Basic forms of ownership Although forms of business ownership vary by jurisdiction, several common forms exist: Sole proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person for-profit. The owner may operate the business alone or may employ others. The owner of the business has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business. Partnership: A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business. The three typical classifications of for-profit partnerships are general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships. Corporation: A corporation is a limited liability business that has a separate legal personality from its members. Corporations can be either government-owned or privately owned, and corporations can organize either for-profit or not-for-profit. A privately owned, for-profit corporation is owned by shareholders who elect a board of directors to direct the corporation and hire its managerial staff. A privately owned, for-profit corporation can be either privately held or publicly held. Cooperative: Often referred to as a "co-op", a cooperative is a limited liability business that can organize for-profit or not-for-profit. A cooperative differs from a for-profit corporation in that it has members, as opposed to shareholders, who share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives. Cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy. [edit] Classifications Agriculture and mining businesses are concerned with the production of raw material, such as plants or minerals. Financial businesses include banks and other companies that generate profit through investment and management of capital. Information businesses generate profits primarily from the resale of intellectual property and include movie studios, publishers and packaged software companies. Manufacturers produce products, from raw materials or component parts,