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Business software packages are sometimes designed for specific businesses or industries, meeting the special needs of an industry or group of industries.

Industries are categorized in several ways. They might be classified according to their legal structure, sorted into categories such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited partnerships, corporations, limited liability corporations, non-profits, and cooperatives.

A sole proprietorship is the simplest structure for a business, in that the business is owned and operated by a single person. Partnerships are businesses that are owned by two or more people who share in the responsibilities and profits. Limited partnerships often include business operators and investors. One of the more complex business types, corporations are fully independent businesses with shareholders. Designed to make it easier to establish a new business, LLCs are somewhat of a mix between a partnership and a corporation. Non-profit organizations are tax-exempt businesses whose profits are supposed to be used for charitable purposes, and cooperatives are businesses owned and operated for the benefits of the members of the organization that uses its services.

Software development companies might focus on creating applications for one or more of these business types, such as non-profits or cooperatives, but most software companies will focus on particular industries rather than on the legal structure of the business.

At a more specific level, businesses may be sorted into hundreds of different industries, grouped according to similar production processes, similar products, or similar behavior in financial markets. These classifications are used by state, national, and international statistical agencies to summarize economic conditions, and may also be used to securities analysts to reports common forces acting on groups of companies, to compare a company's performance with its peers, and to build other portfolios.

At the top level, industries can be sorted into three sectors: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primary industries include businesses that are engaged in agriculture or extraction. Farming, forestry, mining, fishing, trapping, and hunting would fit into this category. Secondary industries are those engaged in manufacturing or construction, while tertiary industries are those that provide services, such as transport, distribution, retail, and entertainment, among others.

Industries might also be classified according to the product. Companies sorted according to this model might include the automotive industry, chemical industry, construction industry, electronic industry, entertainment industry, hospitality industry, marketing, meatpacking industry, paper industry, petroleum industry, real estate, and so on.

There are several business and industry classification systems. These are just a few of those most commonly seen.

The focus of this category is on software development companies that design business software targeted at a specific industry or group of industries, whichever classification they might use.

Categories

Agriculture

Banking

Health

Legal

Manufacturing

Marketing

Real Estate

Retail

 

 

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