There are a myriad of challenges in starting a business from your home. The simple fact of the infrastructure in place to do business may seem like a daunting task, much less actually create a successful operation. Fortunately, the proliferation of cloud services has been a boon for small businesses. All legal services by telephone and fax to PC Backup can now be done on the Internet. This not only makes them more convenient and faster services to develop, but they are also usually much cheaper and easier to use.
In NextAdvisor.com, we have tested and reviewed some of the best cloud services for small businesses. Here are some of our best choice for your home business and being quick and inexpensive implementation:
Legal Services
the legal aspects of setting up a business can be confusing, and hiring a lawyer can be expensive. Deciding on the optimal legal structure may have fiscal responsibility and a huge impact on the road, so there is the crucial choice to make. Fortunately, online legal services have made the process simple, painless and cheap. These services can help you determine the best structure for your personal situation, then walk you through setting up, file documents and provide all additional legal documents you might need, all at a low fixed price. If you are looking for a longer term option, some services charge a monthly fee for full access to their legal document library and other features, as well as discounts on local lawyers that can help you with all the most complex legal questions you have.
Recommendation: LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer
Telephone Services
In most cases , VoIP (aka Internet phone service) is much cheaper and more effective than regular phone service. For example, the ATT price for unlimited local and long distance calls for businesses is $ 45 / line each month, which does not include any add-ons. The main business VoIP service providers offer plans for less than $ 20 per month which includes a wide range of free services such as conference call, voicemail transcription to send, call forwarding and call hunt, and an auto-attendant for answering and routing calls. The best part is that most of these services do not require a contract so you can cancel or change your plan at any time.
Recommendation: Jive or Ring Central
Fax Services
The machine seems to be a vestige of the old technology past that have gone the way of his contemporaries as the disk and there is black and white monitor decades. Yet too often, either sending or receiving a fax is essential to doing business. Fortunately, the cloud has eliminated the need for bulky and expensive fax machines. Internet fax services are cheaper, more environmentally friendly and much less hassle. No separate telephone line is required (do not worry - you still get your own fax number). Incoming faxes go straight to your e-mail in PDF format or other desired files. You can send outgoing faxes as you like, including directly from documents on your computer, using images snapped with your smartphone or scans of your printer.
Recommendation: MetroFax or Fax87
Financing Your Business
If you enter a bank and ask for a loan to get your small business started, you're likely to laugh out of the building. Yet go online and request a bank's credit cards? If you have good credit, you will probably be approved. Business credit cards have provided the initial funding for millions of businesses. The good map will give you both the most rewards for your spending and a nice 0% Intro APR, which works like an interest free loan. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that most consumer protections for credit card holders required by the Act on the card, such as limits on fees and higher interest rates, not not apply to credit card companies. And since you would have to provide a personal guarantee on your new business credit card anyway, you might want to consider getting a personal credit card to use for business expenses.
Recommendation: Chase Ink Cash or Capital One Spark Cash
file backup and storage
losing files or entire hard drives can mean losing month or more of work, something any new business can afford. Online backup is an easy, hassle-free to keep all important files in your business in the cloud. You do not have to buy any hardware or worry about remembering to save things. Your files are securely uploaded to servers in the cloud while you are doing your normal work - everything happens in the background. From few dollars a month, this is a cheap insurance for your valuable files.
Recommendation: Carbonite or SugarSync
Web Hosting
Even if your business does has nothing to do with the Internet, potential customers will want to check out your website, then you should probably have one. Thankfully, providers of these days web hosting make configuring your cheap and simple site. Even if you do not know anything about web design, many hosts have great web site builders for novices who can help you get a professional looking site quickly. And you can do all this for less than five dollars a month, including the cost of buying a domain name, which is free with many distinguished guests. Your best choice for a host will depend very much on your needs, so a good web hosting reviews will be helpful to make the best choice. At NextAdvisor.com, we looked at the top hosts and rated on everything from price average availability, we collected more than three years of data.
Recommendation: HostMonster and HostGator
Mailing and shipping
Yes, even traveling feared the post office can be replaced by the cloud. stamps online services allow you to purchase and print your own postage labels and personalized shipment. Better yet, if you just need to contact your customers, an email marketing service can help you deliver messages to virtually nothing.
Recommendation: Stamps.com to send; GetResponse Email Marketing to
Starting a home business is difficult, but do not make more difficult it must be. Enjoy ease of use and cost savings that the Internet can provide some basic services needs of your business. You will be left with more time and more money to spend on other things that really matter.