What Is an Enterprise in Business? Definition & Examples (2026)

The term “enterprise” doesn’t have a simple definition. It can refer to private businesses with a social cause, such as Toms shoes, as well as publicly traded for-profit corporations, like Nvidia. 

The qualities of a corporate enterprise go beyond headcount; they include the complexity of its business operations. That can mean high order volume, high SKU counts, omnichannel operations, and complex fulfillment, even with a leaner headcount. 

The term also describes innovative entrepreneurial ventures. You might say that an entrepreneur is “enterprising.” Yet, a true enterprise is characterized by its structure of integrated divisions managed by executive leadership. 

Ahead, learn how enterprises function and how to start one for yourself. 

What is an enterprise?

An enterprise is a large-scale organization with a composite structure. Enterprise companies often have multiple divisions, each with its specialized function. A multinational enterprise may have a dedicated marketing department, manufacturing infrastructure, legal team, and resources for launching new projects.

In contrast, a startup usually has a lean team, each wearing many hats or handling multiple functions. 

Enterprises tend to produce or sell several products and services, catering to multiple markets. They may sell directly to consumers, serve other businesses, or both. Plus, they typically aim for large-scale impact, disruption, or global dominance, which means higher risk and more investment. 

💡 Want more resources for enterprise retailers? Check out Shopify’s Enterprise Blog.

What qualifies a company as an enterprise?

While there are no specific criteria for what counts as an enterprise, here are six characteristics that help define it:

1. A large workforce

What’s considered a large workforce depends on industry and region. For example, Staples is an enterprise with an estimated 75,000 employees. Allbirds, which is also considered an enterprise, has only about 540 employees. 

But in general, a large corporation has more than 500 employees, at which point the founder can no longer know every employee’s name, and formal HR systems become pivotal. 

2. Specialized departments

The big difference between an enterprise and a small business is organizational structure. In a company with five or 10 employees, one person might wear multiple hats, like marketing and sales, or HR and legal. 

An enterprise will have multilayered departments to help the company scale sustainably. Under the hood of a mature enterprise, you’ll find departments like:

• Research and development (R&D). Focuses on business innovation and works on products that might not hit the market for five to 10 years. 
• Legal and compliance. Manages global regulations, intellectual property protection, and risk mitigation across different jurisdictions. 
• Supply chain and logistics. Oversees the network of manufacturers, warehouses, and delivery systems. 
• Marketing and sales. Manages brand governance, performance and product marketing, as well as sales infrastructure. 
• Information technology (IT). Handles data architecture and cybersecurity protocols, and integrates a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. 
• Human resources and talent development. Promotes and maintains the company culture, conducts specialized recruiting, and provides long-term leadership training. 

To manage all these functions, enterprises use a formal hierarchy to make sure each task aligns with the company’s North Star goal:

• The board and C-suite. Set high-level vision and fiduciary responsibility.
• Middle management. Turn executive strategy into departmental goals.
• Individual contributors. Execute specialized tasks within a defined scope.

This structure allows an enterprise to enact any business strategy, whether it’s global expansion or digital transformation, without losing operational control. Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, allowing teams to add new products or enter new countries while maintaining a unified corporate identity. 

3. Multiple sales channels

Enterprises may serve customers through business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales channels. For instance, it sells school supplies and electronics to individual consumers and offers printing and tech maintenance services to businesses. A multichannel selling approach is a hallmark of many enterprise companies.

Tony’s Chocolonely shows how enterprise brands often operate across multiple channels at once, serving consumers via DTC ecommerce while also supporting business buyers and reseller partners. 

As its DTC, B2B, and reseller demand grew, the brand consolidated these channels into a single unified Shopify setup and added B2B-specific purchasing options so each customer segment could buy the way it prefers. The result was double-digit revenue growth across four key markets, including 70% in the US, supported by Shopify.

📚Read: How Tony’s Chocolonely unified DTC, B2B, and reseller operations with Shopify

4. International sales

Enterprises operate in various countries, with several stores and personnel across continents. A global presence is common among enterprises. But it involves much more than just understanding international shipping. 

International sales require navigating a maze of regulatory environments, currencies, and fragmented supply chains. Enterprises must comply with the legal and economic requirements of each country they enter. 

Some complexities include:

• Managing varied VAT, GST, and local tax laws
• Ensuring duties are calculated accurately to avoid customs delays
• Managing exchange rate volatility, which can hurt profit margins 
• Offering payment options local customers trust 

To manage hurdles like these without hiring a massive in-house legal and logistics department for every new territory, many enterprise merchants use Shopify Managed Markets. This merchant of record (MoR) solution acts as a specialized global operations arm within the Shopify admin.

With Managed Markets, you can handle all documentation and pre-clearing duties at checkout, so packages move cross-border without surprise fees for the customer. It also instantly activates more than 150 markets with local currencies and preferred payment methods so your shopping experience feels local to every buyer. 

📚Read: What Is a Tariff? A Definition and Guide

5. Significant resources

Staples is an example of an enterprise with substantial investments in technology and brick-and-mortar storefronts (more than 1,000 stores in the US alone). It uses inventory management systems, ecommerce platforms, and customer relationship management tools to organize its complex infrastructure.

6. Diverse products and services

Staples offers a wide range of products, from office supplies and furniture to gadgets and services like printing and tech maintenance. Diversification is typical in enterprise business as a way to spread risk and enter new markets.

4 types of enterprise

There are many types of businesses in the US that qualify as enterprises. Each legal structure offers different levels or liability protection for the owners and tax treatments from the IRS. 

Here are the four most common formats:

1. Sole proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is a business owned and operated by a single individual, or a solopreneur. The owner benefits from all profits but bears unlimited liability for any damages and debts resulting from business operations.

It’s a good option if you want to test a single product or run a small scale operation. There are no setup costs, unless you want to file a “doing business as” (DBA) name, and there are no formal filing requirements. 

However, once your business starts moving inventory and storing customer data, or hiring employees, you’ll want to consider a corporation or limited liability company (LLC). If you get into any legal issues or debt with a sole proprietorship, your home and savings can be seized to satisfy any judgement. 

Plus, even if your sole proprietorship is legal, it can be harder to secure B2B contracts or bank loans because the business is seen as less permanent than a registered entity. 

📚 Read: Key Advantages of a Sole Proprietorship

2. Partnership

A partnership is a business run by two or more individuals or entities who share ownership. The distribution of ownership does not necessarily have to be equal between business partners.

Say you are a creator partnering with a business strategist. A partnership makes sense because you’re bringing complementary skill sets to the table. It’s also used for service providers like lawyers or accountants who want to pool resources, operating expenses, and reputations. 

But remember, partners are legally responsible for each other’s actions. So, a written partnership agreement is essential to define who makes the decisions, who carries liability, and how to handle disputes. 

📚 Read: LLP vs. LLC: Differences and How To Choose

3. Corporation

A corporation is a for-profit entity designed to protect the owner(s) from liability in case of a lawsuit. The structure of a corporation can vary depending on the number of owners.

Corporations are the most common structure for enterprise businesses, as many look for outside investment. Corporations can issue different classes of stock, which makes them the main choice for businesses that:

• Have a complex ownership structure
• Offer employee stock options
• Plan for an initial public offering (IPO) and public trading 

By default, C corporations are taxed on profits and then shareholders are taxed again on dividends. Smaller corporations sometimes apply for S corp status, which allows profits to pass through to the owners’ personal taxes and still maintain the liability shield corporations provide.

4. Limited liability company (LLC)

Many people start an LLC to combine the legal protection of a corporation with the tax treatment of a partnership. LLCs and other limited liability business structures are common among licensed professional firms, such as accountants, architects, engineers, doctors, and lawyers, because they provide individual protection.

📚Read: LLC vs. Corporation: What’s Right For You?

Examples of enterprise businesses

Enterprises include a diverse range of products and services across different categories. Here are some recognizable examples to show how these large-scale companies operate in the real world. 

• JB Hi-Fi. Large Australian consumer electronics retailer with more than $1 billion in annual online sales. 
• Pepper Palace. Speciality hot sauce retailer that scaled from 40 to over 100 stores using Shopify POS.
• Gymshark. Global fitness apparel brand sold in more than 180 countries and earns over 459 million GBP in revenue each year. 
• Cotopaxi. Mission-drive outdoor brand using Shopify Plus with enterprise-level customization and app integrations. 
• Sennheiser. Legacy premium audio brand that can execute a new market launch in less than two months. 
• Nissin Foods. Iconic CPG food company and pioneer of instant ramen that sells across DTC, ecommerce, and wholesale. 
• Taschen. Global art and publishing company with a headless commerce approach to modernize international commerce and unify channels. 

What is enterprise software?

Enterprise software, products, and services are designed to support the growth and success of large enterprises. Solutions are reliable, secure, and flexible to automate workflows and make collaboration easier between departments. 

Enterprise software can offer a variety of business tools, including accounting and security solutions. Generally, enterprise software is categorized into several types:

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP). The nucleus of an enterprise business. ERPs integrate processes like finance, inventory, and procurement into one single source of truth. 
• Customer relationship management (CRM). These tools collect and track all interactions with customers. It unifies sales, marketing, and support data to improve customer retention. 
• Supply chain management (SCM). An SCM tracks the flow of goods and data from raw materials to final delivery, optimizing logistics and reducing related costs. 
• Business intelligence (BI). BI platforms aggregate data from across the company to provide real-time analytics and visualizations. 

Most enterprise software products are engineered to handle the high volume of traffic, orders, and information that an enterprise company receives. Due to their size and complexity, enterprises often require bespoke software solutions that integrate with existing services. That’s why Shopify allows retail businesses to choose their commerce components.

💡 No matter the combination of products, Shopify enterprise stores always get the world’s best-converting checkout.

Enter: Big business

While “enterprise” can refer to any business or entrepreneur, it’s most commonly used in the US to describe large companies with multiple services and complex needs. Discover why the world’s biggest enterprise brands choose Shopify to grow across marketplaces, mobile, social, and real life.

Tip: In the European Union (EU), the term “enterprise” is used broadly, to describe any organization doing business. It’s inclusive of companies of all sizes, even micro-businesses, and you may see the term “SME” used to refer to “small and medium-sized enterprises.”