Characteristics of the companies

Individual company

An individual company is a business owned by one person and does not have an independent legal status.

• Individual company is the most common form of small businesses.
• The advantages of individual companies:
• 1-Simplified formalities.
• 2-There is no minimum capital.
• 3- Independence and decision-making freedom .

Partnerships

A company composed of two or more people

• The partners share the profits and bear the loss, each in certain percentages to be agreed upon. The partners are jointly responsible and their liability is unlimited
• Each partner of a partnership with joint and several liability is considered as if he/she was trading under the name of a company, and each of them acquires the status of a legal trader. The bankruptcy of the company leads to the personal bankruptcy of each partner.

Limited partnership company

• It is made up of two categories of partners: the first category consists of the general partners, who are the only ones authorized to carry out the administrative work of the company, and who are personally, indefinitely, jointly and severally liable for the payment of the debts; the second category is that of the limited partners who contribute money and are only liable up to the amount of their investment and do not acquire the status of trader

Joint venture

• An assembly of persons bound by a company contract by which two or more parties agree to jointly share the profits and losses arising from the business of the contract. The joint venture differs from other partnerships in that its entity is limited to the contracting parties and is not intended to be viewed by other parties
• A manager may be appointed from among the partners to deal with other parties without indicating the names of the other associates. In the absence of the appointment of a manager, each partner shall act on behalf of the partnership in his/her own name.
• The Joint Venture is confidential and based on personal considerations and does not have a legal status and therefore cannot claim against others or be invoked by others.
• The Joint Venture is not subject to advertising like other companies, as it is unknown to third parties and therefore not subject to registration in the Trade Registry.
• The company cannot issue any transferable or negotiable shares or bonds for the benefit of the partners.

Limited liability company

• A mixture of individual companies and investment companies. It can be created by a single person<
• It has only a limited number of partners, and their shares are not negotiable, and they bear losses only to the limit of their investment.
• The partners are called managers, the shares are called shares and the company does not issue certificates.
• The capital is not lower than 5 million Lebanese pounds.
• This company carries out guarantee, savings, organized flight, banking and capital investment projects on behalf of third parties.
• This company is owned, according to the old law, by three or more persons, provided that the number of partners does not exceed twenty, except in the case of transfer of shares by inheritance.
• Whereas, if the number of partners exceeds thirty, the company must be transformed into a joint-stock company, and if it does not convert within two years, it must be dissolved.
• It should be noted that according to the new law, it has become possible to establish it with only one partner.

Joint stock company

• A minimum of 3 founders
• The capital shall not be less than thirty million Lebanese pounds divided into equal shares, the value of which shall be at least 1000 Lebanese pounds
• The partners are personally liable for the company's debts and cannot transfer their shares to others.

Anonymous company

• Is composed of three or more individuals
• The liability of the shareholder is limited to the value of the shares he owns
• The capital is not lower than 30 million Lebanese pounds.

The Holding Company

• Holding shares or parts in Lebanese or foreign resident anonymous companies or limited liability companies, or participating in their establishment, provided that a holding company shall not directly hold more than forty percent in more than two companies operating in the same industrial sector, commercial or non-commercial activity in Lebanon, as it leads to monopoly
• Management of companies in which it holds shares or stocks

  Lending to companies in which it holds shares or stocks and guaranteeing them vis-à-vis third parties.

• Owning patents, inventions, franchises, trademarks and other reserved rights and leasing them to institutions located in Lebanon and overseas
• Owning movable or immovable assets, provided that they are intended for its own professional needs, taking into account the provisions of Lebanese law governing the acquisition of real estate rights by non-Lebanese.

Offshore company

• It operates exclusively outside the Lebanese territory or in the customs free zone, and can be established by one person and perform the following tasks:
• Negotiating and signing contracts and agreements related to operations and contracts implemented outside the Lebanese territories and the shipment of goods and materials found abroad or in the customs free zone.
• Using the facilities available in the customs free zone to store imported goods for the purpose of re-exporting them, renting offices in Lebanon and owning the real estate necessary for its activity, taking into account the law on foreign ownership of real estate rights in Lebanon.

Therefore, this step is important to establish the project from scratch and is mainly related to conducting a market study, and this study should include the following elements:

• Accurate and detailed identification of the target market and its size
• Accurate identification of potential customers.
• llustrate the suitability of the site for implementation of the project
• Measure the supply and demand ratio
• Measure the level of competition
• Study the expected costs to be disbursed and the expected profits to be realised