South Carolina joint ventures are the development of a business opportunity through the special collaboration of two or more business entities acting together, while remaining independent. Joint ventures have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially in the real estate, e-commerce, internet and technology industry. Generally, these formal business entity partnerships allow venturers to combine, and allow the individual businesses to take mutual advantage of, complementary experience, expertise, financial resources, and services.
Joint ventures may be conducted through a variety of business structures, such as, corporations, limited liability companies, and general and limited partnerships. Designing an appropriate business structure for a particular joint venture will depend on a variety of factors, including:
- Tax and Accounting goals,
- Business objectives, and
- Financial needs
A joint venture can be a valuable and flexible method for South Carolina small businesses to pursue a business opportunity. For example, the establishment of internet websites and e-commerce businesses built on robust featured platforms for ultimate search engine optimization can be expensive. In many cases, these websites and businesses are created by serial entrepreneurs or start-up businesses that lack the resources to properly capitalize and finance the business. As such, these entrepreneurs and start-up companies look to share the cost of the operation with other entrepreneurs and businesses in the form of the myriad of business entities. To be effective, however, the joint venture must be designed in a way that enable it to handle the potential management and operational issues that it is likely to encounter.
Joint Ventures’ Business Structures
If the joint venture will be operating principally in the United States, it can take the form of a corporation, a general partnership, a limited partnership, a limited liability company, or another form of business entity formed under the laws of any particular state. This is known as a formal joint venture. If the joint venture will be operating principally overseas, then the venturers may choose to form an entity pursuant to the laws of the country in which the joint venture will be doing business. Finally, the venturers might decide not to form an entity at all, but rather to create the joint venture via a contractual agreement that establishes the relative rights and obligations of the venturers. This is known as an informal joint venture.