Help! with starting a home business office at home! advice, how to set up, whats needed?

hello! thank you for reading my question, i am putting an office together at home and need advice or answers! I am starting from scratch and would like to purchase things like an executive chair, desk, a desktop computer/printer/fax machine etc. where is the best place to purchase this stuff and or can i buy used stuff? i hate paying retail! what types of office necessities will i need? budget cash is not an issue, i got it... anyone know about vonage phones? i need multiple phone lines w/ forwarding options, should i use cell phones or landline residential and is vonage a good idea? thanks! ps. what the best way to keep track of income/expenses....Help! with starting a home business office at home! advice, how to set up, whats needed?
If you're planning on doing business via your cell, there's not much point in springing for a land line. However, if you do, Vonage is a good, cheap alternative to traditional phone service. I've had it for about 4 years now and the only downside is that if my cable internet connection's down, so's my phone.





One easy way to save some money is to skip buying a fax machine (which requires a land line) and use one of the web-based fax services. I use www.myfax.com. $10/month and I send and receive faxes through e-mail. I use my cheap multifunction printer/scanner/copier thing if I need to upload something that's hard copy, but usually I'm faxing something that's already a Word document anyway.





As for the office equipment, definitely go with used. Keep an eye on Craigslist and look for a company in your area that refurbishes old office equipment like desks and file cabinets.





If you're at your desk a lot of the time, don't scrimp on your chair though. A good chair (Steelcase Leap or Herman Miller Aeron) is pricey but well worth it.





Bottom line: spend your money on things that will increase sales and/or profitability. A really cool new desk just doesn't have a good return on investment. Don't spring for a $500 smart phone at $100/month service if you don't need the functionality; get the ';free with contract'; phone at $60/month and use the rest on marketing. You get the idea.





Lastly, check out a book called ';The Personal Efficiency Program';. (http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Efficienc鈥?/a>





It's a great guide to organizing your office and can help you to select the best tools for your job.