The two basic ingredients of business are capital (money) and labor (people). Some people these days would add intellectual property to that mix, but you can argue that is a kind of capital. In the past there were totally barter-based business without capital (like early farmers), and maybe sometime in the future labor will be entirely replaced by robots, but for now any business you're likely to work in will have both.Some companies like to call their people 'human capital'. I think that's degrading and misleading. They're people. Call them that.
Most businesses need outside capital because there is a timing difference between when a product is developed and sold or a service is delivered and when those products or services are paid for. There are a variety of sources of capital but in all cases (except for government grants) the people offering the capital expect to be paid back more than they have given you.
