One of the first concerns about starting a home business is cost and startup capital. With people struggling to pay bills and living paycheck to paycheck, these issues are very valid. One need not assume a startup home business will cost thousands. Some home businesses need almost nothing to launch. Key examples are etsy, eBay, Craigslist or any local resale shop. Do you have a collection of baseball cards or rare coins or antique furniture? List them on the above sites or sell them at a local reseller. Instant business, minimal cost. You can build in the shipping and listing costs in the selling price.
The cost for the above business is virtually nothing. If you intend to start a slightly more complex business – consulting, freelancing or making a product – below are a list of basic costs you can expect.
1) Phone – somewhere between $75 and $100. Shop AT&T, Verizon, and US Cellular for current deals on cell phones and bundled services.
2) Domain name and web site hosting – $10 to $20. Put your product or service on the Internet and sell locally, regionally or globally.
3) Accounting services – $75 to $100. Charges will vary based on complexity and information recorded for your accountant.
4) Marketing – $20 to $150. Simple handouts to email marketing to advertising in local papers or community newsletters.
Total: $180 to $400 per month for an ongoing business.
There are other potential one-time costs too:
- Legal registration of the business for the government – see http://www.bizfilings.com/ – in Illinois about $125
- Computer – if you don’t have one, shop around and buy for $350
Other important business tools are free including:
- Business cards – free through http://www.vistaprint.com
- Office software – free at http://www.openoffice.org/
- Accounting software – free online tools - http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/mint-online-money-management.jsp
- Marketing – use social networking sites Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In to get your business name out. All are free.
- Internet presence – start a blog on WordPress, Blogger or one of many hundreds of other free blog hosting sites
- Start a web site – some companies offer free web hosting, albeit with their advertising included
Can you afford a startup business? Yes! Ask yourself, can I afford not to start a business???
By Dion D Shaw
Dion D Shaw is the founder and owner of Homepreneurs
Homepreneurs. New Day. New Opportunities.
Disclaimer
Homepreneurs does not endorse nor have any relationships with any of the services listed. Homepreneurs receives no compensation or consideration for its suggestions. Homepreneurs strongly urges all interested parties to conduct research and accepts no responsibility for any losses incurred.
© Homepreneurs 2010 – 2012
Thanks for the information. Been looking on the net for something like this.
Glad you found us! -DS
Nice information Dion. Most small business start-ups begin with bootstrapping techniques to offset a lack of cash. However, many hopeful entrepreneurs are sitting on the sideline waiting on the economy to get better before starting. Now is a great time to get started. The generally down economy will keep you focused on finding sales and keeping costs in check. Once the economy picks up, and it will in time, you’ll have an organization and systems in place ready to leverage for growth.
Thanks, Chris! I agree, now is the time to initiate planning for that business dream. Bootstrapping is the best – and least expensive – way to do this. -Dion