Types of companies: their characteristics and areas of work

Today society and the market are brimming with organizations forged with the purpose of offering goods and services to the population. These organizations, companies, have great differences between them.

That is why they can be established classifications to distinguish between different types of companies based on various criteria, as we will see throughout this article.

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Company: a simple description

It is understood as a company any organization that offers a series of goods and services, generally for economic and / or commercial purposes, to those who request its services. For this, they require a specific structure and resources to maintain it, which can be obtained in different ways.

There are companies of many types, which we can organize according to various criteria. Some of these criteria are the type of activity they carry out, the origin of the economic resources necessary for them to carry out their activity, in which territorial sphere they act, their legal constitution or even its size.

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1. Types of company according to economic sector

A type of classification of companies it has to do with the economic sector and the group of activity they carry out.

1.1. Primary sector companies

These are organizations that base their economic activity on the collection of raw materials, which allow the subsistence and subsequent transformation of said materials. These are essential companies without which the existence of the other two sectors would not be possible. Within this sector we find activities such as agriculture, livestock, fishing and mining.

1.2. Secondary sector companies

Companies in the secondary sector are responsible for the transformation of raw materials, turning them into different goods ready for consumption. Within this sector are included activities such as construction and industry, both at the manufacturing and energy transformation level.

1.3. Tertiary sector companies

The tertiary sector is based on all those activities related to the creation and management of services that guarantee the well-being of the population. In modern Western societies they are usually the most prevalent types of companies in the big city. Within this group we can find companies dedicated to medicine, education, psychology, commerce, tourism and hospitality, social assistance, transport, security, administration or the arts, for example.

2. According to the control of resources

Another way to classify companies is according to the origin of the resources they possess. In this sense we find the following types of company.

2.1. Public enterprises

These types of companies are those that are managed by the state administration.

2.2. Private businesses

In private companies, economic resources come from particular individuals.

2.3. Concerted companies

These types of organizations are managed by generally private organizations, although they are subject to and partly subsidized by the administration.

3. According to the territorial sphere in which they operate

Where a company operates can also be a criterion when classifying companies. We can find the following types.

3.1. Local company

It is one of the most common types of company, which limits its field of action to a single location, like a city or a town. For example, a butcher shop.

3.2. Regional company

Its scope of action is limited to a specific region, such as for example an autonomous community.

3.3. National company

The company in question pIt can act throughout an entire nation.

3.4. Multinational company

The company offers its services in more than one country, having a wide scope and expanding your business opportunities, although it also means greater investment.

4. According to its legal constitution

According to the legal constitution of the company in question we can find the following types of company.

4.1. Corporate

It is the type of company that involves the development of a company, that is, it involves the association of several people linked by contract. They involve the creation of a legal person different from that of the different members that compose it. Within corporate companies we can distinguish several types of company such as joint stock companies, cooperatives or limited liability companies.

4.2. Self-employed

It's about companies carried out by a single person, which takes full responsibility and uses its own resources to deal with the opening and maintenance of its business.

5. According to the size of the organization

The size of the company, depending on the number of workers, existing capital and turnover, also allows us to establish three types of company.

5.1. Small company

A small company is understood to be one in which the number of workers does not exceed fifty, annually invoices less than ten million euros and of which the patrimony owned does not exceed said amount. These are usually small businesses or companies limited to a specific location.

5.2. Medium company

The medium-sized company usually has between fifty and two hundred and fifty employees, billing less than fifty million euros and having a total asset of less than forty-three million. Regional companies and even some national ones are usually within this consideration.

5.3. Big company

Multinationals are often in this group. It's about companies with a turnover of more than fifty million and a total assets greater than forty-three. They generally tend to have more than 250 employees.