Recalling a conversation I have had on numerous occasions on with some business man friends of mine has inspired me to write about what I perceive to be an easily blurred distinction between being a business and a hustler operations dressed as a business. It may also be that whatever my perceptions are, I may be looking at the reality of business in some contexts through an untrained eye.

So I have been trained to believe, and have proven this to be true, that successful business is founded on a long term view and that business objectives are pegged onto this long term view of business. Long term businesses may also have a long term approach to profit margin and profitability which means they go for normal profit rather than super normal profits. A business might also identify a product or service to specialize in with a view to becoming the market leader in their respective markets.

But, my problem or gripe with some businesses is that they are much the opposite of what is commonly accepted a business for example if an individual with money and perhaps a registered company buys and sell a variety of products constantly are they really a business?. The issue for me is that there are many hustlers and perhaps dealers who go around buying and selling whatever the market is willing to buy and sell usually at 65 – 100% profit margin. And, they may never sell the same product twice as they move on constantly looking for the next money spinner, can we call this business a business?

Some people say actually their business is that of facilitation, they link customer needs to the solutions for those needs and since customer needs are forever changing the facilitator’s role also changes accordingly.Other will go as far as saying its the same thing that stock brokers do so the question of whether buying and selling an ever changing variety of products can be considered a business is actually redundant.

But still a relevant question…