We certainly have had dealmakers right from the beginning. But the institutionalization of the "intermediary" occupations came later. In the very beginning of commerce, much of the focus was on the "producer"; of food and of other things and services.
But some people saw that their own relative advantage was in transporting things, eventually called 'goods', from one place to another, and making deals; or in setting up a 'place' in which to bring goods to sell. And trading caravans and marketplaces evolved.
The people who did this were not seen as producers but as intermediaries (a modern term that is not negatively value-loaded). Their occupation is dealmaking; their skills are quite different from the skills of the producer; the risks they take are also different.
"Merchants" and retailers and "businessmen/businesswomen" came into being and flourished.
"Business", as with any occupation, can also be embraced as a trade, craft, art, profession. The professional level of business, the intellectual approach to it, is the focus of the MBA, especially at the top business schools. Undergraduate business-focus degrees (BS in Business Administration) orient to the doing of, and managing of, business operations. And two-year college business-focus programs orient to the doing of special functions of business; while seminars, workshops, and other special programs orient to the doing of special functions of business and/or a focus on particular types of business.
The educational focus of industry associations is on seminars, workshops, special programs, and publications all oriented to the particular type of business.
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