The sole proprietorship or sole trader-ship is the oldest form of business in all of the world’s countries. The characteristics of Sole Proprietorship have changed and evolved with its growth. However, due to its simplicity, quick formation, and ease of use, this form is the most popular and widely used around the world.
Meaning of Sole Proprietorship
The sole proprietorship is a type of business organization in which the owner is only one person, known as the sole trader. This person invests capital in the business and is solely responsible for the company’s profits and losses. The manager and organizer of the company are the same people.
A sole proprietorship is a type of business that has a single owner who has total responsibility for the business, runs it, and bears the risk of its failure.
A single man is an organizer in the Sole Trader-ship Business; he is the owner and runs the business under his own name.
Characteristics of Sole Proprietorship
1.Sole Ownership
This type of business is owned by a single person. That person is in charge of everything related to the business. He bears all of the risks and organizes the entire operation. When the company closes, he is personally liable for all profits and losses.
2.Unlimited Liability
A sole trader’s liability is unlimited. In the occasion of a business loss, not only the business assets but also the sole trader’s private assets (house, shop, land, etc.) can be sold to recover losses.
3.Limited Work Area
The work of a sole proprietorship is limited because a person’s capital acquiring and organizational skills are limited. As a result, the sole proprietorship’s progress is limited by its owner’s resources.
4.Sole Right on Capital
The proprietor must arrange for the capital to be invested in the sole trade. As a result, he has complete ownership of the capital.
5.Sole Management
The sole proprietor is in charge of the business’s control and management. With the expansion of the business, the proprietor can organize staff for his convenience, but he is still held accountable for the managers’ work.
6.No Legal Formalities
Some legal formalities, such as registration, are required to start the business of a partnership or Joint Stock Company, but the sole proprietor does not need to fulfill any such formalities before starting his business, and the business can be started quickly.
7.Free to Select his Business
The sole proprietor can choose any business based on his or her abilities and desires, and he or she can change his or her business selection at any time.
8.Willful Commencement and Closure
The sole trader can start or stop his business whenever he wants. He is not required to complete any legal formalities for these.
9.Stability
Another characteristic of a sole proprietorship is stability, which means that the firm’s stability and continuity are entirely dependent on the efficiency, capacity, and life cycle of a sole proprietor. The growth and success of a sole proprietorship business are also dependent on stability because it develops any business’s improvement capacity and protects it from unnecessary materials.
Stability is an important feature or characteristic of a sole proprietorship business because it helps to define the majority, strength, fastness, and continuity of the business enterprise.
10.Income Taxes
The owner of a sole proprietorship pays federal taxes on business income in a unique way. Instead of filing a separate annual tax return to report business income and expenses, a sole proprietor reports these amounts on Schedule C of his personal income tax return. This tax reporting process is much simpler than that required of other types of entities, and it allows business income to be taxed at the owner’s individual tax rate.
Read also: How to Start a Sole Proprietorship Business
