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It's so much easier to suggest solution, when you don't know too much about the problem! - Malcom Forbes

The quote mentioned above is accurate in every way!

The most recent financial crisis, which started with the collapse of subprime loans and mortgage-backed securities, has affected every element of our society and called into question many of the fundamental beliefs that have guided our behavior for the past fifty years. It has been the ultimate interdisciplinary conundrum, including scholarly theory as much as it does financial innovation, technological innovation as much as it does global realpolitik.

The methods for producing and providing products and services are changing quickly as a result of technological advancements. Business practices are now influenced by the Internet and other advancements in communication. International business activities are being expanded by companies, and the workforce is more diversified than ever. Companies are being held accountable for the actions of their CEOs, and more people now agree that businesses have to act responsibly. Furthermore, this is a major plus as businesses are currently dealing with what many economists consider to be the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

A Holistic system

A holistic system would be,

  • First, ensure full participation and sufficient funding by enrolling employees automatically on their first day of work and offering incentives for employers and employees that encourage total contributions between 10 percent and 14 percent of pay—roughly double the average contribution today. Automatic IRAs, which President Obama has proposed, could provide a tax-favored saving opportunity to those without a workplace retirement plan—currently, about half the American workforce.
  • Second, help employees manage risk by offering a menu of fifteen to twenty investment options. This menu would provide sufficient diversification without presenting an overwhelming number of choices.
  • Third, give workers financial education and objective, non-commissioned advice to help them build a portfolio that reflects their goals and risk tolerances.
  • Fourth, provide opportunities and incentives for employees to save for retirement medical expenses.
  • Fifth, provide lifetime income through an affordable fixed annuity option.

The Cornerstone of Business

  • Owners, employees, and clients are a business's major stakeholders. External forces that affect businesses include the economy, the government, consumer trends, and public pressure to behave responsibly as a corporation.
  • Five functional domains can be used to categories the tasks involved in operating a business:
    1. Planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling resources are all aspects of management that help an organization achieve its objectives.
    2. Operations convert resources (labor, supplies, funds, etc.) into goods.
    3. Marketing seeks to understand and meet the demands of consumers.
    4. Finance includes the planning, acquiring, and management of firm funds.
    5. Accounting involves gathering, analyzing, and disseminating financial and managerial data.

Peripheral factors that affect business operations

All the big companies don't run in a vacuum; they are impacted by a variety of outside forces. These include public pressure to conduct business ethically, the government, consumer trends, and the economy. The interaction between a business's participants, its functional areas, and the outside factors that affect its operations is summarized in the above diagram. The fast food business is one that is unquestionably impacted by all of these variables. When the economy is doing well, more people can afford to eat out at restaurants where the Food and Drug Administration, a federal body, oversees food safety. Consumer trends have an impact on people's preferences for particular food varieties. And finally, the industry's efforts to act responsibly lead to a number of decisions. For instance, a number of fast-food businesses have eliminated Styrofoam packaging in response to environmental concerns.

Contemporary/ Modern concerns in Business

If there are challenges thrown across, then some interesting, innovative solutions are found.
Without challenges, the tendency is to go on the same way.
-Ratan N. Tata

1. Dealing with competition

Another clear issue that all business owners will encounter when opening a new company is competition. The majority of new business owners see competition as a major problem since it can easily cause their Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 470 224 business to lose relevance in the eyes of their clients, which can lead to client loss. For instance, the competition for new business owners has increased as a result of the daily increase in the number of new firms since their ideas may compete with those of the newly established enterprises. They consequently run the risk of losing clients as a result of those clients being influenced by other business decisions.

2. Unpredicted expenditures and hurdles

Unexpected company expenses and difficulties are among the biggest obstacles that entrepreneurs must overcome. This is due to the unpredictability of unanticipated problems. An entrepreneur must therefore always be ready for anything that may arise and find solutions to any problems or crises they may encounter. These unanticipated business difficulties actually take many different forms, such as unforeseen lawsuits, contradictory government regulations, customer debts, insufficient stock, or even unpaid bills and taxes. It has had a significant effect on enterprises in Asian nations, as the majority of established businesses have shut down as a result of the erratic and unanticipated economic downturn. Entrepreneurs must effectively manage all of these unplanned or unexpected business issues or else the development of a successful business may be hampered.

3. Finding quality consumers

Finding quality consumers is the other external challenge that business owners may experience. Although it can be difficult, acquiring loyal consumers is crucial to the success of a certain company. Good customers can contribute to the development of a company by encouraging employees to always aim to act in a way that is beneficial to both the firm and themselves. In addition, they are quite forgiving if a certain company makes a mistake or apologizes, and they always seem to be loyal to the organization. Additionally, they will offer constructive criticism of a certain new company's service so that the owners can make adjustments. However, there aren't many customers who are this good.

4. The modern GDP

There are a few categories that are frequently used to describe a nation's developmental stage. The worth of all the goods and services a nation produces in a given year is measured by its GDP. The nominal per capita GDP—the GDP divided by the nation's population—is a better measure of the strength of the local economy and the market potential for a new consumer good. Finally, economists modify this figure to account for the various living standards in other nations in order to compare production and income across nations. In order to guarantee that a good is acquired for the same price in the same currency, PPP modifies the exchange rates between nations. 

The HDI assesses how satisfied individuals are with three important aspects of their lives: 

  1. A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy;
  2. Equal access to high-quality education
  3. A reasonable standard of living, as measured by income. Life expectancy at birth is used to gauge health, adult literacy rates and gross enrollment ratios for elementary, secondary, and tertiary education are used to gauge knowledge, and per capita GDP is used to gauge standard of living. 

For example, in 1997, the UNDP added the HPI to take into account the denial of basic chances and choices to those who live in poverty. Standards are constantly changing to adapt to changing global conditions. Understanding the reasons behind the changes, what attitudes and perceptions are changing, and whether they are backed by actual, verifiable data are all crucial.

5. Developed Economics

The term "developed economies" (sometimes referred to as "advanced economies") refers to post-industrial nations that are defined by having high per capita incomes, competitive industries, open legal and regulatory systems, and well-established commercial infrastructure. Additionally, developed nations frequently rank highly on the HDI (human development index) (i.e., long life expectancies, high-quality health care, equal access to education, and high incomes). These nations frequently have democratically elected governments as well.

  • Canada, the United States, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand are among the countries with the largest developed economies.
  • After Russia, China, and Canada, the United States is the fourth-largest nation in the world. However, the United States has the greatest single-country economy in the world, contributing close to 25% of the world's GDP (GDP). The US economy's resilience is largely attributable to its variety. The American economy of today is service-based. Industry contributed 21.9 percent to the GDP in 2009, services (including real estate, banking, and insurance), 76.9 percent, and agriculture, 1.2 percent.
  • The fifth-largest economy in the world is that of Germany, a member of the EU (European Union). A highly skilled work force helps the nation, which is a leading supplier of machinery, cars, chemicals, and home goods. Its economy is the biggest and most robust in all of Europe. Services, which accounted for 72.3% of the GDP in 2009, are the economy's main driver. Agriculture makes up 0.9 percent of the GDP, with industry making up 26.8 percent.
  • Japan's post-World War II prosperity has been attributed to a carefully constructed economic strategy that is strictly supervised by the government and supported by major corporations. It also gains from having a workforce with exceptional talent. As a result of its limited mineral and energy resources, Japan is largely dependent on imports for the majority of its oil, iron ore, lead, wool, and cotton needs. It imports more raw materials than any other country in the world, including coal, copper, zinc, and lumber. Services dominate the economy, accounting for 76.5 percent of the national GDP, as they do in other industrialized countries, while industry produces 21.9 percent of the nation's production.
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a new way to stand!

- Oprah Winfrey

What Causes Growth Stocks to Flourish in Developing Nations?

"Emerging Markets" gives emerging markets more attention. But it's crucial to keep in mind that all of the emerging-market nations were formerly regarded as underdeveloped ones. What brought about the change? Do today's developing nations have the potential to become tomorrow's emergent markets? These are the queries that international firms, as well as global economists and development specialists, ask. Typically, the issues that cause many countries to be classified as developing economies are also the ones that, if they are handled and resolved, allow these nations to become emerging markets. 

Suggestions

  • Government organizations at the state and federal levels can host entrepreneurial activities, including talks by successful businesspeople, their triumphs, the difficulties they overcame valiantly, etc.
  • The procedures and documentation should be streamlined, and sufficient information about government programs should be made available, to ensure that the greatest number of businesses are aware of them.
  • Many business owners struggle with the issue of finances. The government must actively participate in lending money to struggling business owners through cooperative and nationalized banks. The application process for bank loans should be less difficult and time-consuming. The entire necessary documentation must be written in the local tongue. So that even uneducated business owners will believe it to be a suitable and reliable source of financing.
  • In order to assist entrepreneurs in meeting their needs for financial assistance, marketing aids, obtaining subsidies and concessions, technical know-how, raw material assistance, conducting market surveys to determine the viability of counselling, follow-up guidance, etc., separate entrepreneurial organizations can be formed.
  • The entrepreneurs should have access to sufficient marketing-related data.
  • To take advantage of the benefits of large-scale operations, entrepreneurs should be encouraged to launch their businesses in joint stock companies rather than as sole proprietorships and partnership concerns.

An example - Google in Africa

For overcoming contemporary business challenges and demonstrating to the world our strength

Despite having some of the least amount of Internet connection globally, Google has chosen to expand in Africa. A fascinating growing market for many businesses is Africa, which has one billion people.

According to Joe Mucheru of Google's Kenyan headquarters, "The Internet is not a crucial component of people's daily lives in Africa."

[Yet] According to Google officials, Internet use is expanding at one of the quickest rates in the world in Africa. According to the World Bank and research websites like Internet World Stats, Nigeria currently has roughly 24 million subscribers, and South Africa and Kenya aren't far behind.

Other tech firms have also focused their attention on the continent. Cisco Systems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Microsoft Corp., and International Business Machines Corp. [IBM] all operate sales offices in Africa where they offer laptops, printers, and software to rapidly expanding businesses and a burgeoning middle class.

“In Africa, Google Sows the Seeds for Future Growth" - Will Connors, Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2010.


Conclusion

In the modern world, society needs entrepreneurs to boost the nation's economy and give young people jobs. Entrepreneurs need to be optimistic, open-minded, and knowledgeable about their industry. They should continually update their technology and market knowledge in order to be competitive in the market. Various issues arise for entrepreneurs when launching a business. Although practically all problems have answers, this does not mean that business owners will never run into a difficulty since they are aware of all the possible remedies. Many entrepreneurs find that their biggest challenge when establishing their business is money.

One can solve this issue by saving money, obtaining a bank loan, and receiving government assistance. They must possess sufficient fortitude to handle the difficulty and prosper in their business. This study came to the conclusion that the main difficulties experienced by business owners were market competition, financial difficulties, marketing difficulties, etc. Through the use of practical knowledge and an effective business plan, they were able to overcome the obstacles. Entrepreneurs' major strength is their self-assurance, whereas their biggest vulnerability is the dread of failure they experience when establishing a business. As a result, individuals take actionable efforts to achieve the goals and have faith in their ability to deal with the outside world.

The only thing in your control is EFFORT!
That's all and that's everything! 
- Mark Cuban

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