Product

• Product


  Anything that can be offered to a market for retention, acquisition, for use or consumption that might satisfy a want or a need. It includes physical objects, services and ideas.
• Product


  • Consists of both tangible and intangible products
• Three levels of product analysis

  • Core product
  • Formal/Actual product
  • Augmented product
• Core product


  The benefit or satisfaction that can be derived from a product
• Core product of a bicycle in third world countries

  • Serve as means of transport
• Formal/Actual product


  The external features of a product such as styling, packaging, branding and others
• Augmented product


  Additional benefits and services which surround a product, e.g. guarantees, installation, free delivery
• Product classifications


  • Consumer products
  • Industrial products
• Consumer products


  Products bought by final consumers for personal consumption
• Consumer products


  • Soap
  • Bread
  • Cosmetics
  • Detergents
• Classification of consumer products

  • Convenience products
  • Shopping products
  • Specialty products
  • Unsought products
• Convenience products


  Consumer products and services that the customer buys frequently, immediately and with a minimum of comparison and buying effort. They are usually low priced.
• Convenience products


  • Soap
  • Bread
  • Newspapers
• Convenience products


  • Marketers should make them available in convenient places so that consumers might have access to them
• Business


  Activity that seeks to make a profit by satisfying needs through selling goods or services to generate revenue
• Selling


  Exchange of goods or services for an agreed sum of money
• Revenue


  Total amount of money that the selling of goods or services produces for a business during a defined period of time
• Goods


  Tangible products - things you can touch
• Services


  Intangible products - things you can't touch
• Profit


  Amount of money a business makes after paying for its salaries and all other costs - revenue minus expenses
• Loss


  When business expenses are larger than revenues
• A business has the opportunity to provide benefits beyond profits
• A business can raise the quality of life by increasing society's general well-being
• A business can raise the standard of living by increasing the buying potential of their employees
• A business contributes to the interests of society by producing goods and services, providing paychecks and benefits, paying taxes, and donating
• The Top 15 most livable countries have strong business environments and cultures, and most have strong social safety nets
• Most of the very wealthy are self-employed business owners, who are much more likely than the salaried to be rich, 4X as likely to be millionaires
• Risk


  Possibility of losing money that the owner/owners invest in the business
• Entrepreneurs


  Business owners who see a new opportunity for a product or service and start firms that may lead to a high-growth business
• Fundamental resources needed to create wealth

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Natural resources
  • Capital
  • Human resources
  • Knowledge
• Business environment


  • Economic, technological, competitive, global and social forces that will either encourage or discourage the development of business
• Stakeholders whose interests are influenced by an organization's activities

  • Owners
  • Customers
  • Employees
  • Suppliers
  • Distributors
  • Lenders
  • Nearby communities
  • Government regulators
  • Interest groups
  • Media
• There are many changing forces in the current business climate that forces you to be alert
• Key areas of the competitive environment

  • Being responsive to customers
  • Making continual improvement in quality
  • Finding ways to deliver new or better products/services
  • Striving for employee efficiency
• The world is changing, and business operates in a global environment where many of their suppliers and customers can be halfway around the world
• There are increasing pressures to operate ethically and in a socially-responsible manner
• We live in an increasingly diverse environment, and we must learn to deal with different kinds of people
• In order to succeed, you will need to cultivate personal skills needed in the workplace
• Micropreneurs


  Small-business owners who take the risk of starting and managing a business that remains small, lets them do the kind of work they want to do, and offers them a balanced lifestyle
• Small business


  Business that is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field, and meets certain criteria for number of employees and annual sales revenue