Westside Economic Collaborative - Home
Upcoming Events
Tue, Mar 4th, 2008
Beverly Hills Luxury Summit 2008
Westside Cities
Beverly Hills
Culver City
Los Angeles
Malibu
Santa Monica
West Hollywood
WEC Thanks Its Contributors:
WEC Sponsors
TOOLS FOR BUSINESS
Business

Formation

+ Click to view all Tools on this page
On this page you can choose the best legal form for your business and use the start-up kit to form your business.
Click here for video tour

Entity Choices

Form your Business Out-of-state?  

Rules for Licensed Professionals

Choose your Entity Wizard

Business Start-Up Kit

Books to form business entities

Sole Proprietor

Sole proprietors are owned by one person (or husband and wife) and are the most common type of ownership.

Sole proprietors are personally liable for business debts. This means if your business fails and you have unpaid business debts, you must use your personal assets to pay the debt. Also, your business credit and your personal credit are the same, which is fine if they are both good, but a problem if either are bad.

When you fill out contracts, the legal name of a sole proprietorship is the owner's personal name. By identifying yourself as a sole proprietorship, others may think that your business is small.

Despite these drawbacks, forming a sole proprietorship is the simplest and least expensive business type.

Bookmark and Share

How helpful is this site?
Click here to send suggestions and comments

The California Academy for Local Economic Development thanks these supporters who have partially underwritten the cost of this informational website.

Local
Supporters
 
Gold
Sponsors
* This information is provided as a public service and should not be used as a substitute for legal and professional advice.
TERMS OF USE Contact us or call (866)429-1527. Copyright 2007-10 by Tools for Business, Lafayette, CA. All rights reserved.