1. Write a Business Plan – A written plan or summary can be a guide as you start or run your business. It allows you to put your ideas down on paper, challenges you to think through the big picture, and provides direction for moving forward. Your plan should continue to grow and expand as your company does.  To get started on your business plan, please consider attending our Launch U Informational seminar.
2. Become an OzSBI Client – Starting and running a business requires a lot of your time and energy. If you have a business idea or are already in business, let OzSBI help you to the next level of success. You can get help preparing a business plan and securing financing to expand or relocate your business
3. Finance Your Business
   1. OzSBI Microloan Fund – OzSBI has a revolving loan fund from which it can make loans of up to $50,000. This can be used as a secondary loan (gap financing) to supplement a bank loan or other start-up capital. While OzSBI reviews each loan application carefully, we are less stringent in our requirements than traditional banks. New loans through our OzSBI Microloan Fund are currently on hold while we allow it to recapitalize; however, we are working with partner microlenders with similar requirements and lending options to ensure that our clients continue to have access to high quality microloan options.
   2. U.S. Small Business Administration – SBA offers a variety of small business loan programs for very specific purposes.  
   3. New Growth Capital – New Growth Capital offers a START HERE Revolving Loan Fund to startup and existing businesses that are unable to find traditional financing.
4. Determine Your Legal Structure – When beginning a business, you must decide what form of business entity to establish. The form of business you choose will have legal and tax implications, so choosing the correct form is important. 
5. Register Your Business Name – If you choose to name your business anything other than your own personal name then you’ll need to register it with the appropriate authorities. This process is known as registering your “Doing Business As” name and requires you to create and register a fictitious name with the Missouri Secretary of State 
6. Get Your Tax ID Number – An Employer Identification Number (EIN), also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, a nine-digit number that IRS assigns in the following format: XX-XXXXXXX. It is used to identify the tax accounts of employers and certain others who have no employees.
7. Register for State and Local Taxes
   1. State of Missouri Taxes – Your tax requirement depends on the legal structure of your business. For example, if your business is a Limited Liability Company (LLC), the LLC gets taxed separately from the owners, while sole proprietors report their personal and business income taxes using the same form.
      1. Business Tax Registration 
      2. General Tax Information and Forms
      3. Workers’ Compensation Insurance
      4. Unemployment Insurance Tax
   2. For local tax obligations, contact the City Hall or Chamber of Commerce in your area.
8. Obtain Business License and Permits – Federal and state governments require business owners to obtain certain license and permits to be legally operating business. Make sure you have all the necessary permits.

Proposition A – What Employers Need to Know

In November 2024, Missouri voters chose to support Proposition A, a ballot measure that will increase Missouri’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. Additionally, Proposition A requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. Important note: HB 567 was passed and became effective on August 28, 2025. It repealed the paid sick time requirements and inflation-based adjustments to minimum wage.

• The minimum wage will increase to $13.75 per hour on January 1, 2025. The minimum wage will continue increasing $1.25 per hour each year until 2026, when it will be $15.00 per hour.
• The minimum wage will be adjusted based on changes in the Consumer Price Index each January beginning in 2027. Repealed by HB 567
• Proposition A requires all employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Repealed by HB 567
• For businesses with more than 15 employees, employees may use up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year. For businesses with less than 15 employees, employees may use up to 40 hours per year.
• Employees will start accruing paid sick time on May 1, 2025, and employers must provide written notice of the paid sick time by April 15, 2025. Repealed by HB 567
• More information about Proposition A, including a poster about paid sick time and a notice for employees can be found on the Missouri Department of Labor website.

Beneficial Ownership Information Report

Effective March 25, 2025 all entities created in the United States — including those previously known as “domestic reporting companies” — and their beneficial owners are now exempt from the requirement to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

FinCEN published an interim final rule on March 26, 2025, that revised the definition of “reporting company” in its regulations implementing the CTA to mean only those entities formed under the law of a foreign country that have registered to do business in any U.S. State or tribal jurisdiction by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office (formerly known as “foreign reporting companies”). FinCEN also formally exempted entities previously known as “domestic reporting companies” from the CTA’s reporting requirements.

Reporting companies now also do not need to report the BOI of any U.S. persons, and U.S. persons are exempt from having to provide BOI with respect to any reporting company for which they are a beneficial owner.

Foreign entities that meet the new definition of a “reporting company” and do not qualify for an exemption from the reporting requirements are required to file with FinCEN under new deadlines:

• Reporting companies registered to do business in the United States before March 26, 2025, must file BOI reports by April 25, 2025.
• Reporting companies registered to do business in the United States on or after March 26, 2025, have 30 calendar days to file an initial BOI report after receiving notice that their registration is effective.
• More information about the Beneficial Ownership Information Report and who must file it can be found in the Small Entity Compliance Guide published by FinCEN.