Welcome to your daily briefing on small business developments in Michigan. Today we're covering 5 key stories including updates on michigan small business headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
2 stories
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce explains that a DBA (doing business as) is a registered business name used when an individual or company operates under a name different from its legal name.
For Michigan small business professionals, defining and filing a DBA correctly helps ensure the business name used with customers and partners is properly aligned with legal registration requirements.
This source points to the MiBusiness Registry, a Michigan business search tool that lets you verify LLCs and corporations and check business status through LARA quickly and at no cost.
For MI small business professionals, it provides a quick way to confirm entity details and status before making business decisions.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
Most small-business insurance portfolios share predictable gaps: cyber liability (often excluded from general liability), employment practices (separate from general liability), business interruption (often capped well below actual reliance), and professional liability (excluded if not specifically purchased even when professional services are offered).
Each gap can become a six-figure claim that the owner assumed was covered. The cost of filling the four gaps is typically a few hundred to a few thousand dollars annually.
The S-corp election lets owner-operators take part of their income as wages (subject to payroll tax) and the rest as distributions (not subject to self-employment tax). The savings only matter once profit consistently exceeds a "reasonable salary" — typically $50K-$80K of pure profit above the salary baseline. Below that threshold, the added payroll-processing cost eats the savings.
Many LLCs elect S-corp status before they have enough profit to benefit, paying payroll processing for no tax savings. The election is reversible but not on a clock that matters in real time.
MCAs quote a "factor rate" (typically 1.20-1.50) on the advance amount, plus a daily holdback as a percentage of receipts. Translated to APR, most MCAs cost 60-150% annualized. The structure is legally not a loan, so usury caps and disclosure rules do not apply.
Cash-strapped small businesses that "just need it now" stack multiple MCAs and end up with daily holdbacks consuming most receipts. Recovery from MCA stacking is rare without formal restructuring or bankruptcy.
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