Don't Forget These IT Essentials For Your Startup Business!

Ask anyone that has started a business before and they will tell you there is plenty to think about during those early stages! One thought that comes into the minds of all business owners are expenses. They are the things your business needs that cost money.

One such example is IT or “Information Technology.” In today’s modern world, you will seldom see a business that isn’t using the latest IT equipment in their offices. After all; IT helps businesses be more productive and efficient in many different ways.

Are you starting your own business soon? If so, you might not have given much thought to your IT requirements. The focus of today’s article is to help you gain an understanding of what you need and why.

Computers

Any business, regardless of its type, needs to have at least one computer. They make our lives easier and enable us to better communicate with the outside world. There are different types of computers that you can buy:

• Desktops. These are the cheapest forms of computer and get used in most offices and business settings;
• Laptops. They are great for computing on the go, and are just as powerful and versatile as desktop computers;
• Tablets. Examples include the Apple iPad. Great for emails, surfing the Web and even doing presentations for clients.

Some startup businesses lease computers as they can work out cheaper than spending a few grand on buying them outright.

Printers

If you need to print something out from your computers, you need printers. It’s as simple as that! Most offices use laser printers for fast, monochrome printouts. Inkjet printers are useful for color printing.

Both printer types are available as USB, wired or wireless networking models. I recommend getting Ethernet networked printers so that everyone on your network can use them.

Internet connection

So, you have your computers and printers set up. You now need to communicate with the outside world on the Internet, and so to do that you need an Internet connection.

For a small office of three people or less, a standard ADSL-based broadband connection will suffice.

But when you have more than three people, you need a faster fiber connection to cope with demand. Both types are easy to set up and affordable for startup businesses.

Phone lines

The telephone isn’t dead just yet! We make millions of phone calls each day, so it’s important your business has a phone number for your customers and suppliers to use. There are plenty of solutions out there depending on the size of your startup business.

Software

To use your new computers to the best of their abilities, you need to have the right software on them. Here are some examples of software you can use for your business:

• Accounts software. Useful for managing the day-to-day financial aspects of your new startup business;
• Billing software. When you need to invoice hundreds or even thousands of customers on a regular basis, you need a decent billing software solution;
• Office software. You can use this software for word processing, spreadsheets and more.

I hope today’s article has been useful for you. Thanks for reading it!