The Life of a Business

Lily Llewellyn
May 12
3 min read

Updated: May 26

The Life of a Business

The more you can respect the integrity of your business the better. As radical as it may sound, it’s helpful to think of a business as having its own life and identity. The more you can take care of your business as you would another person, like a child who needs constant supervision, the better. The more separate from your business you feel the better. To care for and respect your business, consider it as having its own life.

Whether or not you agree with the broader philosophy that intangible objects and entities have life, it is helpful to keep in mind the following key points about every business.

• A business has a finite lifespan – it is created and will end

• A business has legal assets, assets that belong to the business

• A business has legal rights, rights that belong to the business

• A business is open and vulnerable to the environment – it is as healthy as it is compatible to its environment

• A business must learn and adapt – it cannot stay the same

• A business has a purpose and strives to succeed – it has a mission, and for it to exist it must make efforts to achieving its mission

• A business has a sense of self – people interact with it and have a relationship with it

• A business has incredible influence and power

Not only this, but a business also has a system that is lives and works in like a person has a system that they live and work in. I will call these systems a world.

A person, like you and I, has a world. At its smallest point in the world, the person has themself (the individual). One step out from themselves as an individual, there is the family. Then the community. Then society. Then the nation or country. We could argue that beyond this is humanity as a whole and some believe greater than this is a god(s). The person operates in a small world, that is part of a bigger world.

A person's world

The Life of a Business — A person's world

Like a person, a business also has a world in which it lives and works. For a business, it has its individual business owner at the centre, like a person’s world has the individual at the centre of their world. In the business’ world, one step out from the business owner are the parts of a business, that is, the value creation division, the marketing division, the sales division, the value delivery division and the finance division (see Five Parts of a Business), of which all divisions may be operated by the business owner or their team. A step outside the business as a whole is the community of clients it is a part of and provides for. Beyond the community of clients that the business is a part of is society as a whole.

Like a living person, a business is involved in its world in which it works and lives.

A business' world

If a business is life-like and separate from the business owner, where does the business owner fit into the world of a business?

The business is the business owner’s creation. It is the way in which the business owner can go about making their purpose and mission a reality. What is important to the business owner becomes the purpose of the business. Once the business is created it is real, life-like and powerful. The business owner must take care of their business, both for themselves as a person and for the business.

This is important! The business needs to be taken care of, because it is life-like and powerful. It is the business owner’s responsibility to care for the business.

It is the business owner’s responsibility to use the business’ assets and rights ethically. The business owner must use the business’ power and influence responsibly and ethically and consider the society in which both people and businesses live and work.

The business owner has the responsibility to care for the business.