Business usually refers to entities that, in return for payment, seek benefit by supplying products or services. However, to be called a business, businesses do not need to turn a profit. For its own sake, the pursuit of profit makes an entity a business. A business is an organization that aims to benefit from an activity. Business is a broad concept, but in general, these profit-seeking operations include offering some kind of product or service that individuals want or need. Businesses may suffer a loss, but that doesn't prevent them from becoming a business.  From the standpoint of defining a business, all that is relevant is that the business wants to benefit from what it does. The benefit doesn't have to apply to cash payments exclusively. It may apply to other stocks, such as shares and currencies, or it can refer to one good or service for another's barter-style trades. It's not a business when an individual offers products or services without seeking benefit. Nonprofits and other charity organizations, as well as government programs, are included among these entities.