Start-up costs and financing your home-based business
The most common costs to plan for when starting a business from home and options for financing your initial setup
If you are looking for some extra funds to start up a home-based business, there are various options to consider.
For more information, see:
- business financing options - an overview
- choose the right finance when starting up
- use your business plan to get funding
Initial costs for a home business
You will need to buy, lease or rent the equipment for your home office and any materials you need for the service you are supplying - see decide whether to lease or buy assets.
Finding and keeping in touch with customers is a major issue, so investing in a good computer with relevant software and a broadband connection will be a priority in most cases.
The most common costs to consider when starting out are:
- computer or laptop
- reliable broadband access
- mobile phone
- an ergonomic office desk& and chair
- business cards
- branding merchandising
- printed materials
- stock for products you supply
- packaging materials
Save on software costs
When you are factoring software packages into your start-up costs, take a look at the much cheaper or even free options - open-source software such as OpenOffice and Google Docs.
For more information, see computer software for business and IT for home-based businesses.
Read further information on managing business finance during the start-up phase.