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Legal Structure of a Business Orgnanisation Essay

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Legal Structure of a Business Orgnanisation

Business organisations are the different legal forms a business can adopt. The key distinction is that some businesses provide limited liability for any debts the business incurs. Others have unlimited liability - which obviously doesn't

[IMAGE]Unincorporated Incorporated

Up Arrow Callout: Sole-trader

Up Arrow Callout: Partnership

Up Arrow Callout: Private Limited Company (ltd)

Up Arrow Callout: Public Limited Company (plc)

What is a Sole-trader? (Builder/local shops/hairdresser)

Sole-traders are individuals who own and operate their own businesses. Although there may well be other employees (usually no more than 5) the …show more content…

The most common examples of a partnership are doctor's surgeries, veterinarians, accountants, solicitors and dentists.

As stated earlier, most partners in a partnership face unlimited liability for their debts. The only exception is in a Limited Partnership. This is where a partnership may wish to raise additional finance, but does not wish to take on any new active partners.

To overcome this problem, the partnership may take on as many Sleeping (or Silent) Partners as they wish - these people will provide finance for the business to use, but will not have any input into how the business is run. In other words, they have purely put the money into the business as an investment. These Sleeping Partners face limited liability for the debts of the partnership. A partnership, just like a sole trader, is an unincorporated business.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a Partnership?

Advantages Disadvantages

(1) Additional Skills to strengthen the business (1) Share profits

(2) More capital to help business (2) Loss of control

(3) Debts are shared equally (3) Unlimited liability

There are two types of companies,

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