PCCLOSEOUT

The simplest and oldest form of business is the sole proprietorship. When one person owns a business enterprise, any income from that business is considered his personal income and is fair game to creditors. People who are engaged in conducting business for themselves may be classified as sole proprietors. Look around every nook and cranny of Philippine urban and rural communities and you will notice the proliferation of sari-sari stores. A sole proprietorship is the easiest, least cumbersome business entity to create. There are minimum permits and licenses from the government. The sole proprietors, in general, own all or most of the business property and has exclusive responsibility for the management and control of the enterprise.
Many small businesses start as sole proprietorship’s. If you start a business on your own — without partners—you will be a sole proprietor. You might get by with a city business license, a resale license, and a “doing-business-as” or fictitious business statement ). If you use your own name, you may not need the DBA. But you may discover
that your business is sending you signals that another form would better suit your needs. In a sole proprietorship, legally and practically, the owner is the business, and any capital must come from the owner’s own resources, and those borrowed from financial institutions. The availability of limited alternatives for raising financial capital is perhaps the greatest disadvantage of the sole proprietorship . In reality, the biggest disadvantage of solo ownership is that you alone will shoulder liabilities. You are the shock absorber of lawsuits. Sole proprietorship is the simplest form of ownership. It is also the most risky. The owner pours in his own money into the business enterprise, reaps all the profits and shoulders all the risks and losses. Just like a general partner in a general partnership, the sole owner’s personal liability extends beyond his investment in the business entity. Creditors could reach his personal assets in case of a lawsuit. The sole owner is practically defenseless against legal attacks.