Houston wealth management adviser shares strategies for starting a successful business

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Here's what this wealth management adviser wants you to know before you start your business. Photo via Getty Images

May is Small Business Appreciation month and as a Houstonian, small business owner and wealth management advisor, I understand firsthand the questions, considerations and challenges involved with navigating the nuanced world of small business ventures.

In 2005, I started RSF Wealth Management with my business partner. RSF Wealth Management is a Houston-based firm of Northwestern Mutual focused on comprehensive, collaborative and educational financial planning.

Understanding that every startup is different, I believe there are a few key strategies to keep in mind when starting a business.

1. Create a comprehensive business plan

Any lucrative, viable business has to start with a good plan that outlines what you will need to grow revenue and thrive long-term. Creating this strategic business outline will serve as a roadmap for your beginning years as well as a marketing tool when finding investors. The business plan should highlight what your outlook is for the next five years, how you will leverage your product to make profit, and how much money you will need to achieve and maintain financial success—no matter what scenario may come your way.

2. Establish a solid financial foundation

As most startup businesses take up to five years to turn over profit, it is important to receive funding or set aside extra cash, even if it’s a small amount. My advice to small business owners is to make sure you have at least six months to a years’ worth of liquidity before starting a business venture. Emergency savings funds and other cash reserves can help to cover the operational and overhead costs to startups. If you don’t have enough in your personal savings or cash reserves, there are loan options for small businesses, including the paycheck protection program loan, economic injury disaster loan, traditional SBA 7(A) loan and SBA express bridge loan.

3. Verify everything is documented

Documenting everything is crucial when building the foundation of your business for both legal and tax purposes. Not only will this help if something goes wrong with your business, but it will also keep formal structure between you and your business partner. All startups should complete a buy-sell agreement, which details how your partners’ share will be obtained by the remaining partners in case of their death or leave. I also recommend filing a morality clause contract, which requires all employees to comply to behavioral standards during the life of their contract.

4. Review your insurance and tax options

Small business owners should be regularly reviewing their tax and insurance options to ensure they are updated to reflect changing business needs. For instance, the SECURE Act 2.0 tax credit is a new incentive designed to make it easy and affordable for small businesses to offer employer-sponsored retirement plans. The new legislation allows increased tax credits to small businesses to encourage plan sponsorship and improve retirement readiness.

Additionally, business insurance for startups can help cover costs associated with property damage or liability claims. For example, disability overhead expense insurance provides your business with money to pay for everyday operational expenses in the event you’re unable to work due to an illness or injury. Generally, if you provide coverage for employees and cover the premium, you will be able to deduct those costs as a business expense.

Despite the difficulties of making the jump from employee to entrepreneur, 5 million new businesses were created in 2022 according to a study by the US Census Bureau. New businesses are being created every day and with the excitement of starting a new business also comes the complexities and challenges associated with a new business venture.

Financial advisors and industry experts can help you create a plan, understand what loan option is right for you and how much you will need to have in cash reserves to ensure you can securely and stably run your new business. No matter the size or operation of your business, financial advisors can help document your finances and connect you with the right attorney or accountant to set you up for long-term success.

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Keith Rollins is a wealth management advisor with Northwestern Mutual and a founding partner of RSF Wealth Management.

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Houston university to launch artificial intelligence major, one of first in nation

BS in AI

Rice University announced this month that it plans to introduce a Bachelor of Science in AI in the fall 2025 semester.

The new degree program will be part of the university's department of computer science in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and is one of only a few like it in the country. It aims to focus on "responsible and interdisciplinary approaches to AI," according to a news release from the university.

“We are in a moment of rapid transformation driven by AI, and Rice is committed to preparing students not just to participate in that future but to shape it responsibly,” Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in the release. “This new major builds on our strengths in computing and education and is a vital part of our broader vision to lead in ethical AI and deliver real-world solutions across health, sustainability and resilient communities.”

John Greiner, an assistant teaching professor of computer science in Rice's online Master of Computer Science program, will serve as the new program's director. Vicente Ordóñez-Román, an associate professor of computer science, was also instrumental in developing and approving the new major.

Until now, Rice students could study AI through elective courses and an advanced degree. The new bachelor's degree program opens up deeper learning opportunities to undergrads by blending traditional engineering and math requirements with other courses on ethics and philosophy as they relate to AI.

“With the major, we’re really setting out a curriculum that makes sense as a whole,” Greiner said in the release. “We are not simply taking a collection of courses that have been created already and putting a new wrapper around them. We’re actually creating a brand new curriculum. Most of the required courses are brand new courses designed for this major.”

Students in the program will also benefit from resources through Rice’s growing AI ecosystem, like the Ken Kennedy Institute, which focuses on AI solutions and ethical AI. The university also opened its new AI-focused "innovation factory," Rice Nexus, earlier this year.

“We have been building expertise in artificial intelligence,” Ordóñez-Román added in the release. “There are people working here on natural language processing, information retrieval systems for machine learning, more theoretical machine learning, quantum machine learning. We have a lot of expertise in these areas, and I think we’re trying to leverage that strength we’re building.”

Houston biomanufacturing accelerator adds pilot plant to support scale-ups

new digs

Houston accelerator BioWell announced this month that it has taken over operations of Texas BioTechnology’s pilot plant in Richmond, Texas.

The 33,000-square-foot facility is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. and features molecular biology labs, advanced automation, fermentation equipment and 16 dedicated benches for early-stage industrial biomanufacturing companies, according to a release from the company. It will allow BioWell to offer on-site education, workforce development, and lab training for students and workers.

BioWell and its founding company, First Bight Ventures, report that the facility should help address the industry's "scale-up bottleneck due to limited pilot- and demonstration-scale infrastructure" in the U.S.

"As a Houston-based accelerator dedicated exclusively to early-stage biomanufacturing startups, partnering with this facility was a natural and highly strategic decision for us. The site is fully operational and offers a strong platform to support biomanufacturing companies, industry leaders, and research institutions, providing critical expertise and infrastructure across a broad range of biotechnology production processes,” Veronica Breckenridge, founder of First Bight Ventures and BioWell, said in a news release.

First Bight Ventures shares that the partnership with the facility will also allow it to better support its portfolio companies and make them more attractive to future investors.

BioWell will host an open house and tours of the fermentation and lab spaces and an overview of current bioindustrial projects Wednesday, May 28, at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. RSVPs are required.

BioWell was originally funded by a $700,000 U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale grant and launched as a virtual accelerator for bioindustrial startups. Listen to an interview with Carlos Estrada, head of venture acceleration at BioWell, here.

Ultra-fast EV charging bays coming to Waffle House locations in Texas and beyond

power breakfast

Scattered, smothered and ... charged?

Starting next year, EV drivers can connect to ultra-fast charging stations at select Waffle House locations throughout Texas, courtesy of bp pulse.

The EV arm of British energy giant bp announced a strategic partnership with the all-day breakfast chain this week. The company aims to deploy a network of 400kW DC fast chargers and a mix of CCS and NACS connectors at Waffle House locations in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and other restaurants in the South.

Each Waffle House site will feature six ultra-fast EV charging bays, allowing drivers to "(enjoy) Waffle House’s 24/7 amenities," the announcement reads.

“Adding an iconic landmark like Waffle House to our growing portfolio of EV charging sites is such an exciting opportunity. As an integrated energy company, bp is committed to providing efficient solutions like ultra-fast charging to support our customers’ mobility needs," Sujay Sharma, CEO of bp pulse U.S., said in a news release. "We’re building a robust network of ultra-fast chargers across the country, and this is another example of third-party collaborations enabling access to charging co-located with convenient amenities for EV drivers.”

The news comes as bp pulse continues to grow its charging network in Texas.

The company debuted its new high-speed electric vehicle charging site, known as the Gigahub, at the bp America headquarters in Houston last year. In partnership with Hertz Electrifies Houston, it also previously announced plans to install a new EV fast-charging hub at Hobby Airport. In a recent partnership with Simon Malls, bp also shared plans to install EV charging Gigahubs at The Galleria and Katy Mills Mall.

bp has previously reported that it plans to invest $1 billion in EV charging infrastructure by 2030, with $500 million invested by the end of 2025.

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A version of this article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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