On chapter 17 “Small Business Organizations” we learnt about the different types of small business organizations at the eye of the law, sole proprietorship, partnerships and franchises. We’ll focus on the first as it’s the one related to the Case at law we’ll review later.
A sole proprietorship is a business owned and operated by one person which is not registered as a corporation or a limited liability company, there is no legal distinction between the individual and the business owner which means the owner is entitled to all the profits from the business as well as being responsible for all business debts, losses and liabilities. A sole proprietorship has several pros; ease of startup, no charter is required, no registration with the secretary of state, no EIN is required; Control, the sole proprietorship is in complete control of his business operations; transferability, a sole proprietorship can freely transfer his business by selling his assets; taxes, a sole proprietorship taxes are reported on a schedule C of the individual owner tax report, doesn’t require separate preparation or submission.
Also, a sole proprietorship has some cons; liability, the owner of the sole proprietorship has direct personal responsibility for the business expenses, debts and general liability; financing, as the individual owner credit and score is used to apply for financing it might be difficult to obtain additional financing for the business; continuity, the sole proprietorship exists as long as the owner wishes, upon death it ceases to exist. The case we’ll review is “State of Alaska v. ABC Towing” which took place on 1998.
ABC Towing was a sole proprietorship established in 1969 owned by Rodney Lewis with an average annual revenue of $ 80,000. Rodney works with his wife Sheila Lewis in the manager position and sometimes involved seasonal assistants. ABC Towing provides towing and mechanical services.
The state of Alaska through its Environmental Crimes Unit has statewide responsibility and jurisdiction for the investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes which typically involve wasted disposals, oil spills, air and water pollution, mining, forestry and water use.
In 1998 an employee of ABC Towing poured
| In a sole proprietorship, the business and single owner are one in the same. A single owner makes all decisions with regard to the business and the single owner retains all profits earned by the business. The single owner is also responsible/liable for all debts and obligations of the business on a personal level.
Sole proprietorships are the most common type of business in the U.S. They are most commonly chosen because they are the easiest type of business to set up and give the sole owner of the company complete control of the company. There are many benefits to a sole proprietorship in regards to control, profit retention, and convenience.
1. Describe the basic features that distinguish the four basic forms of business ownership: sole proprietorships, general partnerships, C corporations, and limited liability companies.
Sole Proprietorship Sole proprietorship is the most common form of business in the United States. It is a relatively simple way for an individual to start a business since legal costs and business requirements are minimal, and the owner has complete control over the business. Though a sole proprietor is not responsible for any corporate tax payments, the owner is responsible for taxes incurred on the income generated from the business as part of his or her personal income tax payments, and personally shoulders any other risks or obligations. A sole proprietor may also choose to file their business under a fictitious business name or a DBA (doing business as), allowing him or her to operate and market the business under a more typical
Sole proprietorship: Is the simplest and most common business structure. There is no legal distinction between the proprietor and the business, which means it is autonomous. You are entitled to all profits and responsible for all your business's losses and liabilities.
SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP: Has only one owner. Easy to start up. Some of the advantages are: owners may do whatever they want to with the business and if they want to go on vacation they can. One of the disadvantages they cannot bring in another person to help run the business. This business form is particularly common.
A sole proprietorship is a form of business that is owned by a single individual. • Liability – Due to the lack of legal distinction between the owner and the business, the owner is fully responsible and liable for all debts that the business incurs in the same manner that an individual is fully responsible and liable for all debts that they incur. There is no legal distinction between the assets of the owner of the sole proprietorship and the business; this means that creditors have the ability to come after the owner’s business and personal material assets. Income Taxes – Since the business is the same as the owner of the sole proprietorship, all profits or losses from the business are filed by the
There are seven forms of business: sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company (including the single member LLC), S Corporation, Franchise, and Corporation.
Liability: The owner/operator of a Sole Proprietorship is subject to full and unlimited financial liability for the business. The owner and the company are legally the same entity. The company’s assets are legally the same as the owner’s personal assets.
Sole Proprietorship: A type of business that is owned by and run by one person with no legal difference between the business and the owner. It is easy to form with no cost or time to initiate. It gives the owner the ability to self-govern the business. There are drawbacks; only one owner can be established not allowing a partner. Also, unlimited liability puts the owner’s personal assets in jeopardy with the creditors.
The advantages to the sole proprietorship are single control over the business and its decisions, easy to start up, less regulations and paperwork burden that the other types of business. The disadvantages are unlimited liability for their company debts and actions. The law does not recognize any distinctions between the owner’s business assets and personal assets. Banks are very skeptical about lending to these types business because there is only one person to hold liable for repaying the debt.
Is the most common business type, where the business is operated and owned by a single individual. In this type of business, the sole proprietor provides capital, does not share profit or loss and runs the business alone. As such, the business and the owner are indistinguishable for tax and legal purposes (Dlabay, 2011). To differentiate this business from other business types, a sole proprietorship is discussed under the following characteristics.
But with advantages, there are also disadvantages of owning your own business. Five disadvantages of a sole proprietorship are: 1) The owner is personally liable for all debts and incurs all losses. The sole proprietor is responsible for all debts that the company owes. The owner takes all losses. There are no other owners to
| The disadvantages associated with a proprietorship are similar to those under a partnership. One exception relates to the more formal nature of the partnership agreement and the commitment of all partners' personal assets. As a result, partnerships do not have difficulty raising large amounts of capital.
Lets get into the disadvantages of the sole trador now which consists of three and the main disadvantage is that you, as the owner of the business, are solely liable for any consequences of business failure or any other