How to Start a Barbershop in Minnesota: Board of Barber Examiners Rules and the 1,500-Hour Course

Opening a barbershop in Minnesota runs on two tracks at once. The people who cut hair need a barber license from the Board of Barber Examiners. The business needs a registered shop, a legal name or entity, a tax setup, and local permission to operate at a specific address. Most first-time owners assume the first track covers the second. It does not. This guide walks through both tracks in the order we would work them, using the fees in the state schedule and flagging anything you need to confirm before you file.

This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. For a lease, a partnership, a sale, or any question about employees or ownership, talk with a Minnesota attorney and a certified public accountant before you commit money.

Start with the right expectation: Minnesota has no general business license

Minnesota does not issue a general statewide business license. Licensing is handled by trade or activity, and barbering has its own regulator. The Board of Barber Examiners is separate from the cosmetology board and operates under Minnesota Statutes chapter 154. Two common steps are often mistaken for a license, and they are not one. Filing a business entity or name with the Secretary of State is a filing. Registering with the Department of Revenue gets you a tax ID and, before you make taxable sales, a sales and use tax account. Neither one allows you to cut hair.

The state's central lookup is License Minnesota at mn.gov/elicense. Use it to browse licenses by topic, agency or the A to Z index before you assume the barber board is the only approval you need.

Materials and documents to gather first

Gather these before you file anything. Missing one document is the most common reason a timeline slips.

• A transcript or school certificate from a barber program showing at least 1,500 hours of instruction
• Government-issued photo identification and the identity and background information the board's application asks for, using the current forms
• A business name you have searched in the Secretary of State's business search at mblsportal.sos.mn.gov/Business/Search
• Articles of Organization if you form a limited liability company ($155 online or in person, $135 by mail)
• A certificate of assumed name if you will operate under a name other than your legal name or the LLC name ($50 online or in person, $30 by mail)
• A Minnesota street address for the shop, a signed lease or purchase agreement, and written confirmation from your city or township that the address allows a barbershop
• A Minnesota Tax ID and sales and use tax account from the Department of Revenue
• Enough cash to cover every fee in the table below, plus your living costs during school and the months before the shop opens

Step 1: Confirm the Board of Barber Examiners fee schedule

Barber fees are set in Minn. Stat. 154.003. A 2026 change under 2026 Laws chapter 119 also affects the exam and initial registration figures, so confirm which number applies on the day you apply. The figures from the statute schedule are below.

Item	Fee
Registered barber examination and certificate	$85 under the statute schedule. 2026 Laws chapter 119 changes this to an $80 practical exam and an $80 initial registration. Examinees pay any outside exam provider separately. Confirm the current figure with the board.
Barber registration renewal	$80
Initial barbershop registration	$85
Barbershop renewal	$85
Barbershop restoration	$105
Change of ownership or location	$55
Student permit	$45
Barber instructor examination and certificate	$180

Check the board for the current fee schedule before you file. Fee amounts in a blog post, a school brochure or an older forum thread may be out of date, and the 2026 change is exactly the kind of update those sources miss.

Step 2: Complete a barber program of at least 1,500 hours

Minnesota requires barber school to provide at least 1,500 hours of instruction (Minn. Stat. 154.07). Treat that number as the floor for the program, not a target. When you compare schools, ask these questions and get the answers in writing:

1. Does the program total at least 1,500 hours, and how are those hours counted?
2. Is the school recognized for licensing purposes by the Board of Barber Examiners?
3. How and when do you apply for the student permit ($45), and does the school handle that paperwork?
4. What does the school charge for tuition, supplies and the exam, and is any of it refundable if you withdraw?

Keep your hour logs, attendance records and final transcript. The board will want proof of hours, and a school that closes or changes ownership can make those records hard to reconstruct later.

Step 3: Pass the exam and register as a barber

After you finish your hours, sit for the registered barber examination and apply for your registration. The exam fee is the figure to confirm, because the 2026 change split it into an $80 practical exam and an $80 initial registration. If you plan to take the exam through an outside provider, pay that provider separately as well. Once registered, you will renew your registration for $80. Ask the board for the renewal date that applies to you and mark it on your calendar when you receive the certificate.

You cannot work as a barber in a shop until your registration is in place, so plan the shop opening around your registration date, not the other way around.

Step 4: Choose the business structure that fits the shop

Most barbershops are run as a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company or a corporation. The choice affects your taxes, your personal liability and how much paperwork you carry every year. The filings below are for the entity; the barber registration above is separate.

Limited liability company. File Articles of Organization under Minnesota Statutes chapter 322C. The fee is $155 online or in person, which is expedited service, or $135 by mail, which is not expedited. The Secretary of State does not publish a guaranteed turnaround in business days, so do not promise a fixed opening date based on the filing. The name must include the words 'limited liability company' or the abbreviation 'LLC', may not include 'corporation' or 'incorporated' or their abbreviations, and must be distinguishable from every entity already on record in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. 322C.0108). Formation needs no newspaper publication.

Corporation. File Articles of Incorporation under chapter 302A. The filing fee is also $155. A C corporation pays the 9.8 percent corporation franchise tax. A minimum fee under Minn. Stat. 290.0922 applies to C corporations, S corporations and partnerships, and it starts at $0 and rises with the business's Minnesota property, payroll and sales. Single-member LLCs that report only on the member's individual return are exempt from that minimum fee. Confirm which fee applies to your structure with a CPA.

Tax treatment for an LLC. An LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity passes income through to its owners, who pay the individual income tax. Minnesota's individual rates are graduated, from 5.35 to 9.85 percent. An LLC that files federally as a C corporation pays the corporation franchise tax instead.

Annual renewal. Both LLCs and corporations file an Annual Renewal with the Secretary of State every year. It costs $0 when the entity is active and in good standing, and it is due December 31. Missing that date has real consequences. An LLC that misses it is terminated or revoked without further notice under Minn. Stat. 322C.0705. Reinstatement costs $65 by mail or $85 online or in person under the current Secretary of State fee schedule. Put December 31 on your calendar the day you file.

Step 5: File a certificate of assumed name if the shop uses a different name

If your shop is called something other than your legal name or your LLC name, you need a certificate of assumed name. You file it with the Minnesota Secretary of State, Business Services, for $50 online or in person or $30 by mail. Two steps are easy to miss:

• Publish the certificate. After filing, it must be published for two consecutive issues in the legal notices section of a qualified legal newspaper in the county where your principal place of business is located. Failure to publish may make the certificate invalid.
• Renew it every year. The certificate must be renewed annually, and the renewal carries no charge.

Details are on the Secretary of State's page at sos.mn.gov/business-liens/business-forms-fees/assumed-namedba.

Step 6: Register the barbershop with the Board of Barber Examiners

Barber shops register with the Board of Barber Examiners. They do not register with the cosmetology board, and no fee is due to the cosmetology board for a barbershop license. The initial shop registration is $85, and shop renewal is $85. If the shop is restored after a lapse, the restoration fee is $105. If ownership or the shop's location changes, the change fee is $55.

Ask the board what it needs to see with your application: the premises, any inspection, whether a registered barber must be present, and which owner information it wants on file. Those requirements are not set out in the fee schedule, so confirm them directly with the board rather than relying on a sample application from another shop.

Step 7: Register for taxes before you sell anything

Register with the Minnesota Department of Revenue at the Revenue new business registration page. You need a Minnesota Tax ID, and before you make taxable sales you need a sales and use tax account. The state sales tax rate is 6.875 percent, and local taxes can be added on top, so check the combined rate for your city.

Ask Revenue which of your sales are taxable before you open. Retail products such as shampoo, pomade, or razors are the sales owners most often misjudge. The Department of Revenue home page is revenue.state.mn.us.

Step 8: Confirm zoning and local licensing for the address

Minnesota has 87 counties, about 853 cities and about 1,780 townships. Local government decides whether your address can host a barbershop, and it may also license businesses by category. Minneapolis and St. Paul both license by category, and neither issues a general business license, so a barbershop may still need a category license from the city even though it needs none from the state for the business itself. Townships often have their own zoning rules, which can differ from the city next door.

Do this before you sign a lease, not after. Ask the city or township in writing whether a barbershop is a permitted use at the address, and ask about signage, parking and hours. A verbal yes from a leasing agent is not the same as a zoning confirmation.

Step 9: Check whether any other agency applies

A barbershop that only provides barbering services is regulated mainly by the Board of Barber Examiners plus the tax and business filings above. If you plan to add a different service, sell a regulated product, or serve alcohol, look it up before you open. License Minnesota is the place to start, and an advisor at the Minnesota Small Business Development Center Network, administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, can help you sort out which agencies apply. Find the advisors at mn.gov/deed/business/help/sbdc.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating a Secretary of State filing as a license. The LLC or DBA filing does not authorize anyone to cut hair. Each barber still needs a registration from the board.
• Using a shop name without a certificate of assumed name. A catchy name on the door, on a sign and in your advertising can create a filing obligation.
• Forgetting the publication. A DBA that is not published may be invalid, and you may not find out until a bank or vendor asks for it.
• Choosing an LLC name with the word 'Corporation.' Minnesota does not allow 'corporation' or 'incorporated' in an LLC name, so the filing can be rejected.
• Missing the December 31 annual renewal. The fee is $0, but missing the date leads to termination or revocation, and reinstatement costs money and time.
• Signing a lease before zoning is confirmed. A shop you cannot legally operate in is an expensive mistake.
• Using an old fee sheet. The 2026 change to the exam and initial registration fees means older price lists are wrong on this point.
• Counting school hours loosely. The statute sets a floor of 1,500 hours, and a transcript that falls short can delay your registration.
• Assuming the cosmetology crossover is free. From January 1, 2027, a barber with an active registration may apply for a cosmetology or hair technology license under 2026 Laws chapter 119. Confirm the fee with the cosmetology board before you assume there is none.

What a well-prepared start typically looks like

A barbershop that is set up carefully often has a few things in common. The owner has a transcript showing at least 1,500 hours, a registration timeline tied to the shop opening date, a filed entity and any needed certificate of assumed name, proof of publication, a sales tax account, and written zoning confirmation for the address. Each fee and receipt sits in one folder, and the December 31 renewal sits on a calendar. Owners who work this way may find their first renewal cycle simpler, because the records they need are already in one place. The results you see will depend on your city, your structure and how quickly each agency processes your file, so treat this as a method rather than a promise of a specific timeline.

Where to check current information

• Minnesota Secretary of State: sos.mn.gov, with business filings through Business Filings Online
• Minnesota Department of Revenue: revenue.state.mn.us
• License Minnesota: mn.gov/elicense
• Small Business Administration Minnesota district: sba.gov/district/minnesota
• Board of Barber Examiners: reach it through License Minnesota, and confirm the current fee schedule and application forms directly with the board before filing

Minnesota barber and entity rules change, and some items in this guide, especially the 2026 exam and registration figures and the cosmetology crossover fee, must be confirmed with the agency before you pay. This article is informational, not legal or tax advice. For complex situations, such as multiple owners, leases with personal guarantees, or structure decisions, consult a qualified Minnesota attorney and a CPA.