Hey all. So I've been reading a bunch on this, and I think that I have most of it figured out but wanted to prod the brain trust. I'm in the planning stages of starting a gunsmithing business, as I'm asked constantly to take on work from people locally and across state lines. I've also recently been contacted by people wanting to do collaborative gun builds based on my Instagram posts. I've quasi-started this multiple times, but now I'm in a position with my full-time job to actually pursue it. Just looking for any advise regarding potential "gotchas" that I might encounter. I'm not against hiring a lawyer for this, but at the same time I see so many people saying that it's really not needed that it gives me pause. I've also considered LegalZoom and the like for establishing everything, but again, a lot of people say that it's not necessary. From reading the Missouri state business site, it doesn't seem necessary, but also don't want to miss anything.

General info:

-I'm outside Jefferson City limits in Cole county (verified on their zoning map, and a guy used to run a gun shop in his garage down the street years ago)
-Will be ran out of my house (my garage has been turned into a machine shop for the last 10 years)
-This will be a gunsmithing business only. I do not plan to have any public foot traffic at all if I can help it, i.e. no FFL transfers or in-person sales outside maybe ones or two every now and then as a situation dictates. Any visits by appointment only
-I do plan on getting an SOT to make/repair NFA items

Anyone that's done this before or close to it I'd love to hear your feedback.

The LLC is the easiest part. A no brainer really. You can set it up in a few minutes on the Secretary of State's website: https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/

For any kind of business, my suggestion is to slow down and write a business plan . . . a real business plan. There's a tutorial on the Small Business Administration's website: https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan

Writing a real/useful business plan is a total pain in the ass, but doing it will help you avoid a lot of problems and fine tune your idea. Write it as if you need to approach a lender for financing, even if you don't. The idea is to build a rock solid case for your business' potential and show that you've done your homework. It should cover EVERYTHING. What you'll do, how you'll make money, your costs, your projected return, it will discuss your strengths and weaknesses, justify your reason for existing, identify your customers and explain why they will choose you, analysis your competition and show how you plan to best them, it will identify challenges and potential pitfalls. It will also include detail projections of start up cost, ongoing costs, expected sales, profits, etc. Figure somewhere between 50-100 pages at minimum. I also strongly suggest you consider an exit plan as part of a business plan.

Hey thanks. I actually started on that SBA site with those example business plans. Still working on them, but yes, it's a pain.

Good luck! If you do get up & running let me know. I've got some work I need done that I'm not setup to do myself and you're one of the few people I've dealt with that I consider to be more than just competent.

Will do. Spoke with a lady from the county collector's office that was super nice and walked me through some stuff. Even gave some examples from some other home-based FFLs that have opened recently, which was neat.

I have a few projects I can give you when you're ready.  Relatively easy I assure you.