Businesses vary greatly in terms of what they do. Businesses are often involved in a number of different activities, but the main activities that they carry out are known as their core business.
Business activities include; producing raw goods; manufacturing goods; selling goods; client services; and other services.
This list follows a natural progression which is outlined in the flow chart below
Producing raw materials e.g. iron ore
Manufacturing goods e.g. users iron ore make steel which in turn is used to help make cars
Sale of goods e.g. selling cars through showrooms more today via the
Internet
Client services e.g. specialist dealers provide a website through which the cars are sold, also customers pay by credit card and payments are processed through the banking system (another client service)
Other services e.g. transport and distribution of these cars around the country from seaports/manufacturer warehouse

Business activities are generally classified by sector. The three main sectors are:
1.
Primary sector-these are businesses which extract raw materials from the Earth e.g. fishing, farming, and mining.
2.
Secondary sector-these are businesses which manufacture both consumer and industrial goods, and those of businesses involved in the construction of buildings, bridges etc.
3.
Tertiary or Service sector - these provide services to both businesses and individuals e.g. education, health etc.
Sometimes the service sector is further divided into wholesalers and retailers, and other services, which include client services and non-client services.
Wholesalers are businesses which buy in bulk and break into smaller quantities of goods which they then sell on to other businesses, known as retailers. Retailers will break goods up into individual items and sell to the public. An example of a retailer is Tesco plc.
Other services include client services such as education, insurance, leisure travel etc. Whether the client receives the service directly or indirectly determines whether it is a non-client services e.g. communications, radio and TV all deliver the product to the client without face-to-face interaction.
As mentioned earlier, businesses are often involved in more than one activity. For example, Tesco sell food and groceries but they also offer customers loans and other financial services. Increasingly Tesco sells nonfood products such as white goods e.g. microwaves, freezers etc. How do you decide which is the core activity of the business? Usually the core activities is the activity which the business depends upon e.g. in the case of Tesco this would be food and groceries. In the case of a football club like Liverpool or Chelsea, the sale of football shirts and associated merchandise is a secondary activity, although it is very profitable for them. The core activity is football and the gate receipts which come from the attendance of supporters.

Following the Industrial Revolution the UK was the leading world's leading manufacturer. However, by the 1950s although shipbuilding, coal mining and steel production were booming in the UK, there were already signs of the start of a long-term decline in these sectors (known as deindustrialisation). In simple terms, employment in the primary and secondary sectors declined and there was a parallel rise in employment in the service sector. In 1900 28% of the U.K.'s population was involved in manufacturing but by 2000 this figure had fallen to 14%. During the same period the percentage of people involved in agriculture fell from
11% to 2% by 2000. Between 1900 and 2000, however, service sector employment in the UK increased from 34% 74% in 2000.
The changes occurred mainly because of shifts in consumer demand.
Although to a certain extent there was also a shift due to the rapid technological changes that took place. These had a massive effect on both production – through the introduction of new products such as PCs, mobile phones, DVDs - and also on consumer demand - new demand for microwaves, TV's etc. This technology made production more costeffective, whilst at the same time reducing the number of people employed in the secondary sector.
Lifestyle - a general rise in the prosperity of the country meant that people had more leisure time which they filled with activities such as shopping, eating out, going to the gym etc
Population trends - as the structure of the population gets older there is more and more demand for services which older people need for example retirement homes health care etc
Tastes and preferences – tastes and preferences change over the years, which reflect the changing nature of our society - for example 100 years ago it was unusual for somebody to take photographs, or to have the time to do so. Now almost everybody owns a camera.
Value for money - people will tend to choose a product on the basis of what they believe is value for money.

Income and wealth - income and wealth will determine what goods are brought, and how leisure time spent
Seasonal factors-seasonal factors such as Christmas will influence consumer demand e.g. more products are sold at Christmas than any other time of the year.