Unlike a corporate business, a sole proprietorship is the most manageable and easy to run. In sole proprietorship, you are your own boss and governing state regulations are not as rigid compared to other forms of businesses. To start your own registered business, all you need is a winning idea, a well-made business plan, and you're good to go. Starting a sole proprietorship does not involved writing corporate bylaws or an inch thick business plan. If you're a freelancer, consultant, baker, caterer, etc., you can start your own business in practically no time at all.
One major advantage of sole proprietorship is the ease of tax regulations. Unlike a corporate business where you need to set up a separate tax form for the business alone, a single proprietorship business tax is your own personal income tax already. You also don’t have to bother registering your business to multiple government regulatory offices. Some states even allow you to go into business first and register later.
A single proprietorship business tax can be taken care of by filing a 1040 form. You don’t have to bother filing a separate quarterly tax payment schedule like corporate businesses do. Your tax report doesn’t even have to be elaborate. You can just use online tax software such as Tax Act Online to compute your taxable income – and you're entitled to all self-employed tax exemption benefits given by the government also.
Consider the following points to see if sole proprietorship is the right business form for you.
1. It's easy to start, easy to stop. To start doing business, all you need are proper equipments, a comfortable office space and fixtures perhaps, and you're good to go. Many successful mothers doing business at home bought only the $500 Mary Kay kit to begin. Depending on your skills or business concept, you may just need a new oven and a power mixer to start selling wedding cakes from your own kitchen. If you feel that the business is not working for you, then you stop. You don’t need to bother calling partners or batting heads in a conference room to dissolve the business. You simply pack up and leave.
2. You owe nobody anything. For some people, they can perform well if they're not worried about fulfilling obligations to other people. No matter what you do in your business, you get a peace of mind knowing that you don’t owe anyone an explanation regarding any outcome.
3. You are your own boss. Perhaps this is the greatest common to people to start a sole proprietorship business. If you own your source of employment, you don’t have a boss to suck up to. You can breathe easier knowing that you have full control over your destiny.
4. You have a good legacy to leave your children. The benefit created by your business doesn’t have to end when you retire. You can leave the business to your children, which they can build on based on your legacy.
5. You take home whatever you make. Did you ever get that feeling while working for somebody that his business will crumble without your help? And yet you don’t even get to take home the proper compensation you deserve. With your own business, you can take full control of your income, you can make as much or as little as you want; it's up to you.
6. Enjoy flexible hours and work arrangement. If you are your own boss, it's up to you if you want to work as much as 10, 8, or 2 hours a day, you only have yourself to answer. You can even work in your pajama if you want to; nobody cares if your office is your own kitchen.
7. Enjoy the tax write-offs. If you own your business, you get to enjoy the write-offs accorded to you and your business. Online tax software like the Tax Act Online can give you a full list of tax deductable items such as gas mileage, office equipment cost, representation expense, and more.
8. Less responsibility. If you have less people helping you in the business, you don’t have to worry about giving them full benefits like medical and dental insurances; it's all up to you if you want to give them these benefits. Unlike corporations also, you don’t have to worry about double taxation in sole proprietorship. Although you still have to pay your quarterly income tax, you can skip long red tape by filing only one form; your 1040 form.
Now that you're convinced that the sole proprietorship is the best business form for you, what's there left to do? Start your own business! Brush elbows with other businessmen and women who started ahead of you and learn from their experience. Join chamber of commerce meetings or business expos to get ideas for your next source of employment, the one with your name on the registration form.