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BUSINESS:
"A business (also known as enterprise or firm) is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers."
BASIC FORMS OF OWNERSHIP:
- Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person for-profit. The owner may operate the business alone or may employ others. The owner of the business has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business.
- Partnership: A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business. The three typical classifications of for-profit partnerships are general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.
- Corporation: A corporation is a limited liability business that has a separate legal personality from its members. Corporations can be either government-owned or privately owned, and corporations can organize either for-profit or not-for-profit. A privately owned, for-profit corporation is owned by shareholders who elect a board of directors to direct the corporation and hire its managerial staff. A privately owned, for-profit corporation can be either privately held or publicly held.
- Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op", a cooperative is a limited liability business that can organize for-profit or not-for-profit. A cooperative differs from a for-profit corporation in that it has members, as opposed to shareholders, who share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives. Cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy.
CLASSIFICATION:
- Agriculture and mining businesses are concerned with the production of raw material, such as plants or minerals.
- Financial businesses include banks and other companies that generate profit through investment and management of capital.
- Information businesses generate profits primarily from the resale of intellectual property and include movie studios, publishers and packaged software companies.
- Manufacturers produce products, from raw materials or component parts, which they then sell at a profit. Companies that make physical goods, such as cars or pipes, are considered manufacturers.
- Real estate businesses generate profit from the selling, renting, and development of properties comprising land, residential homes, and other kinds of buildings.
- Retailers and distributors act as middle-men in getting goods produced by manufacturers to the intended consumer, generating a profit as a result of providing sales or distribution services. Most consumer-oriented stores and catalog companies are distributors or retailers.
- Service businesses offer intangible goods or services and typically generate a profit by charging for labor or other services provided to government, other businesses, or consumers. Organizations ranging from house decorators to consulting firms, restaurants, and even entertainers are types of service businesses.
- Transportation businesses deliver goods and individuals from location to location, generating a profit on the transportation costs.
- Utilities produce public services such as electricity or sewage treatment, usually under a government charter.
