There are many forms of business structures. The most common forms of business are the Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Limited Liability Company and Corporation.
According to Bonny Ablo, a “sole proprietorship” is a business that runs under either the entrepreneurs' name or a fictitious one. The most common of business structure, sole proprietorships account for more than three quarters of all businesses in the US, according to U.S. Census data from 1990-2004. There are quite a few advantages to choosing a sole proprietorship business structure. The taxes are simple, the startup cost is less and there is less paperwork. The drawbacks are that having a sole proprietorship brings with it liability issues. The owner is responsible for any product liabilities. As there is no regulation on the financial statements that need to be provided to the government, many entrepreneurs fail before they realize they are in trouble.
Bonny Ablo describes a “partnership” as a business structure that joins two or more people in a legal partnership. Each person who owns a portion of the business is called a general partner. There are several benefits to using a partnership business structure. A partnership can divide up the business responsibilities between partners, ensuring each individual's strengths are catered to. In a general partnership, all parties have equal liability, meaning that if the business should fail; all parties will be responsible for the same amount of loss, with no limit. But in a limited partnership, one or more parties are only responsible for the amount of money that they've invested into the business. All business partners must agree on the focus with which the business will take. Creating a partnership agreement before the start a partnership business will assist greatly in diffusing and potential debates.
A Limited Liability Company is a business structure authorized for use in certain US states that allows both the owners and managers to have only...