Table Design one Field - People or Business Name

[TxTcher]

I am attempting to design a database. I have two different types of "customers." Some are individuals and some are businesses. How do I create a Customer table? When I started out, I created a table with a first name and last name field, but then belatedly realized that those fields do not accommodate a business entity.

[jzwp11]

I have seen people design it in either of two ways. The first way would be to have people and companies in the same table like this:

tblPeople
- pkPeopleID primary key, autonumber
- PrimaryName, text -- Lastname for human or the company name
- SecondaryName, text -- Firstname for human or subsidiary/subdivision name for a company

I have also seen designs that use a table of organizations for companies, agencies, non-profit and other entities, and then a separate table for individual people details.

The general rule is if the fields between two tables are for the most part the same, then you should have only 1 table. You'll have to make the call based on the type of data you are storing in your database.

[TxTcher]

Thanks! I think I can differentiate between the two sufficiently enough to have two tables. (Long boring detailed description of db that I won't burden you with)

Thanks again.

[jzwp11]

You're welcome; best of luck with your project.