Business can be both material, and non-material production. In principle, it is any kind of activity where resources are used for the purpose of receiving profit. Unit of market economy is a firm. And firms are already classified by forms of the organization of business.
SP (individual or business owner)
The SP is the simplest, available and common form of the modern organization of business. The business owner is not a legal entity therefore he pays only income tax. At the same time, minus of the business owner, certainly, is lack of resources and the monetary capital. SP – it one, it is the individualist who is at the same time performing functions both the owner, and the manager. This is the main form of the organization of business for private doctors, lawyers, small shops, farms.
TOV (association or partnership)
The association is a business which is owned by two and more persons. It is a common form for broker and auditor offices, services of the service industry. Plus associations are that the capital for an investment, as well as business of the ideas, obviously is more, than at SP. However indisputable minus is ambiguous sense of purpose by different participants of TOV, complexity with definition of a measure of a contribution, measure in income and a loss.
Joint-stock company (Corporation)
Corporations are legal entities which income is assessed with a tax on corporation. The property right in corporations is distributed by actions, and owners are shareholders. The corporation is a joint-stock company which can represent an open form of the organization of business (open joint stock company - joint stock company) or the closed form (closed joint stock company - closed joint stock company).
Advantage of corporation is that it can gain unlimited income due to sale of shares and bonds. Rights of shareholders can be property and personal. Property rights appear from purchase of the first stock. Such shareholder has a right for dividends and also the right to a part of cost of firm if it is liquidated. At the personal rights the presence at the shareholder of a controlling stake is supposed. Such shareholder has the right for participation in management of corporation.
Minus (for property shareholders) is a certain dependence on those who manage corporation. Someone makes decisions, becomes the bankrupt, and the small shareholder suffers.
Network business
In the West the network form of the organization of business was spread. It is much bigger others corresponds to globalization conditions. If it is simpler to speak, these are only the long-term unions of firms there are alliances, associations, absorption, the virtual companies and the companies without borders.
And both big, and small business uses a network form. The large companies replace holdings with network structures, and small businessmen unite the resources for increase in scale of opportunities.