A business is simply defined as any set-up that provides goods or services, or even both to consumers. It ranges from a single individual to a multi-national corporation, hence there are different forms of business, depending on the form of ownership, size and capacity of the set-up. Generally, businesses are set up with the sole purpose of making profit, but there are state owned businesses that are created to assist the masses by making goods but especially services, available to the people at lower cost; and there are not-for-profit organizations too that seek to enhance the lives of the less privileged in the society, in various ways.
There are various forms of business depending on how it is owned, such as: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation and co-operative. In sole proprietorship, the business is owned and managed by one individual. He makes all the decisions of the business and endures all the risk alone. There is no limitation to liability, such that if the business runs into debt, his private properties are included to pay the debt. A sole proprietor can be anything from a designer that makes clothes to even a webiste such as SEO Sheffield that provides content online. The idea is that is owned by one person and one person alone.
A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. They make all the decisons together and share the risks accordingly. It is also unlimited liability just like sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship business can be upgraded to a partnership or even to other forms with time.
A corporation operates under limited liabilty. It is bigger than a partnership. A corporation can be owned by individuals or by a government. A corporation owned by individuals comprises of shareholders and a board of directors that guide the affairs of such corporation. A corporation can be privately held, called limited, or public held called public limited company.
A cooperative has limited liabilty and can either be for profit or not for profit. Where a cororation has shareholders, a cooperative has members. Cooperatives function on the principle of sharing, some form of economic democracy.