How to start a home business for under £500: Re-visited
17/01/2008 send to a friend
This feature originally appeared on the site in March 2006 and we’ve had so many useful comments posted that we thought it’s definitely worth bringing them to your attention and to the home page.
Two years on
Most of the prices quoted in the original feature still stand today, as does the principle that you can start a business from under £500. Thanks to a number of our members for their added contributions on budget items for the home business start-up. Here's just 3 of them:
Mel Henson of Words that Sell wrote:
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.
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.
Rachel Morgan-Trimmer of Sugarcat Publishing wrote:
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!
Kate Bacon of Pier to Pier Coaching wrote:
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.
Thanks to everyone for your comments. - Emma Jones
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Comments
Author: Cameron
Date: 13/08/2008
Comment: I wouldn't reccommend oneandone for hosting especially if you are expecting high amounts of traffic. I had some terrible experiences with them.
Website:
Author: Joel Drapper
Date: 26/08/2008
Comment: It doesn't cost that much to START a business!
For the Domain Name and Hosting Thing
Buy a domain name from somewhere cheap like www.godaddy.com or www.uk2.net then set the domain name up with free hosting from www.000webhost.com.
They also have a free template based easy-to-use website designer tool. (Not as good as custom designed, and coded along with a content management system by a professional, but it's cheaper...)
By the way,I completely agree with Rachel Morgan-Trimmer of Sugarcat Publishing.
Website: http://1stclasswebsites.com
Author: Raj
Date: 07/10/2008
Comment: Hi,
We have been using 1&1 since the start of business, just under 4 months now. In that time we have gone from a slow start to a very rapid 150 uniques a day. We also run a full e-com system that uses CMS and an active database.
We have found no issues with the handling of 1&1, infact I would very much recommend business pro for e-com site owners.
Website: www.directmarbleandgranite.co.uk
Author: Carmen MacDougall
Date: 27/10/2008
Comment: If you are on a budget it is great that you have these deals around, however, nothing beats having a qualified web designer who understands design factors as well as the coding to include web site optimisation, as there is no point having a good website if you are not driving traffic your way.
Another factor to consider is a blogsite which is like an interractive website, search engines like blogs because they involve fresh content.
On the topic of business cards, I have had great discounts from printing.com and was impressed by solopress.com where you can design your own cards and they print them for you.
Website: www.vact.co.uk
Author: Tracey Worton
Date: 07/11/2008
Comment: I set my web site up a lttle under a month ago (still undergoing updates, hoping to have my materials ready for January '09) by using Microsoft Online Small Business (MOSB) which is completely free for the first two years and I'm a complete novice when it comes to IT. After the first two years it is still reasonably priced.
There are many standard templates to use, but you can customise it as far as you want to (found this out on a tips website set up by another MOSB user)
The online community is great for getting solutions to problems - for eg I wanted to set up an automatic pdf download after requesting an email contact and they told me how, they also told me how to set up and link a paypal account - again I had no idea how to do this, and was surprised how easy it was to do (not using it live just yet though, still need to develop product)
Website: http://octobertraining.co.uk
Author: Mark Cooper
Date: 18/01/2009
Comment: Hi
sorry I missed the original feature, but in regard to a home business for less than £500, I started my business for less than £200. This was classed as a deposit as, subject to meeting a set deadline, £200 was refunded as a bonus. It therefore became a FREE business. I was also supplied with a professionally managed website for free, plus startup pack and as much free training as I need.
Website: www.telecomplus.org.uk/markcooper
Author: bert wallace
Date: 22/01/2009
Comment: hi there i actually own a company that lets people set up in buisiness for under 300£ in the beauty industry www.uberdirect.co.uk but i am amazed at this other one in the telecomuincations this is endorsed by DONALD TRUMP who said if he was starting again he would jon a network so he cant be wrong and the world is your oyster this is the worlds FIRST video home phone and because of MR T this is flying cheers have a look its free to look
Website: www.bertwallace.acnrep.com
Author: Michelle Birkman
Date: 14/02/2009
Comment: The Claims Warehouse is another great opportunity to get involved in a home-based business. The timing is perfect as it involves helping people clear some of their debts.
You can join as an affiliate for The Claims Warehouse for free and start earning straight away. Training is provided and I love the fact I am able to fit the hours around looking after my children.
More information about the opportunity is provided on regular live"webinars" that are held every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 7.30pm. These are free to view so please email me if you want the log on details.
Website: www.theclaims-warehouse.co.uk
Author: Keith Wallis
Date: 17/02/2009
Comment: You should check with the local Business Link BEFORE you start trading as there are now some substantial pre-trading grants available for professional services such as website building, marketing, legal, technical advice, etc.
Unlike other grants, pre-start grants do not always require a contribution, so this is in effect free money.
They will of course expect you to complete some paperwork and produce a business plan to access this support, but doing a business plan before you kick off is the right thing to do anyway and they do not usually expect a 'War and Peace' style volume. As a by-product of this process you will also get some useful advice and sign-posting which can be really useful.
One other thing, if you have been trading less than one year, you may also find the level of support you get from Business Link is greater than once the business becomes more mature - for obvious reasons really. However, a word of warning: you will find different packages around the country in line with the overall deprivation and levels of unemployment in your area.
A final word from the sponsor: this support can also cover our setup & and advisory fees making access to ProQuin Enterprise software for small service based businesses pretty much free in many cases - see www.proquinsoftware.co.uk.
Website: www.proquinsoftware.co.uk
Author: Arista Computers
Date: 20/04/2009
Comment: We are happy to help new businesses with payment terms and discounts on blank media and computer supplies, visit the site or email to register your interest.
Website: www.aristacomputers.com
Author: David Robertson-Brown
Date: 23/09/2009
Comment: Hi,
We filled up our business centre using a 1and1 template-driven system for about 18 months. So it's fine to get you going.
We now have a fully professional designed site that we're proud of and most of all, provides us with all the value added functionality we need.
A word of warning about 1and1 - their telephone support can take ages to answer (India) and because of a glitch within their CMS,we lost half of our web pages over night and had to rebuild everything. It's a stepping stone!
Website: http://www.gumptioncentres.co.uk
Author: Karen Mason
Date: 27/10/2009
Comment: sorry I also missed the original feature, but in regard to a home business for less than £500, I started my business for less than £200. This was the only cost that I had to pay and was in profit within the first four weeks.
It therefore became a FREE business.
I had instant cashflow, free training and support and my income has risen steadily every four weeks.
Email me for more information. If I can do this anyone can.
Website: www.AskmeMore.co.uk
Author: Colman Carpenter
Date: 26/02/2010
Comment: I'm a little surprised you haven't touched on software. With most PCs and laptops purchased today you get Windows installed, but only a trial version of Office. For someone on a very tight budget, opting for open source software can end up saving a lot of money at a time when it is most needed.
Personally, I have set my laptop up to dual boot into Vista and Ubuntu. In Ubuntu I use the following software...all free:
Thunderbird - Email and Calendars
Firefox - Web Browsing
Open Office - Office Suite
The GIMP - Graphics
You will find that there is an open source option for pretty much anything you need.
In addition, I have set my email up with Google Apps Standard Edition, which is also free. This is a complete online collaboration suite, allowing me access to emails, calendars and documents wherever I have internet access, even on my Android smartphone.
These days there really is no need for most small business owners to fork out hundreds or even thousands of pounds on software.
Website: http://www.fourlakes.co.uk