The difference between incorporated and unincorporated business?

The term incorporated refers to the process companies go through to become a separate legal entity from the owner/s. This means the business exists in its own right, its own legal entity. Regardless of what happens to individual owners (shareholders) of the company, the business continues to operate. The business has taken on a life of its own.

An unincorporated business is a sole trader or partnership where the business entity and the owner are one and the same. When the owner dies then so too does the business entity.