Austin TX Business Law Blog

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses, small businesses in particular, have been hit hard. The Small Business Association (SBA) has launched a number of efforts in order to help small businesses stay afloat during this turbulent time. One such program was the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program. While this program stopped accepting new applications as of August 20, 2021, it can still be informative to learn about such SBA programs and monitor the situations should such programs reopen in the future.

The SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program

Established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act, The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program is distributing more than $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues.
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Among the life rafts the Small Business Administration (SBA) threw over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic was the Paycheck Protection Plan Loan geared to helping businesses keep their workforce employed throughout the public health crisis. Now, some businesses are still struggling and some are getting back on their feet after the tumultuous ups and downs of the past year or so. Many businesses have applied for PPP loan forgiveness as they continue to fight for the well-being of their business and its employees. Some applications for PPP loan forgiveness have been denied. While not all PPP loans will be forgiven, you may still have the opportunity to appeal denial of your PPP loan forgiveness and it can be well worth the effort.

There are many benefits to running a business from home. Think about it. Starting a business out of your home will immediately cut down on your start-up costs.
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In your business, you may contract with others to either provide or receive services. It is often a necessary part of doing business. Resist the temptation to enter into a mere oral understanding when you are involved in such dealings.
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Starting a business can be a great entrepreneurial endeavor. The ups and downs of businesses can, to a certain extent, not always be planned for. Some of the bigger downs, however, are often preventable.
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Sometimes, a business will want to conduct business matters under a secondary name, or a trade name. This is known as a DBA of “doing business as.” It is also referred to as an assumed name or a fictitious name.

We put so much into developing our businesses. We design products, systems, and specialties to help our businesses grow, succeed, and to set ourselves apart from the competition. With so much time and money that is invested into the development and fine tuning of so many aspects of our businesses, it can be very stressful to consider the possibility of our closely held secrets falling into the hands of competitors or potential competitors. Is there protection available out there to guard against this sort of thing? Read more . . .

Let’s face it, every business is likely to encounter some kind of dispute at one point or another. Competing management styles, difficult team dynamics, and other things can mean big headaches for a company even if it is otherwise thriving. Because of this, it can be important to have a plan in place to help address issues before they become out of control and jeopardize the wellbeing of the business.
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Are you considering buying into a franchise? It can be a great way to enter the business world while avoiding so many of the headaches start-up founders face. There is often built-in structure and name recognition when it comes to a franchise. There are also training opportunities and operational guidance built into the purchase.
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During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were several programs available through the Small Business Administration to help businesses that were struggling. One such program was the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Now, some of those loans may be coming due and you may be wondering whether you can apply for PPP loan forgiveness and how you can do so. One of the main attractions of the PPP loan is, after all, that it may be forgiven in full. Once forgiven, the loan becomes a kind of grant as opposed to a loan that needs to be repaid.
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A buy-sell agreement is sometimes more aptly referred to as a buyout agreement. These agreements are binding legal contracts between business co-owners that dictate when owners can sell their interest in the business as well as who is permitted to buy an owner’s business interest and the price for that particular share of the business interest. These agreements are entered into by the owners of a business in order to establish some boundaries for what will happen to an owner's share of the business upon the happening of a specified event, such as the death or disability of an owner.
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