The development of entrepreneurial activity gave an impetus to the formation of new rules for doing business, a new formation, such a thing as business customs and relations between partners. Time has forced to create new business customs. These rules have never been and are not included in the field of state legislation, but they complement it.
At the beginning of the development of trade relations between people, rules for regulating business relations did not always exist; they simply had not yet been written down on paper. Mankind has not gained enough economic experience in doing business. Early commodity relations had a primitive legal base, so there was a need to reinforce them with oral agreements or other legal acts.
It so happened historically that the customs of business circulation were first established between individuals, and then, as the business developed, they were further developed in relation to legal entities.
The customs of business turnover and their formation can be traced at the beginning of the development of such a type of entrepreneurial activity as insurance. For example: two millennia ago BC, participants in trade caravans that set off on a dangerous journey decided in advance the question of probable attacks, thefts, natural disasters and knew that they incur losses together. The contract was verbal, but it was carried out necessarily. Such norms of behavior between people were dictated by the conditions of survival.
Another illustrative example is verbal agreements in conducting business practices in the development of maritime trade.
Such a historical fact is known that in England in the tavern the owners of merchant ships gathered, who intended to go on a long journey to sell goods and make a profit. The purpose of this meeting was to be an agreement with other merchants who, in the event of unforeseen losses, promised to compensate for the losses. Along with the signing of certain papers, oral agreements existed between them.
In ancient Russia, collections of laws were used. These acts distinguished several ways of concluding contracts: a board, a record, or an oral agreement. The treaties, in fact, were ancient legal acts. When concluding oral agreements, the presence of such people as witnesses was necessary. Later, when the merchants' guilds appeared, the word given by the merchant was the highest guarantee of reliability.
Under the custom of business turnover, it is recognized that it is necessary to resolve a situation in which the required issues cannot be resolved by current legislation, as well as by the concrete agreement itself.
The custom of business circulation is applied when the existing legislative acts cannot satisfy the needs of the business. These relations are most clearly reflected and widely used by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, its documents detail trade and port customs.
As noted earlier, the most common custom of business turnover is applied in the conduct of foreign economic activity and foreign exchange transactions. Legislative acts of states in these fundamental sectors of the economy of countries often do not coincide. How to reach agreement and get mutual benefits when concluding business transactions? How to resolve unforeseen situations in trade or money relations?
Under the custom of business turnover is recognized historically established and universally applied in entrepreneurial activity rules of conduct. However, these relations are not necessarily governed by state laws. For the use of these rules, it does not matter whether they are documented.