Are you considering doing business alone without a partner? There are two commercial structures that may be suitable for small clothing like yours: a sole proprietorship (independent trader) or a registered company.

While you might consider setting up a sole proprietorship, the 2001 Corporate Law does allow you to build a company with only one person to own and operate everything. If this is the way you want, all you have to do is select you as a "limited liability company" in the ASIC registration application.

You will be the sole shareholder and sole director of your company. The company is legally regarded as the sole shareholder/director-owned company. You may be wondering why someone would choose to register as the only proprietary company rather than a single ownership.

Well, registering to be the sole shareholder/director company has some real benefits. Here are some of the potential reasons for individuals to choose a sole proprietorship:

* The company's legal personality.

Once the company is registered with ASIC and has issued an ACN, the company becomes a legal entity with its individuality and separation from its shareholders. This aspect has legally important facts: a company can sign a contract in its own name, and can also file a lawsuit and be sued.

If the company has debt, the arrears will not automatically become the debt of the shareholders. Therefore, a civil lawsuit that charges a company for a sum of money is not necessarily a legal action against shareholders.

This is because the shareholder's liability is limited to the value of its equity unless he has previously signed a personal guarantee that is conducive to the pursuit of legal proceedings. This built-in restriction does not apply to single ownership or a single dealer.

Therefore, if you do business on your own and want to limit your business responsibilities, then the only shareholder-owned company is for you.

* Ownership flexibility

If your business grows in the future and you want to create incentives for non-shareholders who contribute to the success of your company, it is a good idea to increase their participation by transferring company shares to them.

This is also known as stock options. Due to the structure of the company, you can include non-shareholder employees in the company's equity without having to terminate the company's legal status.

*Continuity

Another advantage of the company's independent personality is that although the ownership of the company's shares changes, it may continue to exist during the registration period. The death or retirement of a shareholder or the sale, transfer or transfer of shares in the company does not mean termination of the existence of the company.

You may one day decide to hand over the power of the company to someone else, such as your experienced manager or employee shareholder. Even if the director changes, the company will still exist as its own registration.

Discussing with the legal counsel or accountant what is the best structure for you and your business is worth it. In addition, different countries may have different legislation on this, so please check them locally.

Companies can be registered online, but if this is a daunting prospect for you, you can specify a registered agent who can suggest and manage your online company registration.

Learn more about company registration, requirement, procedure, documents and timeline at A1corp.com.sg. For more details about company registration services, visit https://www.a1corp.com.sg/company-registration-singapore/