Profit is the money left over after you subtract all your costs from what you earn. If you spend $20 on lemonade supplies and sell enough cups to make $35, your profit is $15.

Businesses often exist to make profit. A bookstore buys books from publishers, pays rent and employees, and sells the books for more than all those costs combined. That difference is profit, which the owners can use to expand the store, reward employees, or keep as income for themselves.

Profit can drive people to create new things and solve problems. If nobody could profit from their work, fewer people might risk opening restaurants, inventing new products, or starting companies that hire workers. The hope of profit can motivate someone to wake up early and bake bread for a neighborhood bakery, or inspire an inventor to spend years developing a better bicycle.

Not every business makes a profit right away. Sometimes costs exceed earnings, creating a loss. But over time, successful businesses figure out how to provide something people want at a price that leaves room for profit. That profit rewards the risk, hard work, and cleverness it takes to run a business well.

As a verb, profit means to gain or benefit from something. You might profit from extra math practice by getting better grades, or a team might profit from good coaching by winning more games.