Businessperson

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"Businessman" redirects here. For other uses, see Businessman (disambiguation).

A businessperson is someone involved in business, where in particular undertaking of
activities, commercial or industrial, for the purpose of generating cash flow, sales, and revenue
utilizing a combination of human, financial, intellectual and physical capital that further
fuels economic development anilnd growth. An entrepreneur is an example of a businessman.
Though the term usually refers to founder, owner, or majority shareholder of a business, the
term is sometimes interchangeably used to describe a high level executive who does the
everyday running and management of the business even though the executive is not the
owner.[1] The term may sometimes mean someone who is involved in the upper-level
management role of a corporation, company, enterprise, firm, organization, or agency.[2] This
can especially apply to the founder, an owner, a manager, an executive, or an administrator in
charge of total management of a corporation, company, organization, or agency.[3][4]
Contents
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1History
o

1.1Prehistoric period: Traders

1.2Medieval period: Rise of the merchant class

1.3Renaissance to Enlightenment: Rise of the capitalist

1.4Modern period: Rise of the manager

2Qualifications

3Salary

4Business guru

5See also

6References

7External links

History[edit]
Prehistoric period: Traders[edit]
Since a "businessman" can mean anyone in industry or commerce,[5] businessmen have
existed as long as industry and commerce have existed. "Commerce" can simply mean "trade,"
and trade has existed through all of recorded history. The first businessmen were traders,
or merchants.

Medieval period: Rise of the merchant class[edit]

Merchants emerged as a "class" in medieval Italy. Between 1300 and 1500,

modern accounting, the bill of exchange, and limited liability were invented, and thus the world
saw "the first true bankers," who are certainly businessmen.[6]
Around the same time, Europe saw the "emergence of rich merchants." [7] This "rise of the
merchant class" came as Europe "needed a middleman" for the first time, and these "burghers"
or "bourgeois" were the people who played this role.[8]

Renaissance to Enlightenment: Rise of the capitalist [edit]

Europe became the dominant global commercial power in the 16th century, and as Europeans
developed new tools for business, new types of business people began to use those tools. In
this period, Europe developed and used paper money, checks, and joint-stock companies (and
their shares of stock).[9] Developments in actuarial science led to insurance.[10] Together, these
new tools were used by a new kind of businessman, the capitalist. These people owned or
financed businesses as bankers, but they were not merchants of goods. These capitalists were
a major force in the Industrial Revolution...

Modern period: Rise of the manager[edit]

The newest kind of businessperson is the manager. One of the first true managers was Robert
Owen (17711858), an industrialist in Scotland.[11] He studied the "problems
of productivity and motivation," and was followed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, who was the
first person who studied work.[12] After World War I, management became popular due to the
example of Herbert Hoover and the Harvard Business School, which offered degrees in
business administration (management).[13]

Qualifications[edit]
Qualifications needed to be a businessperson vary by the type of businessperson. Many
business occupations in the United States require a bachelor's degree.[14] Even top executive
positions do not typically require a master's degree.[15] There are no prescribed educational
qualifications, rules or guidelines which one may follow and expect to become a successful
businessperson. Much of the business education gained is related to real life
experience and on the job learning rather through a textbook or a classroom. A person owning
a small gas station in a local market is as much as a businessperson as a person who owns
and leads a large Silicon Valley technology giant. There are many paths to becoming a
businessperson. Some aspiring businesspeople complete a two-year business diploma in a
college, a four-year Bachelor of Commerce degree, a two-year Master of Business
Administration degree or a degree in a specialized area related to their business (e.g., a mining
business executive might complete a Bachelor of Engineeringor a chemical company CEO
might complete a Bachelor of Science degree). On the other hand, since much of business
skills is related to real life experience, there have been heads of major companies who lack
formal education that were college drop-outs or who have never attended college. Hence, no
rigid formal educational qualification requirements can be stated for becoming a
businessperson. However, there are certain attributes that successful businessmen must
possess, such as:

The businessperson should have tact, financial and business savvy, courage, vision,
imagination, and organizing ability.

They should be a person of attention, time sense, and punctuality because these are
essential for successful business.

They should be well-balanced and should apply consistency in their approach.

They should be friendly towards the employees and the customers.

They should be imbued with social interest.[16]

Besides this, there are also certain traits or characteristics that most businesspersons possess:
Initiative and capacity to take prompt decision: The business world is highly volatile and
changes are taking place at a rapid pace. Hence, a businessperson should have the ability to
take prompt decisions.
Determination, courage and perseverance: They must have strong will power and
determination and must have the courage to protect the business of the company under
unforeseen circumstances.
Intelligence and alertness: The businessperson should be alert and aware of the possible
changes taking place in the external environment otherwise they will fail in the business. They
should be intelligent enough to utilize available business opportunities and use them to the
advantage of the business.
Quality of leadership: They should be an ideal leader and should be a role model to others
because today's business requires loyalty and co-operation by all employees.
Morality and integrity: The businessperson should be honest, straightforward, fair in dealings,
dependability, and of a moral character to ensure long-term survival of the business.
Training and education: The businessperson should learn the intricacies of modern business
through training and education and should pass this onto their subordinates. [17]

Salary[edit]
Salaries for businesspeople vary.[18][19] The salaries of the top CEOs can be millions of dollars
per year. For example, Discovery Communications' head, David M. Zaslav, made $156 million
in 2014.[20] The high salary which executives earn has often been a source of criticism with
many believing that they are paid excessively.[21]

Business guru[edit]
Some leading business theorists believe that managing a business is like a science. These
people look to leaders in academic research on business or to successful business leaders for
guidance. Collectively, these people are called "business gurus."