Economic objectives of business refer to the objective of earning profit and also other objectives that are necessary to be pursued to achieve the profit objective, which includes creation of customers, regular innovations and best possible use of available resources.

An enterprise is said to be a private enterprise where it owned, managed and controlled by persons other than Government.

When an enterprise is owned, managed and controlled by Government and private entrepreneurs, it is known joint enterprises.E.g. Maruti Suzuki.

Activities undertaken to satisfy social and psychological needs are called non-economic activities.
E.g: Cooking food for family, Doing meditation,Celebrating festivals.

(i) Profession includes those activities, which require special knowledge and skill to be applied by individuals in their occupation to earn fees.
(ii) People engaged in Profession are known as professionals.
(iii) For Example : Lawyer, Doctor, Chartered Accountant, etc.

According to H. Haney "Business" may be defined as a human activity directed towards producing or acquiring wealth through buying and selling of goods.

(i) Professions are those occupations which involve rendering of personal services of a special and expert nature.
(ii) It includes professional activities.
(iii) People engaged in a profession are known as Professionals.
For Example: Lawyers, Doctors, Engineers and Chartered Accountants.

(i) Economic Activities refers to those activities which are undertaken with the object of earning money.
(ii) For  Example Workers working in a factory, shopkeeper selling the goods in his Shop, Doctor attending the patient in his Clinic, etc.

Economic activities on the basis of size:
On the basis of size, business activities may be broadly grouped into two categories.
(a) Small-scale:
Small-scale units require less capital. They employ small number of workers and produce the goods on small scale.
Examples:
(i) Manufacturing textiles in handlooms or power looms.
(ii) Extraction of edible oil from seeds like groundnut, sesame, through "traditional wooden churner.
(b) Large scale:
Large-scale units require huge capital. They employ large number of workers and produce the goods on large scale.
Examples:
(i) Manufacturing Textiles in a large Textile mill. Example. Raymonds, Ramraj Cotton.
(ii) Extraction of edible oil from oilseeds in oil mills. Example. Suffola, Sunflower.

(i) Production of goods by manufacturer
(ii) Distribution of goods by wholesaler
(iii) Selling by retailers

On the basis of size, business activities may be broadly grouped into two categories.
A. Small Scale:
Small scale units require less capital, employ small number of workers and produce the goods on small scale
B. Large Scale:
Large scale units require huge capital, employ large number of workers and produce the goods on large scale.

Human activities :
Human activity is an activity performed by a human being to meet his/her needs and wants or may be for personal satisfaction. Human activities can be categorized into economic and non-economic activities. Economic Activities are those activities undertaken with the object of earning money. Activities undertaken to satisfy social and psychological needs are called non-economic activities.

Basis	Economic activities	Non - economic activities
(1) Definition	Economic activities are those activities which are undertaken to earn money or financial gain for livelihood. e.g : Fruit seller selling fruits.	Non-economic activities are those activities which are undertaken for the sake of pleasure, performed out of love, sympathy, sentiments etc. e.g : Mother cooks for her family,
(2) Motive	The Sole motive is to earn money or financial gain. e.g : Working as lawyer	Undertaken for satisfaction of social, psychological or emotional needs. e.g : Visit to a temple
(3) Money Measurement	All economic activities can be valued in monetary terms. e.g : Doctor charges a fee for consultation.	Non-economic activities cannot be valued in monetary terms. These are an expression of a thought, feeling or a gesture. e.g : An NGO distributes free clothes to poor children.
(4) Relationship	Economic activities are related to creation of wealth. e.g : Ram saved part of his salary to purchase a house of his Own.	Non-economic activities do not create wealth.  e.g : Money received as donation is spent on charity work.
(5) Outcome	All economic activities result In production, procurement, distribution and consumption of goods and services. e.g: Nokia produces cell phones and sells across India through its distributors.	The end result of a non-economic activity is the mental, emotional or psychological satisfaction of the person doing the activity.  e.g : Sona enjoys teaching orphans in an orphanage.
(6) Duration	Economic activities are repetitive. They are done on a regular basis to earn a living. e.g : Kulfi ice cream seller sells ice creams every evening.	Non-economic activities may not be undertaken regularly. Usually they are done during free time. e.g : Sankar visits orphanage in his free time
(7) Source of Initiation	Economic activities are initiated to satisfy human needs and wants.	Non-economic activities are initiated to satisfy emotional or sentimental pleasures.

Every business enterprise has certain objectives which regulate and generate its activities. Objectives are needed in every area where performance and results directly affect survival and prosperity of a business. Various objectives of business may be classified into four broad categories as follows:
A. Economic Objectives:
Economic objectives of business refer to the objective of earning profit and also other objectives that are necessary to be pursued to achieve the profit objective, which includes creation of customers, regular innovations and best possible use of available resources.
B. Social Objectives:
Social objective are those objectives of business, which are desired to be achieved for the benefit of the society. Since business operates in a society by utilizing its scarce resources, the society expects something in return for its welfare. No activity of the business should be aimed at giving any kind of trouble to the society.
C. Organizational Objectives:
The organizational objectives denote those objectives an organization intends to accomplish during the course of its existence in the economy like expansion and modernization, supply of quality goods to consumers, customers, satisfaction, etc.
D. Human Objectives:
Human objectives refer to the objectives aimed at the well-being as well as fulfillment of expectations of employees as also of people who are disabled, handicapped and deprived of proper education and training. The human objectives of business may thus include economic well-being of the employees, social and psychological satisfaction of employees and development of human resources.
E. National Objectives:
Being an important part of the country, every business must have the objective of fulfilling national goals and aspirations. The goal of the country may be to provide employment opportunity to its citizen, earn revenue for its exchequer, become self-sufficient in production of goods and services, promote social justice, etc. Business activities should be conducted keeping these goals of the country in mind, which may be called national objectives of business.

The essential characteristics of business are as follows:
(i) Production or Procurement of Goods:
Goods must be produced or procured in order to satisfy human wants.
(ii) Sale, Transfer or Exchange:
There must be sale or exchange of goods or services. When a person weaves cloth for his personal consumption, it is not business because there is no transfer or sale.
(iii) Dealing in Goods and Service :
Goods produced or procured may be consumer goods like cloth, pen, brush, bag etc., or producer-goods like plant and machinery. Services refer to activities like supply of electricity, gas or water, transportation, banking, insurance etc.
(iv) Regularity of Dealing :
An isolated dealing in buying and selling does not constitute business. The transactions must be regular. For example, if a person buys a scooter for his use and later on disposes it of at a profit, he cannot be said to have been engaged in business. The buying and selling must be recurrent to constitute business.
(v) Profit Motive :
An important feature of business is profit motive. Business is an economic activity by which human beings make their living. It is, in fact, the attraction of profit which spurs people to do business.
(vi) Element of Risk :
The profit that is expected in a business is always uncertain because it depends upon a number of factors beyond the control of the businessman. For example, change in consumer preference, shortage of raw materials, transport
bottlenecks, power-crisis, etc., may upset business calculations and result in loss. That is why profit is said to be reward for risk-taking. Thus any business activity includes an element of risk too.