Home Office Essentials

So what do you really need in your home office to get your home based business off the ground?

I started my business with a home office in my living room. Our house wasn't large enough to convirt a spare bedroom into an office. We didn't have any spare bedrooms! So, I convirted a corner of my living room into my office. While there were some obvious disadvantages (I could never really escape the office, and working in the evening was difficult with the family around), it worked pretty well.

My point is that you don't need a separate room to get your home office going. It would be great if you had that, but not absolutely necessary.

So what do you need?

• A telephone. This could be another telephone line coming into your house or the same phone line. I used the family phone line. I would have put in a new line if I could have, but I simply couldn't afford it at the time. These days, it's easy and relatively inexpensive to use a cell phone as your business phone.

• Voice mail. Accept it - you simply can't be everywhere at the same time. Unless you want to miss some very valuable calls from potential customers, you'll need voicemail on your main business phone line. Don't get me wrong, I think that actually answering your phone is always preferable to voice mail, but not missing a call is critical.

• Computer. In this day and age, operating a small business without a computer (and internet access) is archaic (that means it is seriously old-fashioned). More and more resources are only available online. Some network marketing businesses only have their affiliate or distributor resources online. Email is the standard for business communication now. I choose a laptop computer, rather than a desktop, because it can go with me to visit clients or to business meetings with vendors. I have wireless internet access, but I also have access through my cell phone in case I am somewhere where there is cell service, but no WiFi. Staying connected is the name of the game.

• Printer. If you have a computer, you need a printer. I chose a printer-fax-scanner, but a simple ink jet printer will do.

• Work space. This could be a desk or a table, but you need some place to actually put your laptop, write your notes, etc.

• File system. In addition to the filing system in your computer, you will need a real paper file system. You will have important papers and business documents to file. I recommend a small rolling file cabinet/cart to start (so you can relocate it to another room if you want or need to dismantle your home office for an evening when company comes over). You can keep your files in a box, if you'd like, but keep them organized. You actually need to be able to find the important papers that you file.

O.k., those are the basics, but there are some other things that you may really want to consider that would make your life a lot easier:

• Fax machine. Yes, you can go to your local copy store to send faxes. Maybe you have the ability to send and receive faxes through your computer, but there will still be times when you want and need to just fax a piece of paper to someone.

• Copier. Again, you could go to your local copy store to make a few copies, but having your own copier really comes in handy. Like I said above, I chose a printer-fax-scanner when I started working at home. It could easily handle my small print jobs and I could still go to a copy center for bigger print jobs.

• Storage. This may be a simple supply cabinet or, if you are in a business that has inventory, it might be some serious shelving for inventory and supplies. Either way, you probably don't want all of your office supplies piled up on your desk.

Return from Home Office Essentials to the Your Small Business Guide Home Page