Only invest money you can afford to lose — never use family savings or borrowed funds
Debts of a sole proprietorship come out of assets in your name. If it's unclear whether the whole family ran the business, creditors can reach family property. A company doesn't fully shield you either: when the company can't pay, what you promised as subscribed capital but haven't paid yet can be called in early. Size your stake by «I could lose it all and still pay the mortgage and medical bills».
Zero upfront cost. Before you start, set a personal limit:…
Losing money isn't the only risk. For a sole proprietorship, if you ran the business alone, debts are paid fro…
Zero upfront cost. Before you start, set a personal limit: this is the maximum amount you can lose without affecting your mortgage payments, child support, or medical expenses. Do not invest any more than this figure. Family funds and borrowed money must be excluded from this limit. The real challenge arises when your business starts showing promise — you must resist the urge to pour in extra capital.
Losing money isn't the only risk. For a sole proprietorship, if you ran the business alone, debts are paid from property in your name (personal property). If the family ran it together or who ran it is unclear, debts are paid from family property. Debts both spouses signed count as joint marital debt; later assent by one spouse counts too. A loan in one spouse's name still counts as joint debt if the creditor shows it went into the couple's shared business. For companies there is another rule: subscribed capital is what a shareholder promised at registration. When the company can't pay a due debt, creditors may demand early payment of the portion not yet due (nationwide).
全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第五十六、一千零六十四条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202006/t20200602_463888.shtml；全国人大常委会 (2023). 公司法（2023 年修订，第四十七、五十四条）. https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202312/content_6923395.htm
Open source link“Money you can afford to lose” means an amount that won’t force you to sell your home or borrow from relatives. No verifiable official statistics on business survival rates or average lifespan were found on the websites of China’s National Bureau of Statistics or State Administration for Market Regulation. Hence, no numerical figures are included here; only legal consequences are outlined, warranting a grade B rating.