This document provides an introduction to business activities. It discusses that businesses add value to communities by providing goods and services to people and contributing to the wealth and jobs in a country. Businesses are categorized as either goods-producing, which produce tangible goods using machines and labor, or service businesses, which produce intangible services through customer interactions. Businesses obtain resources like land, labor, capital and enterprise and get money through personal savings, loans, trade credit or bank loans. They face factors like economic, demographic, social, technological, political/legal and global forces as well as competition from direct and indirect competitors.