Becoming Houston business owner may be getting easier
HOUSTON - Starting a business can be tough, but if that’s your goal Houstonians are in the right place for it.
Houston is known for being entrepreneurial friendly and Texas is ranked one of the best states for business. With the state now putting information at our fingertips, Texas is said to be getting even better for those who hope to have their own company.
The doors at Milk Mustache cookie shop on Fountain View are swinging open for business for the first time ever after the COVID pandemic cut short Tracy Jones’ previous company. "I actually was just making cookies just simply as a distraction. I’m watching my other business literally crumble. It was devastating," Jones explains.
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For business hopefuls just like Jones, the Governor’s Texas Economic Development office has started a new website full of tips such as how and why to write a business plan and links to helpful webinars.
"Now Texas has made it very easy to go online and to begin the process of figuring out where do I start," says Dave Cook Executive Director of the University of Houston's Wolff (Entrepreneur) Center.
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Jones says she overcame plenty of obstacles by going online. "It’s so tremendously valuable and so important," Jones adds.
"In 2021, this country, because of COVID had an explosion of people being at home and wanting to start businesses," Cook explains.
In fact, more than 4 million businesses nationwide were started last year, "And in Harris County, there were 82,500 businesses started, more than any other area within Texas," Cook adds, and he says Texas is dedicating these resources because "small businesses are the engine of both economic development and employment".
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Cook heads the University of Houston’s number-one ranked Wolff Entrepreneurship Center where hundreds of business professionals work one on one with students. "To help them start businesses, to mentor them, to coach them and there is not another place on the face of the earth where you have that kind of energy via community coming in to help a local entrepreneurship program," says Cook.
If you hope to have your own Milk Mustache success story you may want to stop by the new state website here. "And follow your dreams," smiles Jones.
Texas is said to be so good for businesses because of state regulations, taxes, cost of living, and diversity.