Welcome to your daily briefing on small business developments in Texas. Today we're covering 6 key stories including updates on texas small business headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
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3 stories
LegalZoom published a step-by-step guide explaining how Texas companies can file a DBA to operate under a name different from their legal business name.
Many Texas small businesses use DBAs to build brand recognition without forming a separate legal entity, making this filing knowledge essential for growth.
The Tarrant County Clerk's office provides assumed name (DBA) registration services through its vital records division.
Texas small businesses operating under an assumed name must file with their county clerk to ensure legal compliance and protect their brand identity.
As of September 1, 2019, the Travis County Clerk's Recording Division no longer records or files Incorporated Assumed Names, which must now be registered solely with the Secretary of State's Office.
Texas small business professionals filing DBAs in Travis County need to know where to properly register incorporated assumed names to ensure legal compliance and protect their business identity.
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3 stories
Buy-sell agreements among co-owners specify what happens at death, disability, or departure — but only matter if there is a funding source to actually execute the buyout. Common defects: insurance policies that lapsed, valuation methods that produce numbers no one can pay, and trigger events that include voluntary departure without a payment plan.
Without funding, the surviving owner faces a co-owner's heirs as the new business partner. Most buy-sell disputes that reach litigation are not about the agreement's terms but about the absence of a funding mechanism.
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.
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