Advantages of Sole Trader-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Conduct research into the industry and/or product that your client wishes to participate in with respect to the type of business structures that are most prevalent in the Industry. Answer: Introduction: A sole trader is the structure under which individual is responsible to conduct the operations of the business. For example- sole trader is not able to share debts and losses of the business with others, and they enjoy all the profits of the business. This business structure is the simplest and inexpensive form of structure which can be chosen by the individual at the initial stage of the business. Context related to corporation is completely different from sole proprietorship because members of the corporation are the owners and business is managed by the directors (Business, 2017). This report states the advantages, disadvantages, and scope of both the structures that is sole trader and corporation. This report further states whether sole proprietorship is appropriate for Penny Grey or not. Lastly, this paper is concluded with brief conclusion. About sole proprietorship: Generally, Sole proprietorship is the business structure which has no separate existence from its owner, and income and losses of this structure are taxed under the personal income tax return of the individual. This form of business is simple to operate, and under this structure individual is responsible to conduct the operations of the business. Usually, sole proprietorship refers to the individual who is considered as the owner of the business, and such individual is personally liable for the debts of the business. This form of business is operated under the name of the owner of the business, and owner can also conduct the business under fictitious name. It must be noted that such fictitious name does not separate the business from the owner (ALG, n.d.). This form of business is popular because of its low cost, less regulations, easy setup, and simplicity. For the purpose of conducting business under sole proprietorship, individual must register the name and get local license. There is also one disadvantage of this form that is, sole trader is personally liable for all the debts of the firm. Therefore, when sole proprietorship faces financial consequences then creditors file case against the owner of the business. In case creditors won the case then owner is personally liable towards them (ASIC, n.d.). It is clear, that sole proprietorship does not have separate legal entity from its owners, and it has both advantages and disadvantages which are stated below: Advantages of sole trader: It is the simplest form of business, and if individual initiate the operations of the business with his own name then such individual is not under obligation to register the name of the business. Therefore, this form of business is more ideal at the initial stage of the business. Sole trader is the only owner of the business, and controls the operations of the business. There is no obligation on sole trader to take permission of others for taking any decision related to management issue. This business is also simple in the context of tax and accounting. In other words, there is no obligation on business owner to file separate tax return of the business, because all the income of the business is taxed under the personal return of the owner. Owner also gets advantage to deduct the cost of operating the business from the income earned by the business (Business Victoria, n.d.). As compared to other form of business, sole proprietorship is less expensive in nature, and it requires less set up amount. Sole proprietor enjoys the freedom of making the business decisions because he is the only one who is responsible for conducting the operations of the company, and it results in quick decision making process (ATO, n.d.; ATO, 2016). Disadvantages of Sole proprietorship, and how corporates are different from Sole Proprietorship: There are number of advantages of sole proprietorship which makes this business more appealing in nature, but there are some disadvantages also which must be kept in mind while choosing this business. Some of these disadvantages are stated below: The most important disadvantage of this business is that business is not a separate legal entity from its members, which means owner of the business is personally liable for the debts of the business. There is no separation between business assets and personal assets. In other words, creditors can file case against the owner of the business for the debts and liabilities of the business. This disadvantage prevents the owner of the business to take further risk for the expansion and diversification of the business. In Corporations, there is clear separation between the personal assets and business assets of the business, which make the corporation more suitable form of business at the time of expansion and diversification of the business. Section 1.5.1 of the Corporation Act 2001 states that, companies has separate legal existence from its owners. This can be understood through case law Peate v Federal Commissioner of Taxation. In this case Court stated that Company was considered as new legal entity in the eyes of law. As stated, there is no difference between the sole proprietor and its owner, and after the death of the owner there is no one who conducts the operations of the business, which means with the end of the owner business also ends. However, in some cases owner make the future plan and hier representative who continue the operations of the business. On the other hand in corporations, business enjoys the perpetual existence, which means that business does not end with the death of the owner. This can be understood through case law Re Noel Tedman Holdings Pty Ltd. (1967) QdR 561. In this case, both shareholder and director died but still existence of company is continued. Corporations have number of ways to raise money for the purpose of conducting operations of the business, and the easiest way available to them is to issue shares. This means corporations offer partial ownership of the company in exchange of money, and such money can be used to expand the business. On the other hand, sole trader does not have shares to offer and they are not able to sell the ownership of the company. Sole proprietorship is able to raise money like other business structures. It must be noted that there is no separation between the personal assets and business assets and because of this owner mortgage their personal property for the purpose of getting loan. In case business of the company fails, and owner does not have enough money to pay the loan then lender has right to take the personal assets of the owner (Business, 2017). In the present case, penny Grey wants to expand her business and expansion of business required funds. Therefore it is more beneficial for her to choose corporate rather than sole proprietorship. The other disadvantage of sole proprietorship is less capital, which means that sole trader is not able to arrange large amount of money for the purpose of conducting the business operations of the company. Sole proprietorship does not have enough investors who invest money in the idea of the owner. On the other hand, corporations can easily raise high amount of capital because there are number of investors who can raise money for the business. If Penny Grey chooses corporate as business structure then it becomes simple for her to arrange capital through investors or by selling the shares of the company. Sole trader is the only individual who makes the decisions of the business, but it has some disadvantages also such as lack of experts advice. In this form of business, owner is the only person who is responsible for all his decisions. For the purpose of expanding the business, Penny required advice of experts and support for making the decisions. If she holds sole proprietorship, it is not possible for her to get support in decision making process. After considering above advantages and disadvantages, it is clear that sole proprietorship is better for initial stage of the business, but this structure is not appropriate when preferences of the owner changed. In case, owner of the business wants to expand the business then they must consider other options too (SMH, 2007). Corporation: There are number of factors which influence various aspects of business, and it includes how profit and liability are divided, payment related to taxes, and who controls the business. If owner wants to expand the business, then it is beneficial for owner to choose corporation instead of partnership or sole proprietorship. Some factors are stated below which help the owner to decide the appropriate structure for the purpose of expanding their business. Business can be restructured for the purpose of meeting the financial goals and other objectives also. Owner must choose that structure which improves the profitability and cash flow of the business and for this purpose corporation is more suitable option. Business can be restructured when it becomes necessary to reorganize the internal functions of the business. For example-sales and marketing, for the purpose of improving the operations of their business. Owner can also restructure their business when they decide to diversify or expand their business. Such as, when they decide to expand their business overseas or decide to expand the functions related to products and services. Therefore, this change is necessary for ensuring growth and for this change corporation is the most suitable form of structure. As stated in the present case, Penny Grey runs business of outdoor fitness as a sole trader, and she managed this business with the help of young family members. Now, she wants to expand her business, and for this purpose she needs advice. As stated above, sole proprietorship is the structure which suits at the initial stage of the business, but it is not appropriate at the time of expansion of business. Therefore, it is advisable to Mrs. Penny Grey that she can adopt corporation structure for conducting the operations of their business. Shareholders are the owners of the corporation, who get advantage from the profits earned by the company. On the other hand, sole proprietorship is owned by one person only who gets all the profits of the business, and also responsible for all the losses of the business. Corporation is considered as most complex structure of business and it has number of set-up regulations, but this form of structure offers high number of rewards as compared to other form of structures. Protection from liability- the biggest benefit provided by corporation is protection against liability, which is not offered by other forms of business. Corporation is considered as separate legal entity, and law separates the business assets and personal assets in this form of structure. In this, there is no risk on the personal assets of shareholders if company fails to pay the liability of the creditors. This can be understood through case law Salomon V A Salomon And Co Ltd [1897] AC 22. In this case, Court stated that corporate was separate legal entity from its owners. In case of sole proprietorship and partnership, owners of the business are liable for the debts of the business and their personal assets are also at risk (Business, 2017). Therefore, Penny can choose this structure because it reduces the risk of liability in case company incurred losses. Penny can secure her personal assets by choosing corporation structure and expand her business with less or minimum risk. Raising funds- as compared to other form of structures, corporations can easily raise the funds for the purpose of conducting projects and operations. There are number of ways through which corporations can raise funds such as corporations can sell their ownership in part, raise loans by mortgaging the assets of the business, other investors, etc.. This can be understood through case law Trust Company of Australia Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2007] VSC 451. As stated above, for business expansion Penny required funds on different stages of business, and for this purpose she can also sell the partly ownership of her company. In corporations, it is easy to transfer the interest in ownership to the third parties, and it does not affect the continuance operations of the business. In case of sole proprietorship and partnership it is not easy to sell the complete business, because it directly affects the operations of the firm. Not only assets are transferred but licenses and permits are also transferred which makes this task more difficult. Tax Benefits- there are number of benefits in context of tax are available to corporations, but these benefits are not available to sole proprietorship and partnership. Tax returns of corporations are not clubbed with the returns of shareholders, both shareholders and corporations files separate tax returns. Shareholders pay taxes on salaries, dividends, and bonus earned by them from the corporation (Business, 2017). Penny is not liable to pay tax on the profits earned by the company, and she is only liable to pay tax on her income only Conclusion: This report contains detailed discussion related to sole proprietorship and other alternatives for Penny Grey for the purpose of expanding their business of outdoor fitness. Sole proprietorship is the structure which suits at the initial stage of the business, but it is not appropriate at the time of expansion of business. After considering the comparison between corporation and sole trader, it is clear that corporation is better for expanding the business almost in every way. Therefore, it is advisable to Mrs. Penny Grey that she can adopt corporation structure for conducting the operations of their business. References: ALG. Business Structures. Available at: https://www.shopify.in/guides/australia/business-structures. Available at 17th August 2017. ASIC. Choosing a business structure. Available at: https://asic.gov.au/for-business/your-business/your-business-structure/. Available at 17th August 2017. ATO, (2016). Choosing your business structure. Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-your-own-business/Before-you-get-started/Choosing-your-business-structure/. Available at 17th August 2017. ATO, (2016). Sole Trader. Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/business/starting-your-own-business/before-you-get-started/choosing-your-business-structure/sole-trader/. Available at 17th August 2017. Business Victoria. Sole trader. Available at: https://www.business.vic.gov.au/setting-up-a-business/business-structure/sole-trader. Available at 17th August 2017. Business, (2017). Company. Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/start-your-business/business-structure/business-structures-and-types/company. Available at 17th August 2017. Business, (2017). What are the set-up steps and costs. Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/start-your-business/business-structure/change-business-structure/sole-trader-to-a-company/difference-between-a-sole-trader-and-a-company/what-are-the-set-up-steps-and-costs. Available at 17th August 2017. Business. (2017). Business structure. Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/info/plan-and-start/start-your-business/business-structure. Available at 17th August 2017. Peate v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1964) 111 CLR 44. Re Noel Tedman Holdings Pty Ltd. (1967) QdR 561 Salomon V A Salomon And Co Ltd [1897] AC 22. Trust Company of Australia Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2007] VSC 451. SMH, (2007). Advantages and disadvantages of operating as a sole trader. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/small-business/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-operating-as-a-sole-trader-20090619-cpvm.html. Available at 17th August 2017.