Replies to post #40705 on PPJ Healthcare Enterprises Inc (PPJE)

[Ed the Trader]

Well, that's now been clarified. She sold PBS to the company. For cash and some stock, though she neglected to disclose that she was the owner.

Well, wasn't it obvious that Basu was the owner? I mean, who else was going to be the owner, her dog?

In small businesses, there is little real difference between the business and the owner. When a business incorporates, the business acquires virtual personhood, and care must be taken to keep business assets separate from personal assets, but even then, that line is not crystal clear like it is for large corporations.

Sure, a proper configuration for a small business is to have separate bank account and phone lines, but many small businesses are run out of a person's personal home, and that includes small incorporated businesses.

Even in large corporations, people print out personal files on corporate printer at work, and use office phones for personal calls, etc. Although technically none of this mixing of assets should happen (mainly for tax purposes), there is a certain amount of give-and-take for efficiency's sake. The same person to takes an envelope from a corporate supply cabinet to mail a personal letter might use a personal computer at home that evening to respond to an urgent business-related e-mail message.

That same give-and-take exists with small businesses, and usually to a greater extreme.