There are a number business types:

• Sole Proprietorship: a business owned by one person. The owner may operate on their own or may employ others. The owner of the business has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the business.
• Partnership: A partnership is a form of business in which two or more people operate for the common goal of making profit. Each partner has total and unlimited personal liability of the debts incurred by the partnership.
• Cooperative Business: (often referred to as a Co-Op business or Co-Ops) use a cooperative business structure: for-profit, limited liability, but with members of the co-op share decision-making authority. Co-Ops normally fall into three types: consumer co-ops, producer co-ops (common in agriculture) and worker-owned companies. Co-Ops are fundamental to the ideology of Economic democracy.
• Private Limited Company (Ltd): a small to medium sized business that is often run by a family or a small group who own it. The owners and managers are only liable for the business up to the amount they have invested in the company, and are not liable for the debts incurred by the company unless they have signed a personal guarantee.
• Public Limited Company (Plc): a business with limited liability, a wide spread of shareholders and in the UK, a share capital of over £50,000. The owners and managers are only liable for the business up to the amount they have invested in the company, and are not liable for the debts incurred by the company (unless they have signed a personal guarantee, which usually is not the case for a large corporation). In the United States and some other countries, a limited company is known as either a corporation or a limited liability company.
• Franchise: a new and popular form of business, especially in the United States. This is where an individual or small business (the franchisee) is given the right to use the identity and sell the products or services of another firm (franchisor). The chances of success for the franchisee are high, but a small portion of the profits must go to the franchisor. Examples of this form of business ownership include McDonalds, Burger King and the Body Shop.