A business, also known as an enterprise or a firm, is an organization involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are prevalent in capitalisteconomies, where most of them are privately owned and provide goods and services to customers for profit. Businesses may also be not-for-profit or state-owned. A business owned by multiple individuals may be referred to as a company, although that term also has a more precise meaning.
The etymology of "business" stems from the state of being busy, and implies commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope in which it is used. A business can mean a particular organization, while a more generalized usage refers to a particular market sector, i.e. "the music business". Compound forms such as agribusiness represent subsets of the word's broadest meaning, which encompasses all the activity by all the suppliers of goods and services.