However much money you have in the bank, it's not enough to equip your SOHO (small office - home office) the way the hucksters out there would want you to. So the question is, "Just what do you absolutely and positively need to run your business? Here's the answer.

LOCATION
If you cannot afford an office of your own and a home office is out of the question, try to co-op with someone in your vertical market. By this I mean a printer if you are a graphic designer, or a body shop if you are an estimator, or a travel agency if you sell travel insurance.

There is no stigma attached to an office in your home, so if you have the room, go for it. If you expect to be able to write-off some of the costs of the use of your home, better go to the IRS and ask for the booklet detailing home office deductions. I would recommend a completely separate room that does not go through the main part of your house, a basement or over-garage office is fine and will work well if you havea business where you go to your customer a lot more than your customer comes to you.

Before you set up your home office, check with your local zoning board and ask how you obtain permission to operate. Most businesses are okay in most cities and towns, but there are exceptions. It would be a shame for you to open your business only to discover you not only have to move, but must pay a hefty fine as well!

FURNITURE
You need real office furniture, not cutesy stuff the boutiques want to foist off on you. If you're going to be in business, be in business, don't be a dilettante, don't play at being in business. Don't fall for the pitch: "But it can double as an end table, you see." If you don't have enough money to buy new sturdy office furniture, shop the second hand stores. One woman I know bought a desk, office chair, filing cabinet and computer desk for $250, and was able to pay for it in three payments. In my town there's still a surplus store where that same furniture could be purchased for under $150. The reason for real office furniture is simple. You're in business, so have business equipment, not cutesy toys.

COMPUTERS
Obviously you have a computer right now, or at least access to a computer, or you wouldn't be reading this. Your challenge is to force yourself to NOT use your computer in business. Let me explain. You are trying to be a consultant, or a landscape architect, or an attorney. None of these has the word 'computer' in its title. So get out there and do consulting or landscaping or lawyering and forget that you have a compurer. Use the computer ONLY to support your business, and NOT for ancillary functions such as designing flyers, accounting, client recording, business card entry, or any similar activities. We'll talk about how you get these done later.

COMMUNICATION GEAR
I've talked about this before, but it is so important. You MUST be available when your customer or client calls. It is not acceptable to have an answering machine, no matter whether it's on your computer or on your desk. Here's my suggestion.

1. Order a separate SOHO line for your business. Most telephone companies have SOHO lines at a reasonable rate. The reason for a business line is to get listed in the telephone directory and on the phone company's information system where people can find you. Ask if you can be listed without having a 'business line'.
   
2. Purchase call forwarding and voice mail for your new SOHO line.
   
3. Purchase an second regular home phone line and use it for FAX and Computer work. Since it's another home line, this line will cost but a fraction of the SOHO line's charge. Don't buy the rotator package for anything.You don't want calls switched from one line to another.
   
4. Buy a cellular phone using the least expensive package, but include voice mail.

Now, here's how you use this system.

1. Your second home phone line is always available for an incoming fax. It really frosts a client when they are trying to send you a fax and every time they call, your phone is busy. "Okay," you say, "but why can't I use one of those splitters that sends fax to fax machines, voice to voice machines, and computer to computers?" The answer is that you are still using one line, and if it's busy, the system says its busy to the caller. When your computer use of the second home phone line gets too high (and the only reason it should EVER get that busy is if you are in the Internet business), order a third home phone line. If you're that busy, you can afford it.

2. Now for the voice line. When you are in the office, answer the phone. If you are on the phone, the voice mail will activate. Don't EVER use call waiting! It sends an automatic signal to the person on the other end that you are a one-person teeny-tiny business. Every time you hang up from a call, check your voice mail. Most telephone companies send a 5 second stutter pulse to your dial tone, so you don't even have to dial the voice mail box to see if you received a call, the system tells you.

3. When you leave your office, call forward your SOHO line to your cell phone. When someone calls, answer your cell phone and ask the person to allow you to call back. Here's a great line. "Hello, CBA Mood Swing C ompany. How may I direct your call?" When the person answers, say, "This is Joe, but I'm in a conference right now, may I call you back in 5 minutes?" Your next action is to go to a pay phone where you can talk to the person for an hour for a quarter rather than pay a quarter a minure or more on your cell phone. The purpose of the cell phone is to have a human being receive calls, not to MAKE calls. This keeps your cell phone bill down in 'reasonable' cost range. Remember, if you are busy on the cell phone and someone else calls, they will automatically be shunted to your voice mail, so check your cellphone voice mail regularly.

TOOLS OF YOUR TRADE
Buy cheap. No matter how much you pay today, your equipment will be obsolete in a year. That's how fast things change these days. Because of that change, you can pick up your tools for a song from those going out of business or upgrading. It really doesn't matter what your home-office tools look like, your customer will probably never see them anyway. If you are having trouble finding a specific piece of equipment, put an ad in the newspaper-you can never tell who has what unless you ask. Another source is your trade association. Stand up at the next meeting and let everyone know you're looking.

MARKETING ITEMS
Hire a graphic artist to design your business cards, approach pieces and stationery. The money you save in doing it yourself is offset by the poor job you will do (a fact even if you are a graphic designer) and the business you will lose because you are meddling in things other than getting and satisfying customers. It isn't worth it!

ACCOUNTING
Visit a CPA and tell him or her that you are on a shoestring and can they recommend a bookkeeper that will do your books. You absolutely need a CPA to do your taxes, don't even think of doing it yourself, so tell the CPA that fact. You will get a great deal! Whomever you end up with will do an excellent job, and you will even receive a cash analysis package so you can do some cash management work. Bookkeeping does not make you one penny, so don't do it yourself. A bookkeeper will send out invoices, tell you how much and when to pay your state and federal taxes (including those horrible payroll taxes), and remind you when you need to send in a key report. Don't waste your valuable technical time doing $15-$25 an hour bookkeeping.

EMPLOYEES
When you need one, don't hire, rent! For $8 to $15 an hour you can hire top quality professionally trained people to do your client work, and when the crunch is over, you can say goodbye! You can probably hire a high school student on a work-study program to do grunt work, and your state may be one of those that pays 50% of their salary! Ask! Any employees you hire should be contributors to your income stream, not your expense stream.

OTHER ITEMS
You don't need them. I mean it! You don't need a pocket electronic organizer, a $10 appointment book will do every bit as much at a fraction of the cost. You don't need a new car. Most clients only see you and the clothes you wear. You don't need that latest software because it will only slow you down and complicate your business to the point where you lose customers and decrease profit. When you get rich and famous is the time to play with gadgets. Right now, you need to make money.

RECAP
Wow! Tough words! Yes, but if you intend to be in business, get in YOUR business, not someone else's business. Stick to what you do best, and be the best possible at doing it. Business will come, and you will eventually be able to expand to include some of these outsource items under your w ing. But for now, stick to YOUR business. Good luck!