overview of business/ Structure of business Flashcards
What is Business and what are the three elements?
synonyms: firm, enterprise
1. Provides goods and services to customers
2. Generate profit for the owner
3. Legally recognized
What is a customer?
Consumers (General public)
Other businesses
Non-business organizations
Municipalities
How does a business generate revenue?
business accepts risk and generate goods and services for customers in order to generate revenue
What is revenue?
income generated by sale of profit
What is markup?
the amount added to the cost price of goods to cover overhead and profit
What are costs?
Expenses (money spent) in order to sell a product
Why is a formal structure of business important?
1) Protection - liability
2) Tax implications
3) Competitive identity
What are the three general types of business structure
- Sole Proprietorship
- Partnership
- Corporation
What is a sole proprietorship?
Single owner - not a corporation
Legally registered – may have a trade name
Operate alone or employ others
Owner has total and unlimited personal liability
No separation of person from business
Owner’s taxes and business taxes are same
What are the advantages of a sole proprietorship?
- Easy to set up and dissolve
- few legal formalities
- Simpler tax filings
- Least government regulation
What are the disadvantages to a sole proprietorship?
- Difficult to raise capital
- Owner take son all liabilities personally
What is a partnership?
Two or more people own and operate All partners share profits Each partner has total and unlimited personal liability Not a corporation May employ others
What are the types of partnerships?
General Partnership
Limited Partnership (LP)
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
What is a General Partnership?
Each participates in decision making
Each has personal liability for risk
Each is an agent – business accountable for their actions
Each gets a share of the profit
Created by a formal agreement among all partners
Typical of small retail businesses with two or three owners or family businesses
What is a Limited Partnership?
One or more partners whose ownership is defined in a way that limits their share in
- Decision making
- Profit
- Liability
Typically limited partners are not agents
Do not manage the business
Actions cannot commit the business
Terms of their limitation are defined and written