Legal+structures+of+business

=Legal Structures of Business= (Pty Ltd in Australia) || Limited liability. Capital raised by approaching new shareholders directly. || Limited access to investment capital (open markets (eg ASX) not available for capital-raisings). Some dilution of control. ||  || (Ltd in Australia) || Limited liability. Access to financial markets (eg ASX) for raising shareholder capital. || Large -- approx $10m plus. Potentially extreme dilution of control (thousands or more owners). Possibility of hostile (unwelcome) takeover, by one party purchasing or controlling 51% of shares. ||  ||
 * **Legal structure** || **Advantages** || **Disadvantages** || **Notes** ||
 * Sole trader || Independence, simple to set up, control || Unlimited liability. Lack of access to investment capital (owners' equity). Business owner often fills all managerial (and other!) roles. ||  ||
 * Partnership || Control. Partners bring their specialised expertise to the enterprise. || Unlimited liability. Investment capital limited, although better than Sole Trader. ||  ||
 * Proprietary Limited Company
 * Limited Liability Company

Some references on legal structure: [|Business structures in Australia] -- a site for business immigrants to Australia. A good basic primer.

NSW government's Small Business Toolkit -- [|Legal Structures]