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.

In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity towards accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate profit.

With some exceptions, (such as cooperatives, non-profit organizations and (typically) government institutions), in predominantly capitalist economies, businesses are formed to earn profit and to maximize the personal wealth of their owners.