Port Aransas is the only established town on Mustang Island, with water on every side. Apply in about five minutes; funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →Port Aransas, in Nueces County, is the only established town on Mustang Island, which lies north of Padre Island and is one of the longest barrier islands along the Texas coast. The city is 180 miles southeast of San Antonio and had 2,904 residents at the 2020 census. It is surrounded by Corpus Christi Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Lydia Ann Ship Channel and the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. Corpus Christi, Robstown and Aransas Pass are the nearby larger places.
A business on an island has fewer options when something goes wrong. Supplies arrive by one set of routes. Staff commute along the same few roads. A storm warning can mean closing, securing and leaving. The hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and an island town plans around it.
For hospitality and marine businesses, the year splits into a busy stretch and a thin one. Restaurants, rentals, charter operators and boat services each earn most of their money in part of the year, then carry the costs of the whole year.
| Business | Money out before busy period | Risk during season |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels and motels | Repairs, linens, furnishings, marketing | A closure when occupancy is highest |
| Marine and boat services | Parts, dock and yard costs, tools, labor | Weather that stops work for days |
| Restaurants and shops | Inventory, seasonal staff | Slow weeks that follow a closure |
For illustration only, not our terms or a typical outcome: a small boat-service company closes for five days around a storm. Payroll, insurance and the yard lease continue. When it reopens, it also has a backlog of customer work and a need to replace $15,000 of damaged equipment. Cash that arrives from the first jobs back will cover some of it. The gap is the first two or three weeks.
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is a not-for-profit insurer of windstorm and hail coverage for property owners who cannot get it in the regular market. Whether it applies to your property is a question for an insurance agent. For cash-flow planning, remember that claims take time and bills do not wait.
Seasonal staff on an island have to find housing and transport, and employers often help. Hiring, training and scheduling extra people before the busy stretch is a cost paid upfront, in wages that begin before the added revenue does. Owners who plan staffing as a budget line, not as a reaction, usually enter the season steadier. If the plan needs a bridge to cover the weeks before revenue builds, working capital is one way to provide it.
Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000, with a five-minute application and funding in as little as 24 hours. Sole proprietors can apply. Read about Nueces County and the Coastal Bend, or apply now.
Corpus Christi Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Lydia Ann Ship Channel and the Corpus Christi Ship Channel.
June 1 to November 30.
Yes. Seasonal operators apply, and the planning question is how you will carry costs through slow weeks.
A not-for-profit insurer of windstorm and hail coverage for property owners who cannot get it in the regular market.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →It takes about two minutes and it will not affect your credit score.
No obligation • No impact to your credit score
