Business Career Planning

Business can be as simple as a store clerk selling an apple across a grocery counter, or a plumber charging a home owner a fee for fixing a leaky faucet. Or it can be as complex as the sale of state-of-the-art technology from a company in California to a country halfway around the world. Business has been a human activity ever since the first people learned they could exchange goods and services with their neighbors. It has been the driving force behind invention and exploration. But business has come to involve much more than simple barter, and for any person who wants to become involved in the wide world of business, it is essential to look into business career planning.

Business is constantly changing. At one time every community needed a blacksmith. Today very few people are employed as blacksmiths. That is because the automobile replaced the horse as the principal means of transportation. But while the blacksmithing jobs vanished, the coming of the automobile created thousands of other jobs, from car assembly lines to highway construction. Business career planning helps a person learn to understand what the needs and wants of a population will be, and how to get the product or service to them in an efficient manner.

Aside from non-profit businesses such as hospitals and other social service agencies, there are three main types of business that business career planning teaches a person to understand. The first is the manufacturer. The manufacturer produces everything from paper clips to jumbo jets. Some manufacturers produce only parts, such as tires, that are sold to other manufacturers, such as car makers. The second main type of business is merchandising, which can be divided into the wholesale and retain sectors. Merchandisers distribute products to the consumers. Business career planning students are learning that as giant American retailers bring in more and more merchandise from foreign manufacturers, American manufacturing jobs are being replaced by merchandising jobs. This transition will be a challenge for business career planning experts. The third main type of business is the provision of a service. Service providers do not actually sell a product, but provide a service for a fee. Hotels are service providers. So are electricians, hairdressers, banks and mechanics.

In business career planning, one learns that business is affected by a multitude of factors. High gasoline prices can have a negative effect on the tourist industry. A hit movie can cause the sales of a certain toy or fashion item to skyrocket. Global warming can reduce a ski-lodge’s period of operation from a few months to a few weeks. This in turn affects the business of the companies that supply the ski lodge with food, etc.

Business is becoming more and more high tech, and therefore so is business career planning. For people getting into this field, computer skills are just as important as marketing skills.