Starting without knowing how
How to open a company step by step
Define the activity and type (MEI, ME, LTDA or SLU), choose the tax regime with an accountant, register at the Junta or gov.br and get your licenses.
bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published
"How to open a company" is one of the most frequent searches by people who want to start a business in Brazil, with variations like "MEI," "on my own," "from scratch" and "step by step." The process has become simpler in recent years, with Redesim (the national business registration network) and digital registration, but there are still decisions that change how much tax you'll pay and how well your personal assets are protected. Below is the general path; details vary by state, city and activity.
The practical path
- Define the activity. What exactly will you do? That determines the activity code (CNAE), the licenses required and whether you can be an MEI.
- See whether it fits the MEI. The individual microentrepreneur (Complementary Law 128/2008) has an annual revenue limit, a closed list of permitted activities, allows up to one employee and doesn't allow partners. Registration is free on the Entrepreneur Portal, on gov.br. Be wary of websites that charge to open an MEI.
- If it doesn't fit, choose the type. The most common forms are the single-member limited company (SLU), for those starting alone, and the limited liability company (LTDA), with partners. In both, as a rule, your personal assets stay separate from the company's debts, except in cases set out in law.
- Choose the tax regime with an accountant. Simples Nacional, Lucro Presumido or Lucro Real. The wrong choice can be costly; an accountant simulates the scenarios for your case.
- Check feasibility and the name. Through your state's Junta Comercial portal (via Redesim), check whether the activity is allowed at the address and whether the business name is available. To protect the brand, the registration is a different one: at INPI.
- Register the company. Articles of association (or the SLU's incorporation document) registered at the Junta Comercial, which generates the CNPJ. Much of this is digital today.
- Get your registrations and licenses. Municipal and/or state registration, an operating permit, health or environmental licenses when the activity requires them. The Economic Freedom Law (Law 13,874/2019) waived licenses for many low-risk activities; check your activity's classification.
- Organize the basics for day one. A company bank account, invoice issuing, a tax calendar, a defined owner's draw.
How Bairo went through it
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez has opened businesses at very different stages of life, from the neighborhood salon to the companies registered in the United Kingdom. In 2026, he set up in London the two companies he runs: Xperienc Global Labs and CEASA Financial. In Brazil, he is the administrator of the company that operates the CEASA Bank brand.
Between one extreme and the other, there were businesses that worked, businesses that closed and a partnership that pushed him out of his own project. The paperwork, for him, was never the hardest part. The hardest part was deciding with whom, and for what, to open each company.
The Method step
Before the CNPJ, apply step 1 of the Seventh Attempt Method: say the dream out loud. The sentence "I will build ___ for , because " helps the accountant choose the activity, the type and the regime. If there's a partner, add step 4 before signing the articles of association.
Discover the Seventh Attempt Method