Bus 101

Types of Legal Ownership

|Ownership Structures |Sole Proprietor |General Partnership |Limited Liability |Corporation |

| | | |Company (LLC) | |

|Number of Owners |One |Two or more |One or more |Multiple |

|Formation Difficulty |simple |Low |Medium |High |

|Liability |Sole proprietor has |Partners are jointly |Officers/shareholders |Officers/shareholders are not |

| |unlimited liability. |liable for all legal |are not typically |typically responsible for the |

| | |and financial |responsible for the |debts of the corporation. |

| | |obligations |debts of the corporation| |

|Operational Requirements |Must choose original name |There are relatively |File the articles of |Formal board of directors, annual |

| |it cannot be claimed by |few legal requirements.|organization. |meetings, and annual reporting |

| |another business. | | |required. |

|Management |Sole proprietor has full |Control and management |Members have an |Board of directors elected to |

| |control of management and |structures are |operating agreement that|manage the corporation. |

| |operations. |available by agreement.|outlines management. |...