Utah · 12 min read
Utah Business, Part 1: Start in 30 Days, With the Official Steps in the Right Order
Part 1 of a weekly series: four offices, one 30-day plan. Register, get an EIN, open the accounts and apply for licenses, in the order that avoids waiting.
Dennis AlejoBusiness consultant · Project & operations manager · · 2,543 words
Utah calls itself the Beehive State. Starting a business here can feel like being a very enthusiastic bee standing outside a hive that has four different entrances, each with a different doorman and none with a sign saying which one you want. You have a great idea, a cousin who has already designed the logo and a feeling that you are "basically ready". Then you open a search engine and discover words like registered agent, withholding account, DBA and TC-69.
Take a breath. Nothing here is hard. It is just ordered, and the order is the whole secret. That is why this first part of the series Utah business, run like a project treats starting a business exactly like what it is: a small project with a start date, an end date, tasks with owners and a few things that cannot happen until others are done.
This series runs weekly, every Tuesday, with five parts: starting, money and support, hiring, operations that scale, and growing with the region. I wrote a companion piece on where to find free help, the Utah small business resource guide. Today is about the thirty days of getting set up, with the official steps in the right order.
One note before we begin. I am a project manager, not a lawyer or an accountant. This is a planning guide, not legal or tax advice. Wherever a rule or a fee matters, I point to the official source, and you should read it on the day you file.
Why a project, and why thirty days
Most people start a business the way they start a closet cleanup: they pull everything out and then wonder how it will all go back in. A project approach flips that. You decide the goal and the date first, then work backward.
For a simple business, thirty days is a reasonable window to go from "I am doing this" to "I can legally take my first customer." It is not a promise. Some businesses need longer, especially if they need inspections or a professional license, and some are ready in a week. But a date has a wonderful effect: it turns "someday" into a calendar.
Here is the project in one sentence: in thirty days, register the business properly, open the accounts it needs, get the licenses it requires and be ready to serve the first customer without breaking a rule. Everything below is a task that serves that sentence.
The four doors
The reason this feels confusing is that you are dealing with four separate offices that do not share a front desk.
Door 1: the state's business registry. In Utah, entity filings such as a limited liability company or a corporation, and business names, go through the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, which is part of the Utah Department of Commerce. This is where you check whether a name is available and register the business itself.
Door 2: the IRS. The federal government issues the Employer Identification Number, usually called the EIN, a nine-digit number that identifies your business for tax purposes. You will need it for a business bank account and for taxes.
Door 3: the Utah State Tax Commission. The Commission handles state tax accounts. If you sell goods or services that are taxable, or if you will pay employees, you may need to register for certain tax accounts. This is done online, through the Commission's Taxpayer Access Point, called TAP. The older OneStop Business Registration system was retired in September 2024, so be careful with old instructions that still mention it.
Door 4: your city or county. Local governments run their own business licensing. Many cities require a license to operate within their limits, and that can involve reviews of zoning, building and fire safety. Salt Lake City, for example, says that anyone doing business in the city, permanently or temporarily, must hold a valid business license, and that commercial licenses are reviewed for zoning, building and fire safety. Other cities and counties have their own offices and their own steps.
Two more doors appear only for some businesses:
- The professional or occupational license. Certain trades and professions need a state license, handled by the Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), which offers a tool to verify a license and a page to apply for one.
- Workforce, labor and insurance. The moment you have employees, there are employer duties. The Utah Labor Commission says that, with few exceptions, employers must provide workers' compensation coverage. The Department of Workforce Services handles employer matters such as unemployment insurance and new hire reporting.
Four doors, two optional doors. Now we can plan.
The 30-day plan, week by week
Treat each line as a task with an owner (you, a lawyer, an accountant) and a date. The tool at the end of the article turns these steps into dates once you choose your opening day.
Week 1: decide and ask
Day 1 to 3: write a one-page charter. What you will sell, to whom, at what price roughly, and how you will know that it is working after ninety days. It is the same page I describe in the project charter guide and in how to start a consulting business. If you cannot say it on one page, you are not ready to file anything.
Day 3 to 5: book your free adviser. The Utah Small Business Development Center and SCORE both offer free advising. Ask them to walk through your order of steps. I describe them in the resource guide. Bring the one-page charter.
Day 5 to 8: talk to a lawyer and an accountant. Ask two questions: which structure fits my situation (sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation or something else), and what taxes will I face? A one-hour conversation can save months. This is where you settle things like who owns what if you have partners, and what a business structure means for your personal liability. I cannot answer that for you, and neither can an online checklist.
Week 2: register
Day 8 to 10: check the name. The Division of Corporations offers a business entity search to see if a name is available. Some name conflicts need a manual review, which the Division says takes 5 to 7 business days, and the same is true for paper filings and filings that need attachments. This is your first long wait, so start it early and keep working while you wait.
Day 10 to 14: file the entity (if you are forming one). If you chose an LLC or a corporation, you file with the Division. The Division says most online filings are processed immediately. Fees are set by the Division, are not refundable and are listed on its fee schedule, so read the current one rather than trust a number in any article, including mine. Note that registered entities also need to file an annual renewal. Put the date on your calendar the day you file, because forgetting is the quietest way to get into trouble.
Day 12 to 14: get your EIN. Apply on the IRS website. The IRS says an EIN is free, and the online tool issues it immediately if the application is approved. You need the Social Security number or ITIN of the "responsible party", and you apply during the IRS's published hours (Eastern time, so a Utah evening can be too late). If a website offers to get you an EIN for a fee, close the tab. The IRS says you never have to pay a fee for one.
Week 3: open the accounts and apply for the licenses
Day 15 to 17: open a business bank account. Most banks ask for your formation documents and your EIN. Keep business money separate from personal money from the first day. It will make your accountant happier and your taxes less exciting.
Day 15 to 18: register for state tax accounts. If you sell taxable goods or services or will pay employees, you may need accounts with the Utah State Tax Commission, and it handles registration online through TAP. Ask your accountant which accounts apply to your business, because the answer depends on what you sell and how.
Day 16 to 20: apply for your city or county license. Go to the website of the city where you will operate and search for business licensing. Find out what it asks for, what inspections it requires and how long it takes. Salt Lake City, for instance, says a business must comply with the relevant state agency and the Salt Lake Valley Health Department if it prepares food or is regulated by the state. Book inspections early: an inspector's calendar is not under your control.
Day 16 to 20: check for professional licenses. If your trade or profession is licensed by the state, use the DOPL tools to verify what you need and to apply. Do this before you tell customers you are open. A license is not a nice-to-have in a licensed trade.
Week 4: protect, set up and rehearse
Day 20 to 24: insurance. Ask an insurance professional what a business like yours typically needs, such as liability coverage and property coverage. If you will have employees, workers' compensation coverage is generally required in Utah, and the Labor Commission explains the rules. Ask for quotes in writing and compare them side by side.
Day 22 to 25: set up the basics. Bookkeeping, invoicing, a way to take payments, a simple customer list and a place to keep every certificate, receipt and filing. A shared folder with clear names is enough. The same folder will save you in an audit or a dispute.
Day 24 to 27: choose three numbers. What will you track every week for the first ninety days? Leads, orders or hours booked, and cash in the bank is a classic trio. I describe the idea in data-driven project management and in the 90-day sprint.
Day 28: the dress rehearsal. Pretend to be a customer. Place an order. Pay an invoice. Call your phone number. Read your own website with fresh eyes. The mistakes you catch on day 28 are free. On day 31 they are reviews.
Day 30: open. Unlock the door, as in the photograph at the top of the article. Take a picture, because you will want it later.
The risks that appear on almost every start
Every project has a risk register, even a tiny one. Here are the risks I would put on the first page of any Utah start.
- A name that is taken or close to one. Mitigation: check the registry first and have two backup names.
- A wait on a review or an inspection. Mitigation: apply early, ask for typical timelines and do not schedule the grand opening until the last approval is in hand.
- Mixing money. Mitigation: separate accounts from the first day.
- An annual filing you forget. Mitigation: a calendar reminder the day you file.
- A professional license you did not know you needed. Mitigation: check with the licensing division before you advertise.
- Hiring before you are ready. Mitigation: learn the employer duties before the first payroll. Part 3 of this series is about hiring.
- Doing it alone. Mitigation: use the free advisers. They exist to answer the questions you are embarrassed to ask. For a deeper dive, my risk register guide gives you a format to keep.
A few small stories (illustrative)
These examples are invented to show how the plan works. They are not real clients.
The food truck dreamer. She wants to sell tacos from a truck. Her critical path is not the paperwork. It is the food and health reviews, which have their own queue. She filed her entity and EIN in week two, but applied for the health-related approvals first, because that waiting time was the longest in the plan. She spent the waiting time testing recipes and finding parking spots. Her opening day moved by a week, and she had planned for it.
The solo consultant. He works from a spare room and sells services. His list is short: a one-page charter, an adviser, an LLC, an EIN, a bank account, a state tax check with his accountant and a look at his city's licensing rules. Eleven tasks, none of them hard. He finished in nineteen days and used the rest of the time to write down the first ten people he wanted to talk to.
The shop in a strip mall. A couple opens a small retail shop. Their longest task is the lease and the build-out, not the registration, which is why they treated the thirty days as a construction project with a schedule. The city license waited on an inspection. They used a three-week look-ahead to keep the painter, the sign installer and the inspector from colliding.
What this plan does not cover
A few honest limits, so you do not read a blog post as a guarantee.
- It does not tell you which business structure to pick. That depends on your situation, and it is a job for a lawyer and an accountant.
- It does not list fees. They change, and the official pages are the only place to trust.
- It does not cover every industry. Alcohol, childcare, food, health care, real estate, construction and many trades have extra rules. If your business is in one of them, start with the licensing agency of that industry.
- It does not cover immigration questions. If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, ask an immigration attorney before you decide on a structure or a role.
If you are unsure where to look, start from the state's startup website, which has a page about starting a business and a resource list, and from the Utah Department of Commerce. The page startup.utah.gov is the state's own front door.
Make your own dates
Choose the day you want to open. The tool below counts backward and shows the sample dates for each task in the plan. Adjust any step that does not apply to you, and keep the dates in a calendar you actually look at.
What to do this week
Write your one-page charter. Book your free adviser. Check one name in the registry. That is it. Three small tasks, and your thirty days have started. Then come back next Tuesday for Part 2, Money and support: SBDC, SBA and local resources. The series page lists every part, and the publishing calendar shows the dates.
If you would like help turning your idea into a dated plan, with a clear owner for every task, that is the kind of work I do in startup advisory and through Project Focus. I also wrote a page for owners based here, business consultant in Utah. You can write to me, try the free diagnostic or download a template from the toolkit.
Which of the four doors (the state registry, the IRS, the Tax Commission or your city) confuses you the most? Tell me in the comments, and your question might become a part of this series.
Information only, checked against official pages on October 27, 2026. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Rules, fees and deadlines change: confirm every step with the official source or a licensed professional before acting.
Frequently asked questions
What are the first steps to start a business in Utah?
Decide what you will sell and write it on one page, talk with a free adviser such as the Utah SBDC or SCORE, and ask a lawyer and an accountant which business structure fits. Then check name availability with the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, file the entity if you are forming one, get an EIN from the IRS, and register with the Utah State Tax Commission and your city or county as needed.
Is there a single business license in Utah?
No. Entity registration happens through the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, tax accounts through the Utah State Tax Commission, business licenses through your city or county, and professional licenses through the Division of Professional Licensing. Which of these you need depends on your structure, your location and your trade.
How much does an EIN cost?
Nothing. The IRS says you never have to pay a fee for an Employer Identification Number, and the online application issues the number immediately if it is approved. Websites that charge for this service are not required, so apply directly on the IRS website.
How long does it take to register a business in Utah?
Many online filings with the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code are processed immediately, but name conflicts, paper filings and filings that need attachments go through a manual review that the Division says takes 5 to 7 business days. Local licenses and inspections can take longer, so start those early.
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