>> But for others, it's because they have some sort of vision for how they want to change an industry or society; and they want to leave a legacy of having done

>> But for others, it's because they have some sort of vision for how they want to change an industry or society; and they want to leave a legacy of having done so, not just make money. Absolutely, and if that is the prime motivation then they should start a charity not a business. It's more tax-efficient for starters, and also more likely to attract like-minded people to contribute resources (time and/or money). Open-Source projects for example are often clearly "not for profit" and incorporate, or align themselves with not-for-profit structures. The FSF, Mozilla foundation and a score of others spring to mind. For the small businessmen you know, who do not care about the money (beyond their salary), who are out to build a legacy, they _should not_ use a business structure. If they do, well that still doesn't make them a "business". If they're aiming to start from scratch, and create a giant business, so they have "succeeded" (think Hewlett, Packard, Johnson, Ford et al) then that creation still serves the needs of the owner - those needs are just not cash. It might be good for customers along the way, but the business exists for the owners' glory, not the customers. Of course the vast majority of small businesses are absolutely, 100%, businesses. A small business may fit a person better than a big business, but it's still a business. If you take away the money aspect from most small businesses, they close their doors. It's exactly like the OP said - the business exists to fulfill the needs of the owner and the team (if there is a team). Those needs are usually cash, but include other things like flexible hours, and not-having-a-boss and so on. When the needs of the customer clash with the needs of the business, the business always wins. And of course there are _bad_ business people out there. There are those that will take calls at 1am because the customer demands it (so they say) but they don't place a value on it, or require the customer to pay that value. That's bad business, and of course it's very common. But you can't use that as a data point for arguing that businesses exist for the benefit of customers. Some owners even use their relative lack of success as evidence of their altruism. In which case recommend to them that they start a charity, get a board to oversee their salary, and get out of the way.