Business Company Investing Ownership Thought

The ownership structure of a business firm plays a pivotal role on its success. A business firm’s operations and management policies are affected by its form of ownership. There are three common forms of business ownership entrepreneurs can choose from.

These three are the sole proprietorship, the partnership and the corporation.

What Is a Sole Proprietorship?

A sole proprietorship is easily the most popular and most common type of business in both the United States and Canada. The main characteristic that distinguishes a sole proprietorship from a partnership and a corporation is that a sole proprietorship is owned by a single individual.

Sole proprietorships account for more than half of all business firms in the United States, according to U.S. government statistics ("Business Enterprise: Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, Corporations", in The 2011 Statistical Abstract (online version), U.S. Census Bureau). The reason behind the popularity of sole proprietorship is the ease of its organization.