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I know that 商売 and 事業 both mean business but I'm failing to understand the
distinction. There is a further word, 企業 but I get the impression that is for
big corporations. I'm guessing the likes of Amazon.
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2022-01-04T22:00:05.837
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question
word-choice
Difference between 商売 and 事業
事業 refers to any business activity, regardless of its size, but it is most
commonly associated with modern commercial activities involving a large number
of people. It's also a legal term. It also includes public projects such as
the construction of highways and the development of space technology (cf.
公共事業). The sense of making money is not necessarily strong, and the focus is
on the activity/project (or "mission") itself.

商売 is a word that does not usually appear in law. It is primarily associated
with a relatively small business where an individual or a small group makes
money by directly buying and selling goods. The first thing I imagine when I
hear 商売 is a merchant selling groceries in a store or on the street. It's not
impossible to use 商売 to describe businesses such as programming, but the
underlying image is directly selling something on a small scale, satisfying
customers, and making a living with it.

For example, the website of a company typically has a 事業内容 ("our
business/mission") section. This is not 商売内容 because 商売 is associated with
moneymaking and it's not a suitable word in a modern formal business setting,
anyway.

企業 (typically translated as "company") is a type of organization, not a type
of activity.
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answer