<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI am blessed to have a very wide network of entrepreneurs and owners of limited liability companies, and none of them has spent as much time researching Missouri registered agents as I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I started my first company, I didn\u2019t give a second thought to who I would choose to be my Missouri registered agent. I looked at them as nothing more than a glorified mail forwarding service and figured one was as good as another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I was about to sign up for the cheapest Missouri registered agent I could find, it occurred to me that whoever I chose would be receiving and handling my company\u2019s absolute most important documents. Legal forms, service of process, the secretary of state\u2019s response to my annual reports, everything would be going through my registered agent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, my Missouri registered agent would be the one link between my personal name, address, and assets and the company information on the public record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bottom line was that your registered agent must be a company you can trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that I was taking the search much more seriously, I cast a wide net and went through the marketing materials of more than 60 Missouri registered agents. I wanted to see exactly who was out there and what they offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, I began wading through the enormous amount of online reviews there are out there, in the hopes that I could identify which of the Missouri registered agents were best regarded in the Missouri business community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I picked up the phone and actually talked to the companies themselves in order to get a good feel for their customer service teams and their company cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I was doing this research, I was also talking to my network of small business owners and was surprised to find out that most of them were as uninformed about Missouri registered agents as I had been. They shared their own experiences with their registered agents and encouraged me to really do a thorough investigation and publish my findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That led to this website, which has already helped thousands find the right Missouri registered agent. I hope it can help you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>How I Selected the Best Registered Agent<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere\u2019s a stage-by-stage process of the research I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Stage 1: Reviews<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOnline reviews are always a good place to start provided that you take them with a grain of salt, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It can be difficult to tell honest reviews from those that have an agenda of some kind, but if you read enough, you can begin to get close to a true reflection of what kind of companies you are dealing with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I went through the reviews on Google Business, the Better Business Bureau, TrustPilot, and Facebook, among others. The most common complaint I found about Missouri registered agents in general was that a number of them used a pretty shady pricing system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the 60+ Missouri registered agents that I started with, almost 50 of them used some variation of a bait-and-switch scheme. There are a lot of registered agents out there who advertise a very low price (typically in the $30\u2013$59 range) but don\u2019t disclose that this price is merely a sign-up fee. In the end, you\u2019ll pay way more in order to stay compliant over a full year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since my biggest priority was finding a company I could trust, I eliminated all Missouri registered agents that had these hidden fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Stage 2: Website Analysis<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIn order to find the hidden fees, I went through the websites of all 60+ Missouri registered agents on my list and scrolled from the biggest, boldest headlines all the way down to the tiny fine print on the bottom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My objective was to figure out exactly what each Missouri registered agent service was truly charging and to also figure out what they offered as part of their service package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was surprised to find more than 24 different services offered by the top 12 companies. It was really obvious to me by now that registered agents were a lot more than a glorified PO Box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Stage 3: Speaking with Real Customers<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOnce I had a really clear picture of what companies offer with their Missouri registered agent service, I wanted to see how well they executed those offerings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Online reviews only painted a partial picture, so I reached out to my network of small business owners and picked the brains of anyone who was willing to talk to me for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that this site is live, I receive invaluable feedback from readers, which allows me to keep my ratings constantly up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Stage 4: Speaking with Their Sales Teams<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\nFor my final stage, I wanted to speak directly to the Missouri registered agents themselves. At this point, I had a lot of information on each company, but I wanted to get a good sense of the company culture at each one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I used some of the feedback from real customers and the online reviews and approached each Missouri registered agent service with specific criticisms. How they responded gave me a very good idea of how receptive their company was to feedback, how eager they were to correct mistakes, and how dedicated they were to constantly improving their service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n