What you need when you start your business 

We have been in the business of selling and supporting business computer systems for 21 years. We specialise in systems for small businesses and our strapline is 'Computer Solutions for Business' since we have always tried to provide a solution to our customer's problems rather than just sell them stuff.

Over the years I have seen a few trends and followed a few, although luckily I learnt my lessons early and now I'm a little more cautious with 'the best thing since sliced bread' especially when it's an IT salesman talking. I'd like to use this post to pass on some of the wisdom I have hopefully learned.

Software to run your business

Most small businesses need little software to run their business. In my business I am probably guilty of underselling rather than overselling. I don't like to see my customers waste their money so I'll only sell them things I know they can use and benefit from.

So for most small start ups the list is as follows:

Office software for Word Processing and Spreadsheets - note I didn't say Microsoft Office. It is good to be Microsoft compatible because customers and suppliers will send you files that you will need to open, but there are cheaper packages out there. I'd recommend Open Office, Star Office and Ability office. All are available at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft and they look very similar and are just as easy to use.

Accounting software - In the UK I would recommend Quickbooks or Sage. We have been Sage resellers for about 20 years and Sage Line 50 is very easy to learn and to use. Whilst I don't know Quickbooks very well, I have heard so many recommendations over the years that I cannot ignore it.

Anti-virus software - I recommend Sophos Small Business Edition for a 5 users system but that might be too many for a start up. AVG is available free to home users but be careful as you must pay for a licence for business use. Price is reasonable. The biggest problem with business anti-virus is that the business packages are generally for 5 or more users so buy as single licences. The anti-virus suppliers will try to sell you the benefits of network editions with centralised server updates but with modern internet connections it's hardly a saving unless you have dozens of PCs.

Back up software - You cannot have too many backups. Back up all day every day. One day you will be glad you did. I recommend Acronis True Image. For very small systems there is a package called Acronis True Image workstation but for slightly larger organisations there is Acronis True Image Server. Both packages take a 'snapshot' of the hard drive, and in the event of a failure you can restore the system very quickly. Most other back up systems will need you to restore the operating system of the machine and then install the back up software to perform a restore of your data. See the hardware section for my recommendations of where to back up to.

Hardware to run your business

Start with a PC. Do not be tempted to cut corners. The first choice is the processor - a basic Celeron PC will probably save a few pounds but try for a Core 2 Duo machine. Next the memory - this is probably more important than the processor so go for at least 2Gb. If you had to cut corners on the processor then go for more memory. For standard business accounts and word processing then a 160Gb hard drive will do. If you have photos and graphics files to store then go for more hard drive space.

If you have several PCs in your business then you will want to connect them to each other. For up to 3 PCs then a peer to peer network is sufficient. A network cable in each PC leads back to a network switch. Set up one PC as the master and get in the habit of storing all the important data on the master and backing it up regularly. For more PCs then a server is a good idea. It will enable you to set up additional security and storage areas where access can be restricted to authorised users. A server can add considerably to the cost of the network so you can also use a network attached drive as a server - Freecom do one called a Freecom Storage gateway which acts as a mini server, network switch and Internet gateway all in one device the size of a book.

Printers - I have found over the last few years I have printed less and less. However you still need a printer some some things, especially accounts. A multifunction printer/scanner/copier is good but make sure you go for a mono laser rather than a colour inkjet as the latter are expensive for consumables and also slow. If you have a need for colour printing then consider your volumes. A colour laser is expensive on consumables but is best for large volumes. For just an occasional colour print then an inkjet is fine. I could write far more on the cost of consumables but I'll leave it for another day. For now I'll say consider a mainstream manufacturer such as HP, Brother or Lexmark as their toners and cartridges will be more readily available and are more likely to be discounted.

Back up devices - They'll try to sell you a tape streamer. The drives are expensive and the tapes are expensive. Consider instead an external USB hard drive. We recommend the Freecom Toughdrive as it is rubber coated to protect the drive if you drop it - which you will. Buy several of these drives and use them to store your drive images. Rotate them around and try to keep at least one of them off site. Difficult if you work from home - you could always put one in the shed or in the car. It's important as you don't want to lose everything if there is a fire or a flood.

The cloud

A new development which will be of interest to small business and start ups will be 'The Cloud'. Google Apps is an online application which provides you with email, word processing and calendar via your web browser.  There are other organisations that can provide contact management and accounting software as a service.  You could run your whole business from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.