What is a Share? Owning a Piece of the Pie

Imagine your favourite local pizza shop wants to open five new locations across the city. They need money to build the kitchens and hire staff, but they don’t want to take a massive loan from a bank. Instead, they decide to split the ownership of the business into 1,000 small pieces.

Each of those pieces is a "Share."

1. What does it actually mean to own a share?

When you buy a share, you aren't just betting on a price moving up or down. You are becoming a part-owner of that business. If you buy 10 shares of that pizza shop, you own 1% of the entire company (10 out of 1,000 pieces).

As an owner:

• If the shop makes a profit: You are entitled to a portion of those earnings (often called dividends).

• If the shop grows: The value of your "slice" of the pie increases.

• You have a voice: In many cases, owning shares gives you the right to vote on big company decisions.

2. Why do companies do this?

Companies "go public" and sell shares because it’s a powerful way to raise capital to dream bigger. Instead of being beholden to one bank, they have thousands of "partners" (like you) who believe in their vision.

3. Why would you want to own one?

In the past, the only way to build wealth was to start your own business. Today, shares allow you to benefit from the hard work of the smartest entrepreneurs in the world. You don’t have to know how to bake the pizza; you just have to own a piece of the shop.