As far as the internal operation of business is concerned, the individual proprietor meets virtually no governmental control, so long as he complies with the social legislation concerned with hiring, paying, and discharging employees, and with the minimum and maximum prices that may be charged. He can buy from anyone who will sell to him and on any agreed terms. He can sell to anyone he chooses. If he doesn’t to wish to sell to certain persons, he need not do so unless his business enjoys some peculiar privilege granted by the public authority, without which it would not be able to exist, or when the business supplies some commodity or service so essential to economic life that it may be regarded as a public necessity. Although a grocer may refuse to sell to a customer, a gas company could not refuse to supply gas, provided the gas mains and connections were in, the gas burning equipment in proper condition, and the customer ready, and able to pay it. If the customer owes the gas company for gas previously furnished, the company may decline to supply more gas until the debt has been paid.

The greatest advantage of individual proprietorship is in the freedom of action. The proprietor does not have to consult some one else if he wishes to take a certain action. He is his own boss. If the business makes money, it’s his money and also if the business loses money. If he decides to expand or contract his business, his own decision is the determining factor.