Profit is the financial return or reward that entrepreneurs aim to achieve to reflect the risk that they take.
Given that most entrepreneurs invest in order to make a return, the profit earned by a business can be used to measure the success of that investment.
Profit is also an important signal to other providers of finance to a business. Banks, suppliers and other lenders are more likely to provide finance to a business that can demonstrate that it makes a profit (or is very likely to do so in the near future) and that it can pay debts as they fall due.
Profit is also an important source of finance for a business.