In the world of business, there are a small number of common types, including sole proprietorship; partnership; corporation and limited liability. Each structure has its own pros and cons. For example, being a sole proprietor is by far the simplest, but the business owner is liable for all and every business debt. The next section could be looking at what is classed as a small business – currently the government state that a small business will have less than 50 employees and as turnover of less than £10M. A medium business is defined as having up to 50 employees and a turnover of less than £50M.

How you register the name of your company has interesting variations open to it. For example you can register your company name using the full word Limited; or you could use Ltd or Ltd (with the full stop). There is no difference in legal terms and just shows how you have chosen for your company to appear on the Companies House register and certificate of incorporation. Regardless of how the company chose to be registered at incorporation, a company will still be able to use any of the versions on their official stationery and literature. Interestingly it would seem that a majority of companies do in fact choose Ltd. with the full stop.

There are questions raised over whether to remain a sole trader or to register as a limited company. From a tax point of view, the limited company often benefits from a more tax effecient system in that the tax payable on profits would come under corporation tax rather than the income tax payable by a sole trader.