Etymology

The word company is traced from a 1150 A.D.(CE) O.Fr. term compaignie or "body of soldiers" and from L.L. companio (companion). The word's meaning of "subdivision of an infantry regiment" is from 1590. The use of the word in a sense of "business association" was first recorded 1553, having earlier been used in reference to trade guilds (1303). The abbreviation co. dates from 1769

Companies Law

Companies law (or the law of business associations) is the field of law concerning business and other organizations. It is an establishment formed to carry on commercial enterprises.[1]This includes corporations, partnerships and other associations which usually carry on some form of economic or charitable activity. The most prominent kind of company, usually referred to as a "corporation", is a "juristic person", i.e. it has separate legal personality, and those who invest money into the business have limited liability for any losses the company makes, governed by corporate law. The largest companies are usually publicly listed on stock exchanges around the world, while private companies choose who their shareholders are. The defining feature of the corporation is that shareholders own the sole rights to vote under the company constitution and to appoint the directors who control the company. Companies known as partnerships have a different system of voting, whereby the partners own and vote for who controls the company. Partners may or may not limit their liability for company losses, although this is increasingly popular. Even single individuals, also known as sole traders may incorporate themselves and limit their liability in order to carry on a business. All different forms of companies depend on the particular law of the particular country in which they reside.

Company

Generally, a company is a form of business organization. The precise definition varies.

In the United States, a company is a corporation—or, less commonly, an association, partnership, or union—that carries on an industrial enterprise."[1] Generally, a company may be a "corporation, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, fund, or organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not, and (in an official capacity) any receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or similar official, or liquidating agent, for any of the foregoing."[1]

In English law, and therefore in the Commonwealth realms, a company is a form of body corporate or corporation, generally registered under the Companies Acts or similar legislation. It does not include a partnership or any other unincorporated group of persons.

Small Business

A small business is a business that is independently owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. The legal definition of "small" often varies by country and industry, but is generally under 100 employees in the United States and under 50 employees in the European Union. In comparison, the definition of mid-sized business by the number of employees is generally under 500 in the U.S. and 250 for the European Union. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships. In Australia, a small business is defined as 1-19 employees and a medium business as 20-200 employees.

In addition to number of employees, other methods used to classify small companies include annual sales (turnover), value of assets and net profit (balance sheet), alone or in a mixed definition. These criteria are followed by the European Union, for instance (headcount, turnover and balance sheet totals). Small businesses are usually not dominant in their field of operation.

Small businesses are common in many countries, depending on the economic system in operation. Typical examples include: convenience stores, other small shops (such as a bakery or delicatessen), hairdressers, tradesmen, lawyers, accountants, restaurants, guest houses, photographers, small-scale manufacturing etc.

The smallest businesses, often located in private homes, are called microbusinesses (term used by international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation) or SoHos. The term "mom and pop business" is a common colloquial expression for a single-family operated business with few (or no) employees other than the owners. When judged by the number of employees, the American and the European definitions are the same: under 10 employees.

Criticism of big business

Criticism of big business

The social consequences of the concentration of economic power in the hands of those persons controlling "Big Business" has been a constant concern both of economists and of politicians since the end of the 19th century. Various attempts have been made to investigate the effects of "bigness" upon labor, consumers and investors, as well as upon prices and competition. "Big Business" has been accused of a wide variety of misdeeds that range from the exploitation of the working class to the corruption of politicians and the fomenting of war.

Benefits of big business

It has been generally admitted that much of the technological progress since 1850 has been dependent on and fostered by the growth in size and the increase in financial strength of individual business units.

During the rise of big business in the late nineteenth century, long run factors contributing to the consolidation of businesses included technological changes and reductions in transportation costs. Cheaper transport costs made it feasible to produce in one location and then ship the product to market, instead of producing where the market was located. Technological changes made plant sizes more efficient in regards to capital-intensive assembly lines.

The rise of railroads contributed to decreased transportation costs during the 1800s. To expand, the railroad companies required large pools of capital to finance infrastructure development and daily operations. However, the government did not have the budget to provide financing due to the depression in the 1830s and 1840s. As a result, the railroad firms turned to private investors and investment banks to raise the necessary capital.

BIG BUSINESS

Big Business is a term used to describe large words and people , in either an individual or collective sense. The term first came into use in a symbolic sense subsequent to the American Civil War, particularly after 1880, in connection with the combination movement that began in American business at that time. Organizations that fall into the category of "big business" include ExxonMobil, Wal-Mart, Google, Microsoft, General Motors, Citigroup and Arcelor Mittal.^{[citation needed]}

Intellectual property

Intellectual property

Businesses often have important "intellectual property" that needs protection from competitors in order for the company to stay profitable. This could require patents or copyrights or preservation of trade secrets. Most businesses have names, logos and similar branding techniques that could benefit from trademarking. Patents and copyrights in the United States are largely governed by federal law, while trade secrets and trademarking are mostly a matter of state law. Because of the nature of intellectual property, a business needs protection in every jurisdiction in which they are concerned about competitors. Many countries are signatories to international treaties concerning intellectual property, and thus companies registered in these countries are subject to national laws bound by these treaties.

Capital

Capital

When businesses need to raise money (called 'capital'), more laws come into play. A highly complex set of laws and regulations govern the offer and sale of investment securities (the means of raising money) in most Western countries. These regulations can require disclosure of a lot of specific financial and other information about the business and give buyers certain remedies. Because "securities" is a very broad term, most investment transactions will be potentially subject to these laws, unless a special exemption is available.

Capital may be raised through private means, by public offer (IPO) on a stock exchange, or in many other ways. Major stock exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq (USA), the London Stock Exchange (UK), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Japan), and so on. Most countries with capital markets have at least one.

Business that have gone "public" are subject to extremely detailed and complicated regulation about their internal governance (such as how executive officers' compensation is determined) and when and how information is disclosed to the public and their shareholders. In the United States, these regulations are primarily implemented and enforced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other Western nations have comparable regulatory bodies.

As noted at the beginning, it is impossible to enumerate all of the types of laws and regulations that impact on business today. In fact, these laws have become so numerous and complex, that no business lawyer can learn them all, forcing increasing specialization among corporate attorneys. It is not unheard of for teams of 5 to 10 attorneys to be required to handle certain kinds of corporate transactions, due to the sprawling nature of modern regulation. Commercial law spans general corporate law, employment and labor law, healthcare law, securities law, M&A law (who specialize in acquisitions), tax law, ERISA law (ERISA in the United States governs employee benefit plans), food and drug regulatory law, intellectual property law (specializing in copyrights, patents, trademarks and such), telecommunications law, and more.

In Thailand, for example, it is necessary to register a particular amount of capital for each employee, and pay a fee to the government for the amount of capital registered. There is no legal requirement to prove that this capital actually exists, the only requirement is to pay the fee. Overall, processes like this are detrimental to the development and GDP of a country, but often exist in "feudal" developing countries.

Organizing

Organizing

The major factors affecting how a business is organized are usually:

• The size and scope of the business, and its anticipated management and ownership. Generally a smaller business is more flexible, while larger businesses, or those with wider ownership or more formal structures, will usually tend to be organized as partnerships or (more commonly) corporations. In addition a business which wishes to raise money on a stock market or to be owned by a wide range of people will often be required to adopt a specific legal form to do so.
• The sector and country. Private profit making businesses are different from government owned bodies. In some countries, certain businesses are legally obliged to be organized certain ways.
• Limited liability. Corporations, limited liability partnerships, and other specific types of business organizations protect their owners from business failure by doing business under a separate legal entity with certain legal protections. In contrast, unincorporated businesses or persons working on their own are usually not so protected.
• Tax advantages. Different structures are treated differently in tax law, and may have advantages for this reason.
• Disclosure and compliance requirements. Different business structures may be required to make more or less information public (or reported to relevant authorities), and may be bound to comply with different rules and regulations.

Many businesses are operated through a separate entity such as a corporation, limited partnership or limited liability company. Most legal jurisdictions allow people to organize such an entity by filing certain charter documents with the relevant Secretary of State or equivalent and complying with certain other ongoing obligations. The relationships and legal rights of shareholders, limited partners, or members are governed partly by the charter documents and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the entity is organized. Generally speaking, shareholders in a corporation, limited partners in a limited partnership, and members in a limited liability company are shielded from personal liability for the debts and obligations of the entity, which is legally treated as a separate "person." This means that unless there is misconduct, the owner's own possessions are strongly protected in law, if the business does not succeed.

Where two or more individuals own a business together but have failed to organize a more specialized form of vehicle, they will be treated as a general partnership. The terms of a partnership are partly governed by a partnership agreement if one is created, and partly by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located. No paperwork or filing is necessary to create a partnership, and without an agreement, the relationships and legal rights of the partners will be entirely governed by the law of the jurisdiction where the partnership is located.

A single person who owns and runs a business is commonly known as a sole proprietor, whether he or she owns it directly or through a formally organized entity.

A few relevant factors to consider in deciding how to operate a business include:

1. General partners in a partnership (other than a limited liability partnership), plus anyone who personally owns and operates a business without creating a separate legal entity, are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the business.
2. Generally, corporations are required to pay tax just like "real" people. In some tax systems, this can give rise to so-called double taxation, because first the corporation pays tax on the profit, and then when the corporation distributes its profits to its owners, individuals have to include dividends in their income when they complete their personal tax returns, at which point a second layer of income tax is imposed.
3. In most countries, there are laws which treat small corporations differently than large ones. They may be exempt from certain legal filing requirements or labor laws, have simplified procedures in specialized areas, and have simplified, advantageous, or slightly different tax treatment.
4. In order to "go public" (sometimes called IPO) -- which basically means to allow a part of the business to be owned by a wider range of investors or the public in general -- you must organize a separate entity, which is usually required to comply with a tighter set of laws and procedures. Most public entities are corporations that have sold shares, but increasingly there are also public LLCs that sell units (sometimes also called shares), and other more exotic entities as well (for example, REITs in the USA, Unit Trusts in the UK). However, you cannot take a general partnership "public."

7 Tips for Creating a Great Business Proposal

There are 7 tips to making a great business proposal..

1. Write Clearly and Succinctly: There is a tendency in business writing generally, and in business proposals specifically, to try and show how smart you are by using excess verbiage, jargon, and run-on sentences. Don't do it. Be succinct. Make your point and move on.
   
   Remember: When people begin reading the proposal, they have little or no idea what you are proposing, so you have to walk them through the process. You do so by starting at the beginning and clearly, simply, and logically moving forward by making your points one at a time.
   
   Start with the big picture and drill down as you go along.
   
   
2. Make a Good Argument and Counter Possible Obstacles: A great proposal is, essentially, a sales brochure, disguised. In it, you put your best foot forward, put your company in the best light, and make yourself irresistible to the reader.
   
   How do you do that?
   
   The best way is to marshal the top facts and arguments in your favor. Have a theme and reinforce it again and again. Take the reader down a path that leads but to one conclusion — that hiring you makes the most sense for them.
   
   You also have to put yourself in the readers' position, think of what counter arguments they may be considering, and deal with those potential obstacles honestly. That makes you trustworthy.
   
   
3. Show your Personality: Far too often, business proposals are devoid of life, as if the person writing it is some Employeetron 3000, programmed to say nothing, be boring, and not offend.
   
   I say, let your personality come through. Of course this is business and you have to follow some business conventions, but as you do, also let the reader see who you are. Share your enthusiasm for your business, their business, the idea, something.
   
   
4. Use Graphics Intelligently: Don't make the mistake of bogging down a perfectly fine proposal with excess graphics. Yes, of course you need graphics; they can clarify an idea, and liven up a proposal and allow readers to focus on something other than words. That's smart. Just don't get carried away. Whether you use a program like Publisher or PowerPoint, just be sure that the graphics reinforce the sale rather than distracting from the point.
   
   
5. Don't Oversell: Avoid hyperbole. As soon as you cross the line from understandable pride to obnoxious overstatement, you lose credibility. Once readers think you're not shooting straight with them, they may question the truthfulness of everything in your proposal—all that they read so far, and all that is still to come.
   
   You avoid this unenviable fate by staying on the safe side of overstatement.
   
   
6. Avoid Boilerplate Language and Catch Typos: Another sure way to lose readers is to have them think that your proposal is a cut-and-paste job, consisting of boilerplate data and text. Certainly you can reuse persuasive information from elsewhere, but try to keep it to a minimum and don't make it obvious. Your proposal should read as if it were created especially for this particular client or customer. And while you're personalizing the proposal, triple-check for typos.
   
   If it is clear that you didn't give the proposal your best effort, why would your readers think you would give their project your best effort?
   
   
7. Always Keep the Reader in Mind: A proposal is a marketing tool, and as such, remember Marketing 101: Stress benefits, benefits, benefits.
   
   Finally, while price is important and must be discussed, do so only after you have wowed readers with your crisp writing, powerful arguments, supporting graphics, and a plethora of potential benefits. Then you can go in for the sale.

Types Of Business Entity

There are many types of business entity defined in the legal systems of various countries. These include corporations, partnerships, sole traders and other specialized types of organization. Some of these types are listed below, by country.

For guidance, approximate equivalents in the company law of English-speaking countries are given in most cases,
e.g. ≈ PLC (UK), ≈ Ltd. (UK), ≈ limited partnership, etc. It should be remembered, however, that the regulations governing particular types of entity, even those described as roughly equivalent, may differ to a greater or lesser extent between countries.

Croatian Projects Among The Best In The World

Two of the best structures in the world constructed during the past two years are located in Croatia. The first is the suspension bridge at Skradin and the second is the Sea Organ that is already famous far and wide and has become one of the symbols of the city of Zadar. These are, admittedly, only nominations in various categories for the CEMEX Award, the so-called “Concrete Oscars”. Which structures will become award winners will be known in early November when an international panel of judges in the Mexican city of Montevideo will announce the best projects in the individual categories. The Skradin bridge is located on the newly constructed Zagreb – Split highway and is running in the category of infrastructural structures, while Zadar’s Sea Organ, already winner in Barcelona of the prestigious European award for urban public areas, is competing in the public areas category. The “suspension” bridge in Skradin features a massive concrete arch stretching across some 200 metres and is very attractive because of its exceptional location and because of the unbelievable view that shoots out from it – to one side of the green canyon of the Krka River and the city of Skradin itself, and to the other side of Lake Prokljansko, which has made the bridge the chief viewpoint in the area. Unlike the bridge, which is a type of structure that appears around the world, the Sea Organ is something quite different. This is a real organ built into a staggered concrete waterfront. It are about 70 metres long with a total of 35 pipes in the concrete through which air flows playing a melody that is dictated by the activity of the sea and wind and can be enjoyed day and night by people out for a stroll on the waterfront. Zadar’s waterfront has, thanks to this original project, become a new meeting place for both tourists and the people of Zadar itself.
City of Skradin Tourist Board

FROM: JOURNALIST WEB

Starting a business in Pakistan now takes just 22 days

The conducive business environment has played a vital role in attracting foreign investment in Pakistan where a foreign investor could start business in 22 days compared with India's 65 days, government officials said on Wednesday.

"Starting a business in Pakistan requires only 22 days (the lowest in the sample), with India at the bottom with 65 days," the official said.

Worldwide FDI inflows declined sharply by 17.5 per cent from US$678.8 billion to US$ 559.6 billion in 2003, 32 …

FROM: JANG.COM.PK

OSCE Mission to Croatia to launch art project for children

OSCE Mission to Croatia to launch art project for children in multicultural schools with Education Ministry

ZAGREB, 5 September 2006 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports will together launch a literary and art contest for children in multicultural schools in Vukovar-Sirmium and Osijek-Baranja counties on 6 September. The arts contest is called "Children Together".

The goal of the project, which was initiated together with a non-governmental organization from Osijek, Alliance for Scientific, Cultural and Humanitarian Activities, is to promote co-existence and friendship in the Danube Region. It is trying to do this by encouraging interaction and joint activities for children from minority and majority groups, with the participation of their parents and teachers.

Art and literary works will be collected from 30 elementary schools in the Danube Region, with the best works to be exhibited and rewarded at concluding ceremonies in November.

The Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Jorge Fuentes, and the special envoyee of the Education Minister, State Secretary Zelimir Janjic will jointly announce the start of the contest at a press conference in Vukovar at 11 a.m. Wednesday, 6 September at the Vukovar-Sirmium County Palace, Zupanijska 9, Vukovar.