here; the time constraint is removed by warehousing.
Statement ii is false: Buying (ownership) and bringing (place) the ship are the issues here; the time constraint is removed by warehousing.
Think the last one through before you answer.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 3
Mr. Zahid Alam buys hilsa from Barishal and supplies it to various markets in Satkhira. Which type of constraint does Mr. Zahid remove in business?
Time: the constraint of time, removed by warehousing. The correct answer is Place.
Right. Transportation removes the constraints related to place.
Risk: the risk constraint, removed by insurance. The correct answer is Place.
Finance: the constraint of money, removed by banking. The correct answer is Place.
The whole note on seven cards.
cut from the notetap to turn over
Seven cards
QuestionWhat is commerce?
AnswerAll the activities from delivering raw materials to the producer to delivering goods and services to the consumer.
QuestionBy what other name is commerce termed in the modern age?
AnswerBusiness to Business.
QuestionWhich element of commerce removes the constraint related to place?
AnswerTransportation.
QuestionWhich element of commerce removes the constraint related to time?
AnswerWarehousing (storing).
QuestionWhich element of commerce removes the risk factors?
AnswerInsurance.
QuestionWhat are the services that self-employed doctors, lawyers and engineers provide in exchange of money called?
AnswerDirect services.
QuestionWhich branch, with the audit firm as an example, is called a significant part of modern business?
AnswerDirect services.
Source: Business Entrepreneurship, Classes 9-10 (NCTB), Chapter 1 “Introduction to Business”, the “Commerce and Direct Services” part.