"Karakata" is a Yoruba word that literally means 'to buy and to sell' all in one breath. It describes the vocation of buying and selling. The two concepts joined together in one word describe industry, economic activity, the world of been busy and a vocation called business. The word 'business' /'biz-nes/according to Meriam-Webster dictionary describes the activity of making, buying or selling goods or providing services in exchange for money. The word "business" a few years ago was a vocation or job of some people describing their livelihood and source of income. When people are asked what they do, it was not out of place to says stuffs like "I'm a business man or business woman", vocation or jobs involving some degree of activities and economic interaction but scope, scale and terms of such business activities might not be clearly cut out and might not readily come up for discussion. It sometimes sound like an evasive profession having wide range of activities hidden under the same umbrella terminology called - business.
As a little girl in those days, I knew older relatives and acquaintances in different fields of endeavor - a teacher would outrightly be referred to as such, tutor or lecturer; a medical practitioner also would be referred to based on what they did, ie. a doctor, nurse, pharmacist. At that time employment was streamlined, you either work with government or a big private organization and employment was highly predictable after the higher institution. Most people were teachers, agriculture officers, secretaries, few doctors, engineers and lawyers. There was this group of people who just referred to themselves as business man/woman, they were a small percentage of the populace and scope of their job are usually not clearly defined, we had to prod them to know exactly what they do for a living.
Modern day has brought with it so much evolution in the employment and job space, while government jobs and private organizations are gradually whittling away, the other group that used to be minority and not having clear definition have filled the space. Fortunately, nomenclature has changed from businessman/woman to entrepreneur with so much hype and more importantly, they are a lot more defined and structured than the latter. The concept of entrepreneurship has become a globally acceptable source of job/work and means of livelihood for many and a significant part of a nation's economy.
Entrepreneurship describes an active self employment and engagement for reward which can vary from profit, fame, gain, fulfillment and etc. Entrepreneurship involves starting a business, company, enterprise or organization and managing same for reward. Entrepreneurial activities include crafting business idea(s), developing a business plan, acquiring human and other (financial & physical) resources required, operating and implementing the business plan, managing all aspects of business. This is one subject that many folks would show interest in especially in this era where multiple streams of income is encouraged.
There are different levels of entrepreneurship; some start businesses building from the scratch, some build on existing business structure, some revamp and restructure an existing business structure, some diversify from an already existing business, some embark on the 'sustainability drive' of an existing business while some expand the scale of business. Whatever level or scale a business is, be it macro, small, medium and large enterprise, it can become a life buoy in the sea of economic uncertainties. It definitely requires consistent drive and energy for survival as it is a whole continuous cycle of activities and busyness, it's not a joke!
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