Economics traces its history back to Adam Smith in the late 1700s. Business as an academic study can’t trace its history back at all. The first schools of business began appearing in the late 1800s. No two alike.
I was a graduate student in economics and left when it became clear that the faculty of U.C. Berkeley was all pro-Fidel Castro in the early 1960s. I learned enough of economics to get a Ph.D.but never stood for one. I’ve taught business and management for nearly a decade in many business schools. I’ve published one of the best selling books in English on Marketing.
So how is economics related to business?
The same way science is related to technology. An incidental relationship. Engineers don’t need to learn much science and vice versa. The same is true of economics and business. Engineers discover most of what is relevant to them through experimentation. The electron microscope and PCR system were invented by engineers as was superconductivity at higher temperatures than absolute zero.
In economics there are many theories based on well developed primary concepts. Supply and demand intersect at a point that determines the market price in economics. When you rent an apartment you look at half a dozen and get an idea of what a one bedroom that allows pets rents for in different neighborhoods. Each apartment you look at has a different price and different elements of design, lease and living conditions. There is no 'point' intersection of supply and demand. At best, the price is a range of 20% around an average.
Business is pragmatic with few or no theories. It is built upon observation and history. One adage is that restaurants do better on corners. That is nothing more than an adage. It is one of the more reliable ones in business. I have a dozen adages to pass along: here's one always open a restaurant with a large crowd for the first month. It is still merely an adage.
Economics and science are based on theories which in turn are based on observation. Some modern economics of the Gary Becker variety are based on a great deal of observation but most isn't. Business, like engineering, is based almost exclusively on experience. Mostly failed experience with occasional success over decades and centuries.