Difference Between Business and Profession (With Table)

Many people do not have a clear understanding of business and profession. They use to think that both terms are the same. However, they are not.

Business vs Profession

The main difference between Business and Profession is that business doesn’t require a person to have a specific qualification. On the other hand, the profession requires you to be skilled in your niche and have a certification in that. Business is generally concerned with the buying and then selling of articles. In a profession, you are required to provide services through your skills.

The main objective of a business is to earn a profit. Every person has their own tactics in order to make a considerable amount of profit in the industry.

In the profession, one aims to provide top-notch services to the company. They have to be experts in that particular field in order to do so.

As business is concerned with buying and selling, it doesn’t require any certificate or a degree from a person. What all matters is that if you can increase the profits, the business is making. However, the profession requires you to be qualified in your field as you will be providing services on the basis of your qualifications.


 

Comparison Table Between Business and Profession (in Tabular Form)

Parameter of Comparison

Business

Profession

Definition

It is a type of economic activity in which a person produces and sells articles with the only purpose of making profits.

A profession is concerned with providing services that require a person to have a certain qualification in a particular niche in order to successfully do that.

Purpose

The main goal here is to make money.

In profession, the purpose is to provide services.

Qualification

No qualification is required. You are just required to produce, buy, and sell items in order to earn.

Qualification is required. It is mandatory that you have expertise in the area you are providing your services in.

Involvement of risk

The risk factor is quite high here.

There is almost no risk factor.

Advertisement

Businesses use advertisements to boost their sales.

Advertisement isn’t allowed because of the professional code of conduct.

 

What is Business?

Business is an economic activity in which a person earns a profit by making or buying and selling the goods and articles to the customers.

The primary purpose of it is to make a profit. A business doesn’t mean that it is a company or organization. It might include anyone from a street hawker to a shoe manufacturer.

The main reason people consider doing business is to make money. However, it is quite essential to know the needs of customers and act accordingly to spike your sales up.

In business, you are responsible for providing goods and services to your customers. It is crucial that one should pay attention to the quality of their products. You will be able to build a good relationship with your customers in this manner.

To know how efficient a business is, you can always consider checking its profit. Profit lets you see if you are doing any good or not. Business involves a lot of risk-taking.

There is almost no way to anticipate things in business. Sometimes, things might work as you want them to be, sometimes it won’t.

 

What is Profession?

A profession is an economic activity that
requires a person to be highly skilled in any one particular area to be able to
provide top-notch services to the public.

Professionals get their expertise from undergoing quite a prolonged training in which they are made skilled to perform a particular set of tasks.

It requires a lot of formal learning and experience on the job to become competent in one specific niche.

Some of the examples of professionals are doctors, engineers, pilots, architects, etc. One can be called a professional only after getting a certification from their respective college or university.

Professionals are required to work under some guidelines defined by their professional bodies. The purpose of a profession is to provide its services to the people. In return, professionals charge some amount of fee as their earning. Unlike any business, one cannot start practicing a profession overnight.

It requires one to be a member of the respective professional body, which provides them a certification that ensures that they can provide their services to the public.


Main Differences Between Business and Profession

  1. A business is a kind of economic activity in which profit is earned by making or buying and selling certain goods to the customers.
    However, in the profession, one needs to be highly skilled and specialized in a particular field in order to provide their services to the public.
  2. The primary purpose of business is to make money. Understanding the needs of your customers and acting accordingly will spike up the sales.
    In profession, the goal is to provide services for which a professional charge compensation, i.e., some amount of fee.
  3. A business can be established anytime. What all it requires is the action from the entrepreneur. However, a profession works only if you are a member of a particular professional body and possess the certificate to practice your expertise.
  4. Anyone is free to start a business. There are no particular educational criteria to be eligible for it.
    However, in a profession, you are required to undergo prolonged training before you start to provide your services.
  5. Advertisements can be done by a business to increase their sales. In profession, you can’t advertise because of the professional code of conduct.

 

Conclusion

The business and profession both come under
economic activities. The main difference is that in business, you are not
required to have a certain qualification to get started.

However, in a profession, you have to be highly skilled in providing your services to the public. A business can be started anytime.

But the same can’t be said for the profession. In profession, you need to undergo a prolonged form of training so you can be an expert in a particular niche.

Later, using this expertise, you can start making money.


 

References

  1. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED478127
  2. https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/umem18&section=12