But Britishvolt struggled to TURN A PROFIT

"But Britishvolt struggled to turn a profit and ran out of money." 

[BBC]

The aim of any business is to maximize profits. If that is not possible, the next best option is to make enough of a profit that justifies an entrepreneur's investment of time and capital. This applies to multinationals as well as one person businesses. Often, when talking about profit (or its unpleasant opposite - loss), we combine the word with the verb to make, e.g. After 3 years of operation, the company is yet to make a profit OR This is the first time in its history that the corporation has made a loss.

If, like me, you enjoy looking for different ways of expressing yourselves, then you'll be happy to know that in the case of to make a profit, we can replace the verb with turn. For example: After the pandemic, many businesses were relieved to start turning a profit again. Unlike with the verb to make, which is used with both profit and loss, to turn is only used for positive outcomes. Therefore, to turn a loss is incorrect. Equally wrong is saying: to do a profit/loss.

How about your language? Do you have these two possibilities - to make a profit AND to turn a profit? Maybe you have a third option. Share them in the comments box below.