A business is an activity designed to satisfy human desires. Businesses can be a single-person operation or can involve a variety of activities, such as manufacturing, selling, or trading goods and services. It can be a joint-stock company, sole trader, or cooperative undertaking. While the primary goal of business is to generate a profit, many businesses also provide services, such as financing, marketing, and advertising. A few examples of such activities include food service, entertainment, and the distribution of goods.

A business can involve many activities that provide a service to others. A business may offer goods or services to others for profit, or it may not. The primary purpose of any business is to make a profit, although the term may be more varied. In many cases, the goal of a business is to create some sort of utility or satisfaction for customers. For example, Uber began as an online taxi service, with the goal of aggregating cab drivers under one brand.

The definition of business can differ depending on the organization. For single-line companies, it is relatively easy to define the activity as a business. In multi-SBUs, the concept becomes part of the corporate level. In these types of businesses, the definition of business is largely the same, but the nuances of defining a single activity can be more complex. As the term “business” is so broad, there are many definitions of it.