Start a New Business in Texas

The business services division of the Secretary of State’s Office helps business owners organize and register their business.

If you are starting a business, you can:

• Select a business structure

• Access start-up information

• Register an agent

• Check name availability

• Access educational materials, guides, and other resources

• and much more.

If you already have a business, you can:

• Get copies of documents and certificates

• Register an out-of-state entity to do business in Texas

• Terminate or reinstate your business

• and much more.

1019 Brazos Street
Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: 512-463-5555

Texas Secretary of State Business Services website

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development assists businesses with job creation, expansion, investment, and export opportunities.

Services and resources include the Governor's small business resource portal, small business webinars and events, information on how to start a business, moving your small business to Texas, the Business Permit Office, financing and capital for small businesses, veteran/minority/women-owned business resources, and public procurement information.

Texas Economic Development
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711
Phone: 512-936-0100

Texas Economic Development Small Business Assistance website

The Texas SBA is supported by main district offices in Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Harlingen, Lubbock, and San Antonio, as well as an additional location in Corpus Christi. They provide services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

The Dallas/Fort Worth office serves Anderson, Archer, Baylor, Bell, Bosque, Bowie, Brown, Callahan, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Clay, Coleman, Collin, Comanche, Cooke, Coryell, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Grayson, Gregg, Hamilton, Harrison, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Limestone, Marion, McLennon, Mills, Montague, Morris, Nacodoches, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Panola, Parker, Rains, Red River, Rockwall, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shackelford, Shelby, Smith, Somerville, Stephens, Tarrant, Throckmorton, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, Wichita, Wilbarger, Wise, Wood, and Young counties.

The El Paso office serves Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, and Terrell counties.

The Houston office serves Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Milam, Montgomery, Newton, Orange, Polk, Robertson, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Washington, and Wharton counties.

The Harlingen office serves Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Starr, Willacy, and Zapata counties.

The Lubbock office serves Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Borden, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Cochran, Coke, Collingsworth, Cottle, Crane, Crosby, Dallam, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Dickens, Donley, Ector, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Gray, Hale, Hall, Hansford, Hardeman, Hartley, Haskell, Hemphill, Hockley, Howard, Hutchinson, Jones, Kent, King, Knox, Lamb, Lipscomb, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Mitchell, Moore, Motley, Nolan, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Reagan, Roberts, Runnels, Scurry, Sherman, Sterling, Stonewall, Swisher, Taylor, Terry, Upton, Ward, Wheeler, Winkler, and Yoakum counties.

The San Antonio office serves Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bee, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Comal, Concho, Crockett, De Witt, Dimmit, Edwards, Fayette, Frio, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, Irion, Jackson, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, La Salle, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Live Oak, Llano, Mason, Maverick, McCulloch, McMullen, Medina, Menard, Real, Refugio, San Saba, Schleicher, Sutton, Tom Green, Travis, Uvalde, Val Verde, Victoria, Web, Williamson, Wilson, and Zavala counties.

Examples of educational programs and events include How to Write a Business Plan, Small Business Tax Benefits, Tax Basics, QuickBooks Introduction, and Establishing Business Credit.

Dallas/Fort Worth district office:
150 Westpark Way
Suite 130
Euless, Texas 76040
Phone: 817-684-5500

SBA Dallas Fort Worth website

El Paso district office:
211 North Florence Street
Suite 201
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-834-4600

SBA El Paso website

Houston district office:
8701 S. Gessner Drive
Suite #1200
Houston, Texas 77074
Phone: 713-773-6500

SBA Houston website

Harlingen district office:
2422 E. Tyler Avenue
Suite E
Harlingen, Texas 78550
Phone: 956-427-8533

SBA Harlingen website

Lubbock district office:
1205 Texas Avenue
Room 408
Lubbock, Texas 79401
Phone: 806-472-7462

SBA Lubbock website

San Antonio district office:
615 E. Houston Street
Suite 298
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Phone: 210-403-5900

SBA San Antonio website

Corpus Christi location:
Phone: 361-879-0017

The LiftFund Women’s Business Center (WBC) offers guidance and support to empower women entrepreneurs to become successful business leaders.

We provide innovative business support services like technical and soft skill trainings, accelerator programs, individual consultations, business advising, and strategic partnerships with other small business service providers.

Counseling services include:

• Business Start-Up: Assistance with concept ideas, financial forecasts, market research, and general start-up support for new business ventures

• Business Plan Development: Assistance with writing and formalizing your business plan and financial projections

• Business Growth: Assistance with exploring funding options and preparing for loan applications; brainstorming ideas, and creating action plans with SMART goals

• Marketing Plans: Assistance with writing and formalizing a responsive marketing plan that meets your needs; assist with development of business social media pages and website

• Management Assistance: Assistance with financial management, human resource management, organization, and operations

• Certification and Contracting: Assistance with application process and accessing information on government contracting

LiftFund Women's Business Center
600 Soledad Street
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Phone: 888-215-2373 ext. 3000

LiftFund Women’s Business Center WBC website

Service areas also include Gillespie, Kerr, Kendall, Bandera, Comal, Medina, Guadalupe, Frio, Wilson, Atascosa, Karnes, and McMullen counties.

Whether you are just beginning to explore the idea of starting a business or you already have sales under your belt, BiGAUSTIN can provide the tools to start smart and grow strong.

Funding Solutions: BiGAUSTIN offers a variety of loan programs to fit the growing needs of small businesses. Clients receive funding, education, and one-on-one counseling for the term of the loan. BiGAUSTIN Smart Loans are flexible and affordable, with fast turnarounds.

Entrepreneur Focused Workshops: BiGAUSTIN workshops cover job-skills development and entrepreneurship by offering a vast range of courses. Whether you are a new entrepreneur looking to test and perfect a business concept or an existing business owner interested in expanding an enterprise, BiGAUSTIN provides education created for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.

One-on-One Business Consulting: Popular consultation topics include business startup and plan development, expansion, marketing, management assistance, and much more.

8000 Centre Park Drive
Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78754
Phone: 512-928-8010

BiGAUSTIN Women’s BiZ website

In addition to the Texas Small Business Development Center lead offices in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Lubbock, the Texas SBDC has over 60 centers located in rural, urban, and suburban communities throughout the Lone Star state.

The Texas SBDCs provide confidential, one-on-one business consulting at no cost to you and affordable training to help you at every stage of business development. SBDC assistance is customized to your needs, whether you need help putting together a business plan, finding financing, exploring new markets, increasing sales, or improving productivity and profitability.

SBDC offices can also reach out on your behalf to resource partners such as Chambers of Commerce and other community organizations, to arrange meetings with you and a partner’s representative at a convenient location.

Houston SBDC serving Central Harris and North Harris County
University of Houston Bauer College
1455 West Loop South, Suite 900
Houston, Texas 77027
Phone: 713-752-8400

Houston SBDC website

Dallas SBDC serving North Texas
1402 Corinth Street, Suite 2100
Dallas, Texas 75215
Phone: 214-860-5831

Dallas SBDC website

San Antonio SBDC serving South/West Texas
501 W. Cesar E. Chavez
San Antonio, Texas 78207
Phone: 210-458-2450

San Antonio SBDC website

Lubbock SBDC serving Northwest Texas
5001 West Loop 289
1st Floor
Lubbock, Texas 79413
Phone: 806-745-1637

Lubbock SBDC website

As an affiliate of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance serves as a third-party certifying organization for women-owned business enterprises (WBEs) in south Texas and helps connect WBENC-Certified Women's Business Enterprises with corporations to facilitate real time business opportunities. Businesses that are at least 51% owned by a woman and meet specific criteria are eligible for this certification.

The Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance is committed to increasing business opportunities for women-owned businesses and corporate members through education, programs, and professional networking.

9800 Northwest Freeway
Suite 120
Houston, Texas 77092
Phone: 713-681-9232

Women's Business Enterprise Alliance website

NAWBO Texas propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social, and political spheres of influence across Texas by:

• Strengthening the wealth creating capacity of members and promoting economic development within the entrepreneurial community

• Creating innovative and effective change in the business culture

• Building strategic alliances, coalitions and affiliations

• Transforming public policy and influencing opinion makers

NAWBO Dallas/Fort Worth

National Association of Women Business Owners NAWBO Dallas Fort Worth website

NAWBO Austin

National Association of Women Business Owners NAWBO Austin website

NAWBO Houston
Phone: 832-408-1594

National Association of Women Business Owners NAWBO Houston website

NAWBO San Antonio
P.O. Box 460724
San Antonio, Texas 78240
Phone: 210-260-6246

National Association of Women Business Owners NAWBO San Antonio website

SCORE locations across Texas are committed to providing guidance to those entrepreneurs desiring to start a small business and assisting existing small businesses in improving their profitability.

SCORE volunteers are successful real-world business professionals with experience in areas such as accounting, finance, human resources, consulting, import/export, law, operations, production, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, sales, marketing, management, business plan preparation, strategic planning, and many other business disciplines.

SCORE Texas provides:

• Volunteer mentors who share their expertise across many industries

• Free, confidential business mentoring in person, via email, or by video

• Free business tools, templates, and tips online

• Inexpensive or free business workshops (locally) and webinars (online 24/7)

Fort Worth serving Tarrant County
1150 South Freeway, Suite 108
Fort Worth, Texas 76108
Phone: 817-871-6002

SCORE Fort Worth website

Dallas serving Dallas/North Texas, East Texas, Lubbock, and the Panhandle
15301 Spectrum Dr. Suite #110
Addison, Texas 75001
Phone: 214-987-9491

SCORE Dallas website

Austin serving small businesses from Waco to San Marcos
Building M
Westland Park
5524 Bee Cave Road
Austin, Texas 78746
Phone: 512-928-2425

SCORE Austin website

In 2015, the Texas Legislature established a special center focused on creating successful new women-owned businesses. As a result, Texas Women’s University became the headquarters for the Center for Women Entrepreneurs.

The Center for Women Entrepreneurs can help you become a successful business owner with the tools you need to succeed. These include:

• Business Advising

• Funding

• Networking

• Training

• Resources

Whether you are a current business owner or are considering starting a business, the Center for Women Entrepreneurs can assist you in achieving success. Programs are open to all Texas women. Affiliation with Texas Woman’s University is not required.

Center for Women Entrepreneurs
Old Main Building 260
PO Box 425706
Denton, Texas 76204
Phone: 940-898-2895

Center for Women Entrepreneurs website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

• Loans: Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

• Investment capital: Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

• Disaster assistance: Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

• Surety bonds: Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

• Grants: Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

U.S. Small Business Administration Funding website

PeopleFund provides small business loans as well as business assistance and education to people with otherwise limited access to such resources.

Programs include:

Small Business and Nonprofit Lending: PeopleFund provides financing to deserving but underserved small businesses and nonprofits for equipment purchases, permanent working capital term loans, revolving lines of credit, and real estate.

Business Assistance and Education: PeopleFund also offers clients a host of essential business assistance services including educational workshops, business advising, and community networking events.

2921 East 17th Street
Building D
Suite 1
Austin, Texas 78702
Phone: 888-222-0017

PeopleFund website

Dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation at The University of Texas at Austin, the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center promotes the development of entrepreneurial skills and supports exploration of the ways these skills can be applied to careers as founders or innovators within established firms.

The Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center brings together financial resources, leading entrepreneurs, students, and faculty from multiple disciplines and multiple colleges and universities. Together they develop and communicate new knowledge about entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial processes, develop and deliver outstanding programs in entrepreneurship, and encourage and facilitate the development of successful entrepreneurs.

McCombs School of Business
2110 Speedway, Stop B6300
Austin, Texas 78712
Phone: 512-471-5287

University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business website

The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) is comprised of a state-of-the-art on-campus lab space, experiential courses, co-curricular opportunities, and an array of resources to support student learning in entrepreneurship.

Lilie’s mission is to equip Rice students with both entrepreneurial skills and the entrepreneurial mindset to prepare them to be entrepreneurs and innovators in whatever industry they choose, be it a technology startup, government, civic group, non-profit, small business, or large corporation.

Lilie’s offers a full stack of programming, personalized mentorship, equity free funding, collaborative co-working space, and the resources entrepreneurs need to go from idea to real world impact.

Cambridge Office Building
6100 Main Street
Houston, Texas 77005

Rice University Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship website

The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship provides encouragement, education, networking, and assistance to entrepreneurially-minded students, faculty and Texas businesses. The center is part of Mays Business School's Department of Management and enhances student education through campus speakers, competitions, work experiences, and financial support.

The Center’s mission is to develop and support entrepreneurs on campus, across the state, nationwide, and internationally through a combination of research, teaching, and community engagement.

1700 Research Parkway
Suite 130
College Station, Texas 77845
Phone: 979-458-8631

Texas A&M University McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship website

Texas CEO Magazine strives to be your most trusted media resource for Texas business leadership insight. The magazine’s mission is to help CEOs across Texas grow their businesses and master the chief executive role—whether their organization is public or private, for-profit or nonprofit, large or small.

8012 Bee Cave Road
Austin, Texas 78746
Phone: 512-640-9823

Texas CEO Magazine website

The Dallas Business Journal is a hub for breaking news and events in North Texas. It helps readers grow their business, make money, and enhance their careers with local business news, research, and events across the DFW area.

In addition to the weekly print publication, they also offer a digital edition, the annual Book of Lists, and awards events including the Best Places to Work, 40 Under Forty, Best Real Estate Deals, and Women in Business.

2515 McKinney Avenue
Suite 875
Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: 214-696-5959

Dallas Business Journal website

D CEO Magazine serves the business community in and around Dallas-Forth Worth with news, information and insights. The magazine’s editors and journalists are peers to the publication’s readership, giving them the resources they need to inform their research and writing. Staff are strictly local and bring a deep understanding of the community to their work.

750 North St.Paul Street
Suite 2100
Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: 214-939-3636

D CEO Magazine website

Minority Business News Texas (MBN Texas) is the #1 print and digital publication supporting Texas minority business enterprises (MBEs). It supports and promotes MBE suppliers as well as celebrating the leading corporations and diversity champions who advance the cause of supplier diversity.

MBN Texas Magazine:

• showcases the commitment of America’s top corporations to diversity and inclusion.

• profiles top corporate supplier diversity programs and shares how they coordinate across lines of business and business functions to advance diversity in the supply chain.

• provides a platform for the exploration of the business case for the inclusion of MBE suppliers.

• actively supports and promotes both national and Texas-based organizations that are allies in the empowerment of diverse business owners.

• celebrates and connects diverse Texan business owners, leaders, and advocates.

2150 S. Central Expressway
McKinney, Texas 75070
Phone: 214-369-3200

Minority Business News Texas website