The Three Types of Businesses in the United States

Business drives United States society. In some way or another, it touches everything we are involved in; when we look around us, we see all types of businesses. There are restaurants, retail stores, engineering firms, driving schools, and brokerage firms, to name but a few. But of the thousands, if not more, businesses that we wherever we look, all of them can be categorized into one of three broad categories: sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations.

Sole proprietorships are businesses created by one individual. They are extremely easy to create; paperwork is minimal, and the fee to start one is small. The owner of the business and the business itself are not separable. So, if someone decides to sue the business and the business does not have enough money to pay up, then the owner's assets can be seized and used for payment. This is one of the disadvantages of a sole proprietorship. Another disadvantage is that businesses can only grow to a certain extent because of their nature. A benefit of owning a ole proprietorship, though, is that all profits go directly to the owner. Also, the owner can make all of the decisions without interference from anyone else.

The second type of business is a partnership. As the name implies, partnerships have more than owner who share the profits of the business, which is a disadvantage. Partnerships also get certain tax benefits when compared to sole proprietorships. Moreover, because partnerships have multiple owners, they can benefit from different perspective; differences in opinion, however, can also lead to problems for the business. Additionally, even though they do experience some liability for the business, the owners of the partnership do not experience as much liability as do the owners of sole proprietorships. And because partnerships have the resources and leadership of multiples owners, they can grown more than partnerships.

Finally, the last general types of business is a corporation. A corporation is seen as a legal entity, a legal person. As a result, its finances are completely separate from those of its owners. Moreover, there can be millions of owners of a corporation because ownership of a corporation is based on ownership of the company's stock, which are literally parts of the companies. Corporations issue stock so that the general public can own the business. This allows the corporation to gather immense resources and grow more than sole proprietorships and partnerships can grow. Additionally, corporations enjoy more tax benefits than do partnerships.

The business world is complex yet exciting, and learning about these three types of businesses is the just the beginning to getting involved in business. For more information on the three types of business as well as on other business-related topics, visit www.businessdirectoryforyou.com.

Joseph Devine

Hiking in the Natural Beauty of the National Parks of the United States

If you enjoy hiking then there can be no better setting for a day's hiking than the many wonderful national parks of the United States.

At one extreme you have the Badlands of South Dakota and the Petrified National Forest in Arizona and at the other you have the lush green scenery of Crater Lake in Oregon or the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Then, in between, you have the thick forests, icy lakes and majestic mountains of Glacier Park in Montana or the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, whose 14,000 foot peaks offer some truly exciting hiking.

Of course if you are looking for something truly spectacular then there is nothing quite as stunning as the Grand Canyon in Arizona which many people quite rightly refer to as the eighth wonder of the world. This gash which Mother Nature has gouged out of the earth runs for nearly 300 miles, is 18 miles wide at its widest point and is a breathtaking one mile in depth.

Nature truly provides some wonderful settings for the hiker and another is the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park which boasts several different ecosystems and allows you hike across black lava sands one day and through dense rain forest the next.

And speaking of volcanoes, is there any more spectacular experience than standing right beside Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park when it sends its pillar of spray high into the air. Yellowstone provides some excellent hiking trails as does the nearby Grand Teton National Park which, in the opinion of many people, is simply one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

For nature lovers a hike through Crater Lake in Oregon is also a must where the giant lake is surrounded by high and densely forested mountains which are home to both bears and soaring hawks. If you enjoy fishing then you will find that Crater Lake has an abundant supply of trout.

Although everyone has their own favorite national park (mine is unquestionably Great Teton) for many millions of people the prize goes to Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park offers many spectacular views including that of El Capitan which is the largest granite outcrop on the planet and whose 3,000 foot sheer face attracts climbers from all over the world. There are also of course Yosemite's many magnificent waterfalls, of which Yosemite Falls itself is the best known, which splash their way down the mountain sides through dense forest which is crisscrossed by hundreds of hiking trails.

Yosemite is also home to some of the most spectacular sequoia trees to be seen anywhere in the world and no visit to Yosemite would be complete without a hike through Mariposa Grove and the lesser know, but no less spectacular, Merced Grove and Tuolumne Grove.

The list of national parks and their memorable attractions could go on and on and for those living in the United States they fortunately provide more than a lifetime worth of incredible hiking experiences.

The-Hiking-Club.com provides information on everything from purchasing a good pair of discount hiking boots to the wonders of Grand Teton day hikes