The enterprise is the professionally organized economic activity for the purpose of producing, or exchanging, goods or services. The company is therefore the activity carried out by the entrepreneur characterized by a specific purpose and by the methods adopted to achieve it.
There are different types of businesses:
- individual: when the legal entity is a natural person and this responds with its assets for any debts. In this case, with the bankruptcy of the company there is also that of the entrepreneur;
- family member: 51% made up of the head of the family and 49% of family members with kinship not exceeding the 2nd degree;
- corporate: if the business activity is exercised by a legal person. In turn, this can be a partnership (imperfect patrimonial autonomy, if the shareholders’ assets are not distinct from that of the company). In this case there could be a simple company (S.S), a general partnership (S.n.c.), a limited partnership (S.a.s.). Then there are the joint companies, where the shareholders’ assets are distinct from that of the company. These can take different forms, such as the limited liability company (S.r.l), joint-stock company (S.p.a.) and limited partnership by shares (S.a.p.a.).
