Examples of companies

A company is an organization of people and resources that seek to achieve an economic benefit with the development of a particular activity. This productive unit can have one or more people and usually seek profit, as well as achieve a series of objectives set in their training.

In this sense, the productive fabric that is part of the economy is made up of countless companies. Endless companies that, despite being called as such, have a large number of differences between them. For this reason, in addition to knowing what a company is, it is interesting to know how they are classified, as well as what type of companies make up each segment.

However, there are so many types that, on many occasions, we are unable to identify which companies each type brings together. That is, it is easy to identify that Google is a multinational company, but things get complicated when we try to give examples of what type of companies are mixed, which are from the secondary sector, as well as which are within the small business segment.

Thus, the following article will try to expose the different classifications that we can make of companies around the world, as well as what examples of companies make up each segment.

Examples of companies according to their size

In this sense, depending on the size and number of employees, we can classify companies into three categories:

• Micro : These are characterized by having a number of employees that ranges between 1 and 10. As an example of these, we can make a clear representation in the small neighborhood business. The grocer, the hardware store, the shoemaker, as well as all the small businesses that appear in the different neighborhoods and that make up a territory.
• Small : The number of employees that make up a small company ranges between 20 and 30 employees. In this sense, any factory, consulting firm, small independent supermarket, any larger store. All of these can be considered small businesses.
• Medium : The medium-sized company is usually characterized by having a number of employees that ranges between 30 and 200 employees. Thus, an example of a medium-sized company could be a small food chain, a chain of regional stores, a distributor or a component factory. In short, larger companies, but still moderately sized companies with limited resources.
• Large : Those companies with more than 200 and 300 employees. Even many of these companies, like the ones we will see below, have a workforce of thousands or hundreds of thousands of employees. A clear example of this type of company can be those brands best known to the public, with good market positioning. That is, Coca Cola, Apple, McDonald’s, Burger King. These types of companies, all large in size, are a good example of a great company.

According to the activity carried out

In this sense, depending on whether they offer services or produce goods, we can classify companies into two categories:

• Production of goods : Those that are engaged in manufacturing or offer goods. That is, companies that offer products such as the following examples of companies: Coca Cola, Media Markt, Wal-Mart, among others.
• Provision of services : Another segment of companies, which do not offer products, but provide services. Thus, a clear example of these could be Uber Eats, Rappi, EY, Deloitte, among others.

According to the geographical area

In this sense, depending on the areas in which they are operating, we can classify the companies into four categories:

• Local : They are usually those small independent businesses, which have only one store, or perhaps two, but they are still a small neighborhood store. A clear example could be the hardware store in your neighborhood, the corner bar, the stationery store on the street behind the house.
• Regional : In this sense, a regional company already has a greater dimension, but it is still a company of limited size. An example of this type of company can be a small food chain, a small network of car dealers, a medium-sized consultancy.
• National : In this segment, we are talking about a series of companies that already have a considerable size. These operate throughout the national territory and the network of employees has a greater dimension. The best example of a national company can be banking, which tends to be different in each country, safeguarding the large banks. Another clear example of this can be the company in charge of managing the rail network in the countries, as well as public transport. Also, and finally, large food chains, such as Mercadona in Spain, Oxxo in Mexico or 7 Eleven in the USA.
• Multinational : When we talk about multinational, we are talking about large companies, which have a presence all over the world. A clear example of these could be, as we said before, McDonald’s, BBVA, Amazon, Google, Facebook, among others.

According to the economic sector to which they belong

Thus, depending on the sector in which they are operating, we can classify companies into four categories:

• Primary sector : Those companies that are responsible for extracting and obtaining raw materials. A clear example of these could be a company that is dedicated to agriculture, as well as a livestock company. All of them are part of the primary sector.
• Secondary sector : It is made up of companies that are dedicated to transforming raw materials into products for sale. Clear examples of these are Coca Cola, Bimbo, Cemex, among others.
• Tertiary sector : It is made up of companies whose activity is directly related to the offer and provision of services. A clear example of companies in the tertiary sector are banks. Santander, BBVA, Bank Of America, as well as all the banks that are in the different countries, we could consider them as third sector companies.
• Quaternary sector : It refers to companies that are based on knowledge and information to offer their services. A clear example of these are the technological giants. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Alexa, as well as all those companies that are related to the processing of information and consulting services.

According to the ownership of the company

Finally, depending on the ownership of the company, as well as its shares, we can classify companies into three categories:

• Public : Companies in which part of their shareholding, total or majority, is in possession of the State. Companies such as PEMEX in Mexico or RENFE in Spain are examples of public companies.
• Private : Those companies in which the majority of the shareholding, or all of it, is owned by the entrepreneur or private investors. In this sense, any company that is not public. That is, companies such as Banco Santander in Spain, such as CEMEX in Mexico or any company that is not owned by the State.
• Mixed : A type of joint venture in which its capital comes, in addition to private investors, from the State. Companies such as Red Eléctrica in Spain or Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador are clear examples of a joint venture.