What is a sole proprietership ?

A sole proprietorship is a form of business where the
owner of the business owns all of the assets of that business.  This is different from a
partnership, where two or more people own the assets of the business, or a corporation. 
Sole proprietorships are, at least in the United States, the most common type of small
business.

Although sole proprietorships are easy to set up
and have other advantages like fairly simple taxes, they also have two major
disadvantages.  First of all, it is harder to raise funds if funds are needed.  As the
"small-business-encyclopedia" link below says,

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Many lenders are reluctant to provide financing
to owners of sole proprietorships—in large part because of fears about their ability to
recover the funds should the owner die or become
disabled...

The other major
drawback of a sole proprietorship is the fact that the owner is completely liable for
any debts the business may incur.  This means that his/her personal assets may be taken
if the business goes bankrupt.  As the link says, people to whom the business owns money
can go after the proprietor's assets,

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including your bank account, car or
house….