Start a home business for under £500
05/03/2006 send to a friend
If you have lived in fear of the finance required to turn your business dream into reality then fear no more as we provide the Enterprise Nation Guide to starting your home business on a budget.
Value for your money
These days you can’t even buy two return rail tickets from Manchester to London for £500 (retail price for 2 x First Class Open Returns = £622) but you can get up and running with your own home based business. Here we show you how.
IT Equipment
You will need phone and computer access so you can make contact with the world outside your home.
Dabs.com is currently offering an Acer Aspire laptop for £369.98
This may not come attached with fancy functions but it should be sufficient to get you started. The main functions you are likely to use are emails, word documents and excel spreadsheets. See our feature on web based applications to make the most of freely available software.
BT’s broadband package is priced at £14.99 per month and this includes a free modem
Office infrastructure
You can position your new, value for money laptop on an equally cost effective Krille corner computer desk, priced at £29.90 from IKEA.
Also from IKEA is the stylish looking Snille Swivel chair for £13.99
Promotion Tools
Once set up in your equipped office, you will want to promote your services.
Printing.com is offering 500 business cards for £49 and, to finish off the package, consider designing your own website through a deal with Yahoo that offers a domain name (your website address), 200 email accounts and tools to design your site, all for around £6.50 per month.
So, in total, your shopping list comes to:
- Laptop £369.98
Broadband £14.99 (month one)
Desk £29.90
Chair £13.99
Business cards £49.00
Website & hosting £6.50 (month one) - Total £484.36
Leaving you enough change to buy a bottle of bubbly to celebrate your sensible investment that will give you a higher rate of return than that open train ticket to London.
Author: Emma Jones
Please note that we cannot guarantee the quality of any of the products & services noted in this feature.
Add a comment
* Denotes a mandatory field
Latest from the Forum
-
29/07/2010 by | Wordpress shopping cart
-
28/07/2010 by | Newsletter help
-
28/07/2010 by | Homeworkers make great foster carers
Comments
Author: neil
Date: 06/01/2008
Comment: Disappointing web site. I came to this site hoping for ideas or discussion of businesses one could start from home.
Website: http://
Author: Emma Jones
Date: 06/01/2008
Comment: Hi Neil As editor of the site, I was sorry to read your comment. There are plenty of profiles on the site of home businesses and articles on how to come up with an idea for a home business. I can safely say we carry more content on the topic than any other site you'll find in the UK! Hope you find what you're looking for. Emma
Website: http://www.enterprisenation.com
Author: Robert Winter
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: For video illustrations of how to start and develop your business there is free video advice available from www.guruonline.tv This is a totally free advice and guidance broadband site and there is no requirement to register or pay any fees.
Website: http://www.guruonline.tv
Author: Mel Henson
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: For the website with domain hosting, I would recommend www.oneandone.co.uk. It costs just £50 for two years, and their template design kit(website creator) that comes free with the package means anyone can have professional looking 8 page website. Search engine optimisation is poor on template websites, so I recommend registering with free directories suchs as Applegate. Key 'free directories' into google to get a list of the current ones. Also try to get articles published as this increases the search. However, I have never worried about this, as I see my website as an online brochure for people I have already met through networking, and it has proved invaluable for that. In fact, as I work from home I feel safer not being too easy to find, and I don't put my address on my website. (You only have to do this if you are limited). For business cards try vistaprint.co.uk. They cost as little as £15 for 250, again with free 'template' designs that look very professional, especially if you pay a little extra to change the font. Plus you can have matching labels, letterheads etc. They do offer a 'free' card, but on the back it says 'Printed for free by Vistaprint' which looks really naff. They also have templates for simple leaflets, very reasonably priced. Finally, Abbey offer a business bank account which is genuinely free for life rather than all the others which just offer business banking for a year or so.
Website: http://www.wordsthatsell.co.uk
Author: Rachel Morgan-Trimmer
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: Very nice article - I like having tangible information that tells you exactly where you can get stuff for those prices! As the owner of a web development agency, I do have a vested interest in this, but I would advise against designing a website yourself, unless you have previous experience. We make websites user-friendly, search-engine-friendly and legal, and it's cheaper to get someone in at the start to do all this, than to make expensive mistakes that have to be undone. Which is worse - having a bad website or no website at all? That would be an interesting topic for the forums!
Website: http://www.sugarcat.co.uk
Author: JD Enterprises
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: Internet shopping is booming, if you want to get in on this phenomenon reply to this post with your details or contact us through the details on the home business page at www.shop4less.org.uk By the way we can help you save money allyear round so why not take a look. Happy New Year!
Website: http://www.shoprless.org.uk
Author: JD Enterprises
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: Visit our site and see how much more you could save on your business start up costs! We provide comprehensive bespoke business communication and marketing solutions for businesses of all sizes including the latest virtual media technology enabling you to fully utilise the power of the internet in your business marketing and communications.
Website: http://www.jdenterprises.org.uk
Author: neil
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: My comment seems to have created oe reply from the site editor and loads of spam!!! Not worth subscribing - sorry
Website: http://
Author: JD Enterprises
Date: 10/01/2008
Comment: Apologies to all! Above website address for internet shopping is booming should read www.shop4less.org.uk
Website: http://www.shop4less.org.uk
Author: Kate Bacon
Date: 16/01/2008
Comment: Following on from comments on building your own website (and not wanting to do Rachel from SugarCat out of any business), Mr Site offers a website kit (templates which can be customised and hosting for 1 year) for £35.00. It is possible to build a good looking site to which you can also add a PayPal shopping cart (without having to know html) and is far superior to the icky looking sites produced using Microsoft Front Page! It does take time and patience however and I'd highly recommend you pay a designer to produce a fab looking logo for you. Kate
Website: http://www.piertopeercoaching.com
Author: JD Enterprises
Date: 21/02/2010
Comment: The utility warehouse provide up to 24Meg broadband with an inclusive calls package, free router and inclusive line rental from £19.99 per month!
The service is recommended by Which? as best value phone and broadband bundle.
Website: www.loveyourutilitybills.co.uk
Author: Bobby
Date: 09/03/2010
Comment: Its a fantastic article as it is very encouraging for the new comers who got an idea and are puzzled with how to start. Great job by the Editor.
Website: www.gasdrive.co.uk