Business Costs

Business costs are often the deterrent when it comes to starting a small business.  Unless you wish to borrow the money, which I discourage, sometimes financing a business start up can be out of reach for the average boomerpreneur.  Or so you may think.  But that is not necessarily the case.  Much depends on the type of business you want to start.

What does it cost to start a small business?  Surprisingly less than you might think. If you wish to start the type of business that will require an actual physical location, or special equipment, or inventory, then yes, it can be expensive.  But thanks to the internet, it is now extremely inexpensive to start a business of your own right from the comfort of your own home.

Your business costs will fall into two categories:  one time start up expenses and ongoing regular expenses.  A new computer, business license, and permits are examples of one time expenses.  Ongoing expenses could include your internet connection, website hosting, and advertising.

Still not convinced?  Let's take a look at just what it costs to get started! We'll start with one time expenses.

Since you are starting an online business, you already have a location.  So you don't have the cost of purchasing or renting a building or office space.  Nor will you need to purchase office furniture.  All you will need to start is a place in your home that can serve as your workspace.  I started in a corner of my bedroom.  We are going to assume you already own a computer.  But if not, you can purchase one that will be sufficient for your needs for a few hundred dollars.  I have a laptop, an iMac, and a tablet.  I do most of my business work on my laptop which cost me less than $500. 

Now that you have the space to work, you should take care of the legalities.  Based on the type of business you are starting, you may need special permits or certification.  Most states also require a business license and you may need a permit to operate a business from your home.  When we formed Boomer Businesses LLC, it cost $527 for everything.  You can also try companies like LegalZoom which can handle all of the legal work for you at a very reasonable cost.

Next you will need business cards.  I am including these under one time expenses because by the time you need to reorder, you should be making enough to cover the cost.  Thanks to companies like VistaPrint, you can design and print custom business cards for as little as $20.00 a box.

That covers the one time business costs.  Now let's look at ongoing regular expenses.  You are starting an online business, so you will need internet service.  I pay $80/month for high speed internet.  There may be less expensive alternatives, but because of the location of my home, they don't always work for me.  You will also need a website.  Depending again on the type of business you wish to start, you may be able to start with nothing more than a blog, which is free.  If you need an actual website, this is still very affordable.  I pay $29.99/month for SiteBuildIt.  That includes domain name registration, hosting, email, and a host of tools for marketing and tracking.  And because it's template based, you don't have to pay for a web designer.

That's all you need to get started.  It's all I stared with.  For less than $1100 start up cost plus $109.99 a month, you can be in business. 

It is possible to spend more.  If you are getting into a network marketing business, there will be the cost of joining the company.  And you may want to have brochures or flyers made.  And as you begin to make money, you may want to invest in other equipment like a printer or a better computer.  But you can get online and get started with no more than what I have listed here.

What are you waiting for?  Let's do this!