Start A Business At Home!
Basic Setup Tips
We can help anyone get setup to start a business!I've owned and operated many types of businesses from home, from retail outlets and from corporate offices. Basic setup tips at home are unique. There are things to consider when setting up business at home.
Set Up the Office and Organize Your Business Once you have decided on the business you will start you can then begin to put the office together and working out all the bugs can be time consuming. To start a business heading in the right direction, set up the office properly and then get ready to spend all your available
time focusing on making the business go.
Having technical difficulties can cause your image to falter and when you are trying to start a business you cannot afford to do that. There's nothing worse than trying to send or receive a fax for a proposal and not be able to get it done or accidentally sending it more than once. Things like this can cause frustrating situations that may ultimately cost you money. Get the right equipment to be as professional and efficient at you possibly can. When you start a business at home lots of questions will come up. If at any time you need to you can write to me in the box below and I'll get back to you usually within one day. Helpful Tips and Guidelines These are tips and guidelines that I developed
over the years while starting my various businesses. Hopefully, this will help you cut through some of the red tape of trying to think everything through and maybe even flatten the learning curve a bit so as to get you started out faster and in an organized manner. Create a work space that you can dedicate to your business. Keep in mind that this work space will need to accommodate late night work so you want to consider not putting this work space where the rest of the family has to tip toe around you. My office started out on the kitchen table. If at all possible get your work space dedicated for work - in other words try to keep work separated from other aspects of your life. While working at home is terrific - it can turn into a 24/7 situation. Careful planning will prevent most unpredictable situations from arising. To see how you can
set up your home to accommodate your work click here.
If you don't already have a computer that you can use when you need it then you really need to get one. What I mean is when you start a business you must get situated so you can work evenings if you want to (or have to) without interruption from anyone else needing the computer. The machine we use is the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion a1600n. I am on it all day and most nights. It carries the load of all the internet businesses I operate with all the programs, downloads and bookkeeping needs and I've never once had a problem of any kind. This machine is just over two years old and I couldn't be happier with the performance and reliability. When you start a business I highly recommend that you look at the latest version of this machine. 3. Bookkeeping Essentials. I can't over emphasize the importance of good bookkeeping when you start a business. And it needs to be done right from the first day forward. I'll admit that bookkeeping is not one of my favorite things to do and as a result I spend as little time as possible doing it. The accounting program I have used for years is called QuickBooksPro. You will need the ability to see reports, create invoices, make bank deposits and take credit cards and QuickBooksPro does all of these things and a lot more. At year end taxes time I simply print the necessary reports and send them over to my CPA. He does the year end taxes for me and it's worth every cent just knowing I'm doing it right.
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Please note that the QuickBooks Pro Download version is not offered by retailers and with our exclusive affiliate promotion gives you another advantage to offer a bestseller for less. You won’t find this deal on QuickBooks.com. It’s available through QuickBooks affiliate links only. You are going to need a credit card processing program. I use QuickBooks' Credit Card Services. I am very happy that the rates are the lowest I found anywhere and the service is good if you need any. I've never had to call for service as everything works as it should. I've been on QuickBooks credit card processing for just over two years now and I highly recommend it. Click on this banner to go to QuickBooks credit card services: 
In our home office we have our local company, Qwest, provide our internet service and we have two phone lines. One line is for our fax and one for the business phone number. Our family and friends never call the home number anyway, they call our cell numbers, so that helps to keep the office line free. Also, while I'm out I forward my office number to my cell so I don't miss any calls. We may go weeks and never un-forward the calls. They stay forwarded to my cell most of the time.
Notes about the telephone: When you start a business at home you will need to make it appear as professional as you can. When someone calls your business always remember to put on your best 'side' and be as professional about it as possible. You may be in your underwear but the caller is picturing you in a professional setting, in an office with employees and activity going on. And don't forget to keep the background noise under control.
5. The Facsimile Machine. I've had all kinds of fax machines and until I purchased the Lexmark X125 I thought they were all troublesome. The Lexmark has been completely trouble free for over four years now. You don't necessarily need one that prints in color and it doesn't need to do anything else. I have had the all-in-one fax, copier, phone, do it all machines and in my experience they are terrible. Get the fax to be a fax and don't spend much on it. I spent about $60 on my Lexmark and I couldn't be happier with it.
I purchased a Canon Image Class D320 two years ago. It cost me $125 after the $125 mail in rebate and I've had zero problems. Warm up time two seconds, print quality is up to par and I can't find anything that could beat the price in the market. The toner cartridge is replaced about once a year and I use it several times every day. It's a stellar machine.
After years of going through all the 'throw-aways' I finally found a printer that stands up to the demand. The Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 1012 has been completely trouble free and we print out a bunch on a daily basis. The toner cartridges are replaced about twice a year - not bad for the amount that we do in our office. I also use a portable color printer for some of the jobs I am on. The Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 460 was pricey and uses a lot of toner. I'm not a big fan of this machine but I don't use it very often - so there you are.
The start of your business will be a period that you will talk about as your business grows. If you are like we are you will talk about how you did things 'in the beginning' and how things have changed over time. As I look back on when we first decided to start a business at home I remember it as being a very exciting time. My wife and I didn't have anyone to ask questions when things came up, we would have to just 'wing it' until we got it right. Some of the errors we made cost us a lot of money and time. I hope this website will help you to limit some of the common errors people make when they start a business and maybe we can help streamline your work so you can focus on making your business successful.
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Thanks for visiting! Mason Thompson
Startup-Business-Home.com ;
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