8 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of gyms in Missouri say.
8 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 5Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC); no annual report
0 of 8 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File online through the Secretary of State’s business filing system. The articles name a registered agent with a Missouri street address. Only corporations file an annual registration report; an LLC’s record stays as filed until you amend it ($25).
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed whenever a sole proprietor, LLC or corporation trades under any name other than its legal or registered name. Missouri registers fictitious names with the Secretary of State, not the county, and the law asks for the filing within five days of starting to use the name.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the Missouri tax registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register through MyTax Missouri before the first sale; the same application opens the withholding account. The Department will not issue the retail sales tax license until the bond is in, so file the bond form with the application. The license must be displayed, and local sales taxes are collected on the same return.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Most Missouri cities license storefronts, and the city license is also where the liquor, food and other local approvals attach. Kansas City requires the license even with no receipts yet, and restaurants there also collect a 2% city food tax. Ask the city before signing the lease; many counties license only in unincorporated areas.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Missouri has no statewide building code; each city or county adopts its own, so confirm the zoning allows your use and ask which code applies before signing. A change of use needs building permits and inspections, and the occupancy permit comes before the health permit and the liquor license, both of which ask for it.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Any business selling memberships in a program of physical exercise, including a gym or a yoga or Pilates studio that sells memberships, registers before advertising or selling any contract. Contracts must be written, run no longer than 36 months and carry a three-business-day cancellation right; a club without a bond may still sell contracts of up to 36 months only when the monthly charge stays within the limit the statute sets.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 4
Workers’ compensation insurance is required once you have five or more employees, and from the first employee in the construction industry; LLC members and corporate officers count. Register for unemployment through the MyTax Missouri business registration and report each new hire within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the gyms already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a gym at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The gym check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State corporations FAQ and form LLC-1 (fee schedule); Small Business Startup Guide; RSMo 417.200 to 417.230; Secretary of State fictitious name registration (form Corp. 56) and schedule of fees; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue business registration pages (form 2643, MyTax Missouri); 12 CSR 10-104.020 (sales and use tax bonds); RSMo 144.087; Kansas City business license FAQ (forms RD-105 and RD-103); City of St. Louis graduated business license fee schedule; Secretary of State Small Business Startup Guide; Secretary of State Small Business Startup Guide (local requirements); city and county building and zoning ordinances; RSMo 407.327 (registration), 407.330 (contracts), 407.339 and 407.340 (bond); Attorney General health spa pages; Division of Employment Security tax rates page (2026 new employer rates and taxable wage base); Division of Workers’ Compensation employer insurance page; U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
8 items, in order: articles of organization (llc); no annual report, fictitious name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), missouri tax registration: retail sales tax license, employer withholding, and the sales tax bond, city or county business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 2 more.
Missouri Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Missouri Department of Revenue, Your city clerk or finance department, Your city or county planning and Missouri Attorney General’s Office, and 1 more.
With articles of organization (llc); no annual report (Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division), then fictitious name registration (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits and employer, in that order.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
