Those business owners need to get themselves a copy of this book: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691174761/the-usefulness-of-useless-knowledge

Flexner’s defense of the value of “the unobstructed pursuit of useless knowledge” may be even more relevant today than it was in the early twentieth century. Dijkgraaf describes how basic research has led to major transformations in the past century and explains why it is an essential precondition of innovation