Business

In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit.

In predominantly capitalist economies, where most businesses are privately owned, businesses are typically formed to earn profit and grow the personal wealth of their owners. The owners and operators of a business have as one of their main objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for their work - that is, the expense of time and energy - and for their acceptance of risk-investing work and money without certainty of success. Notable exceptions to this rule include cooperative businesses and government institutions. This model of business functioning is opposed by socialists, who advocate either government, public, or worker ownership of most sizable businesses; and to a lesser extent by individuals advocating for a mixed economy of private and state-owned enterprises.

The etymology of business refers to the state of being busy in the context of the individual as well as the community or society. In other words, to be busy is to be doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term business has at least three usages, depending on the scope - the general usage, the singular usage to refer to a particular company or corporation, and the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, such as the record business, the computer business, or the business community-the community of suppliers of goods and services.