Title:
A Quick Lesson in Ways Businesses Are Organized
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
Businesses are structured in different ways to meet
different needs. The simplest form of business is
called an individual or sole proprietorship. The
proprietor owns all of the property of the business
and is responsible for everything. For legal
purposes, with this kind of business, the owner and
the company are the same. This means the proprietor
gets to keep all of the profits of the business, but
must also pay any debts. Another kind of business is
the partnership. Two or more people go into business
together. An agreement is usually needed to decide
how much of the partnership each person controls.
One kind of partnership is called a limited
liability partnership. These have full partners and
limited partners. Limited partners may not share as
much in the profits, but they also have less
responsibility for the business. Doctors, lawyers
and accountants often form partnerships to share
their risks and profits. A husband and wife can form
a business partnership together. Partnerships exist
only for as long as the owners remain alive. The
same is true of individual proprietorships. But
corporations are designed to have an unlimited
lifetime. A corporation is the most complex kind of
business organization. Corporations can sell stock
as a way to raise money. Stock represents shares of
ownership in a company. Investors who buy stock can
trade their shares or keep them as long as the
company is in business. A company might use some of
its earnings to pay dividends as a reward to
shareholders. Or the company might reinvest the
money back into the business. If shares lose value,
investors can lose all of the money they paid for
their stock. But shareholders are not responsible
for the debts of the corporation. A corporation is
recognized as an entity -- its own legal being,
separate from its owners. A board of directors
controls corporate policies. The directors appoint
top company officers. The directors might or might
not hold shares in the corporation. Corporations can
have a few major shareholders. Or ownership can be
spread among the general public. But not all
corporations are traditional businesses that sell
stock. Some nonprofit groups are also organized as
corporations. For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn
Presutti.You can learn more about business and
economics and learn English at the same time at
voaspecialenglish.com. We're also on Facebook and
Twitter at VOA Learning English.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
