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Joseph F. Rice School of Law

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Community & Business Resources

Whether you are starting a new venture or seeking to preserve an existing one, there are important legal and business planning issues that you should consider.

Key Issues for Family & Small Businesses

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No one lives forever. When there is a leadership transition, whether because of death, incapacity, or retirement, many businesses fail. Often, this consequence could have been avoided with foresight and planning. Whether the goal is to sell to employees or an external buyer or to transfer control to a new generation of family owners, business owners cannot simply wait and expect that things will work out for the best. Carefully considered and regularly updated succession planning is a crucial component of family business resilience.

Students
In a family business, each stakeholder occupies one or more of the following three roles: family member, business owner, and business employee or manager. Some participants occupy all three roles simultaneously; others may be family owners but not managers. The governance challenge is managing the expectations of family stakeholders in different positions of authority and risk taking. Generic governance best practices need to be adapted to fit the needs of the business. For example, some family businesses create a separate family advisory board to communicate with family stakeholders.

Sharp & Sharp Farm
Tax rules and other regulations have increased in complexity, making it a challenge for well-intentioned business owners to keep track of what is necessary. Many regulations serve essential purposes, including public safety and worker protection, so it is crucial to ensure that businesses are well informed and have the resources they need to meet their compliance obligations.

Carrons Funeral Home
Every South Carolina family and small business should identify key vulnerabilities and make adjustments to enhance its resilience to disaster. This planning should include the safety and wellbeing of employees, data security, and the ability to overcome business disruptions. The resilience of locally owned businesses is integral to the resilience of their communities.

Burns Studio owners
Especially when co-owners are family members, it can be hard to anticipate the possibility of serious disagreements. Experienced lawyers can help navigate these disputes when they arise to preserve business value and, if possible, to avoid further rupturing of family relationships.

Ben Means and member of the community
For many family and small businesses, especially those that are located in rural communities, it can be hard to find affordable legal and accounting services or to find a bank willing to extend credit. These challenges can be exacerbated for business owners who serve historically underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. By partnering with the S.C. Bar and with organizations including the S.C. Small Business Development Center, SCORE, and S.C. Competes, the Family and Small Business Program is working to address the gap in access to financial and legal support.

Get Help

Please contact us for specific referrals. We will be glad to connect you with lawyers, accountants, community banks, and other service providers. Below, you will find links to organizations that work with small and family businesses, as well as to information about choice of entity, business succession, licensing, dispute resolution, and disaster planning. 

​​The SCORE Midlands Chapter, headquartered in Columbia, SC with satellite (branch) locations.

SCORE volunteers are successful real-world business professionals who volunteer thousands of hours to help existing and startup businesses succeed. They are experts 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.

Every year thousands of small business owners turn to the SC SBDC for private consulting. Entrepreneurs in all areas of business and industry have found success with the assistance of their local Small Business Development Center. 

SCBOS is intended to be a one-stop business resource guide to help businesses electronically meet their duties and requirements in South Carolina.

The S.C. Department of Commerce invites inquiries from entrepreneurs interested in starting new businesses and from owners of existing businesses who need growth support.

The Department also provides resources for disaster planning and recovery: A large-scale disaster anywhere in the state could disrupt normal operations and affect employees of any business. The South Carolina Department of Commerce is here to assist business and industry in disaster preparedness, response, mitigation and recovery from natural or man-made disasters.

The Secretary of State’s Office administers corporate filings for corporations, nonprofit corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships.

As a public resource, the S.C. Bar has provided general overviews of unincorporated businesses and corporations.

A Leader in Small Business Lending. For more than 64 years, Business Development Corporation (BDC) has been financing small businesses in South Carolina, leading to the creation of thousands of new jobs for the citizens of the Palmetto State. Since 1958, BDC and its associate company, Certified Development Corporation (CDC), have approved more than 3,039 loans totaling in excess of $1.84 billion, making them leaders in economic development lending and job creation in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs has information concerning data privacy in general and what the law requires of small businesses in the event of a breach.

The Independent Banks of South Carolina provides trade-specific resources for family and small businesses.

SC Competes promotes economic development through actionable research, support of industry clusters, and education and workforce development. 

Our Mobile Law Office

Palmetto LEADER bus

Palmetto LEADER

We understand the importance of outreach, and we are taking our program on the road to smaller South Carolina communities that cannot easily reach us. The Palmetto LEADER is a custom-built bus that includes two private offices, a waiting area, and technology that the law school uses to deliver on-site services such as drafting wills, reviewing legal documents, and providing legal counsel to those who are otherwise unable to afford assistance. To our knowledge, it is the only mobile law office operated by a law school in the United States.

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