The minimum quantity of shares that a company can issue is one share. This is common when someone is setting up a limited company as the sole shareholder and director. You can issue as many shares as you like when forming the company, or after the company has been set up. Many people choose to put a round number, such as 1, 10 or 100, so it is easy to work out the percentages of ownership. For example, if the company has 100 shares and you own all 100 shares, you will have 100% ownership. If you own 90 shares and someone else owns 10 shares, you will own 90% of the company.

If two shareholders have one share each, this means they will have 50/50 ownership. If either owner plans on selling shares in the future, it may be wiser to issue more shares at incorporation (e.g. 50 shares for each shareholder).

The nominal value of the shares you own is the limited liability which you are responsible for, should the company be wound up and owe debts. For example, if you issued 1 million shares at £1 and you owned all 1 million shares when the company was wound up, you would be liable for the debts of the company of £1 million. However, if you owned 1 share at £1 when the company was wound up, you would be liable for the debts of the company of just £1.