The business side of the invention of the light bulb was very important to how the experiment went. It was because of well off investors that Edison could spend so much time, energy, resources and money creating the light bulb. Often, the aspect of money in the invention it is forgotten, but it was very important that the money was there. Lots of expensive materials were used, and much went into maintaining everything from paying the staff to keeping the facilities. Creating a company that could produce light bulbs, and power to go with it were expensive too, and creating a company that could sustain its self, and become profitable was the over all goal, beyond making a new invention.
"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing." -Thomas Edison