Small Businesses in Texas

The Lone Star State’s healthy entrepreneurial environment leads to success for many businesses that get their start here.

Starting a business in Texas requires you to complete a number of basic steps and make some key decisions. As part of your overall plan, you’ll need to select a location, decide on a business structure, and obtain the necessary licenses and permits. Additionally, determining which financing options will meet your short-term needs and long-term goals is crucial. For more detailed information, please find information on the Office of the Governor’s business site here.

A combination of both statewide programs and local incentives are designed to help your company start off on the path to success.

The Skills for Small Business Program offers financing tuition and fees for community and technical college courses. This program, run by the Texas Workforce Commission, is targeted to help current and newly hired employees of small businesses. Other helpful resources in Texas and nationwide include:

• Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program with TxDOT
• Historically Underutilized Business Certification Program
• SCORE
• Small Business Development Centers
• Small Business Enterprise Program with TxDOT
• Small Business Events
• LiftFund

With a strong historical background in innovation, Texas continues to make strides in fields like tech, energy, life sciences and more.

With three cities (Dallas at No. 2, San Antonio at No. 7 and Temple at No. 10) on Fortune’s 2019 list of Top Ten U.S. Cities for Tech Jobs, Texas is an established leader in the tech space. Austin was ranked the No. 1 Tech Town in a 2021 CompTIA report. Meanwhile, cutting-edge research is conducted at universities like Texas Tech, University of North Texas, The University of Texas at Arlington and The University of Texas at Dallas — all of which have been recognized as Tier 1 universities for their research activity.

Texas innovation is transforming industries. Over the past decade, Texas has won more awards for a healthy business climate and job growth than all the other states combined. Innovation in Texas is a strong force propelling extraordinary economic growth.

Find out more about the many Texas business incentives for small businesses and how they can promote innovation in your enterprise.

The Texas business climate is second to none. While the Lone Star State is famous for the Fortune 500 companies located here, 99.8% of the state’s 3.1 million businesses are small businesses. Hispanic and minority-owned businesses account for more than 2 million employees. The state has 37,421 small business exporters responsible for exporting $105 billion in goods in 2021.

According to the U.S. Small Business Association, Texas small businesses employ 45.1% of the private workforce, or 4.9 million people, a number that is expected to grow. Firms with fewer than 100 employees have the largest share of small business employment.

Opportunities for small businesses in Texas abound. If you’re considering starting a small business in Texas, take advantage of the numerous Texas small business grants.

State-funded grants for Texas workforce education development ensure companies can provide customized training to workers to stay competitive in their industries. For example, the Texas Workforce Commission provides the Skills for Small Business grants, which support businesses with fewer than 100 employees by incentivizing training for full-time new workers. Grants are also available on the county level for eligible small businesses.

Besides Texas grants for small businesses, entrepreneurs can benefit from assistance with obtaining a Texas small business license, regulatory compliance and resource referrals. Informational small business events and webinars are part of the robust support provided to small businesses and start-ups.