If you would like to have a great home office space, but don’t have the budget, with a little planning, creativity and physical effort, you can have a designer home office at low cost.

Repurpose and Reuse

A new desk can cost several thousand dollars, especially if it is a desk that you want to last. Instead of going into debt for a desk, consider creating your own desk. Find an old door that you like. If it is grooved or decorated, you will also want to purchase Plexiglas to cover it so that you can have a flat writing surface.

You can purchase table legs at your local home store. Paint or stain the door in whatever color you desire. Attach the table legs to the bottom of the door and in no time at all, you have a streamlined and budget-friendly desk.

You can also find two bookshelves at your local flea market and use those as the supports for your desk. If you would like to create an L-shaped desk you will want to support the middle of it with screw-on table legs.

Shelving

New bookshelves can be expensive, yet you do need a place to store your office equipment and materials. You can make your own bookshelves by heading to your home store. Purchase 1 x 6-inch and/or 1 x 8-inch pieces of plywood in the lengths you need; you can have them cut to size. (If you don’t like the look of plywood you can have laminated medium-density fibreboard (MDF) or a hard wood also cut to size.)

Paint or stain the wood however you wish. Purchase shelving brackets and install. You can stack the shelves vertically on your wall, or stagger them on the wall for a more modern look.

Do-It-Yourself Accessories and Organization

Simple items found around your home can be used to organize your home office and streamline the design. For example, you can use different size mason jars to store paper clips, pencils and binder clips. You can also keep shipping boxes and use them to store files. Simply decorate the outside of the shipping box with shelf paper or wrapping paper to add color and style.

You can also make your own wall art by framing your children’s art or by getting creative on your own. No one says you have to spend hundreds of dollars on wall art.

Finally, because electronics are often the most expensive part of any home office, consider buying remanufactured equipment. It often comes with an extended warranty, works just as well as a brand-new piece of equipment, and saves you money.

Customer loyalty can make or break your business. A loyal customer isn’t just someone who will buy from you time and again. They will also publicly talk about your business, defend you against criticism, refer their friends and family to your business, and in general do everything in their power to help you win.

How can you cultivate more customer loyalty? How do you create a culture around your brand that people want to help?

Connect with Your Customers Regularly

The companies with the most loyal customers are those companies that connect with their customers often. That means you are not just a distant brand or a faceless organization. You are real people behind a real business creating real value in the world. This connection can be through a company blog, through Twitter, through Facebook, through email or through in-person events. The more your customers feel as though they have a connection with you, the more loyal they will be.

Always Think and Talk in WIIFY Terms

WIIFY, or “What’s In It for You,” basically means you’re always putting the customer first. Instead of doing what might make your company the most money in the short term, you plan your business around what would benefit the customers most. Your customers will notice. Anytime you write a blog post, make sure your readers and customers will get something from it. This may seem obvious, but so many bloggers make the mistake of posting just what is interesting to them or their company, rather than writing something that will genuinely improve the lives of their readers. Always, always put the customer first. Think in “What’s In It for You” terms.

Ask for Feedback

How do you always deliver what the customer wants? By asking! Before you can deliver what they want, you have to first be absolutely certain about what it is they want. Feedback can take the form of surveys, focus groups or just a simple telephone call. Even if you have thousands of customers, you can still learn a lot just by picking up the phone and calling half a dozen of your most loyal buyers.

Over Deliver

In the end, it is only your product that matters. It has been said again and again that at the end of the day, your product is your brand. Marketing can help increase sales in the short term, but in the long term, the quality of your product(s) will become known on the marketplace. Make a great product and over deliver and that will be your reputation. The reverse is also true. If you want people to truly be loyal to your brand, then do everything you possibly can to over deliver.

If you do these four things – connect regularly, think in WIIFY terms, ask for feedback and strive to over deliver – you will very quickly build a company to which your customers can be fiercely loyal.

Most businesses start off small. To continue to grow and reach their potential, business owners have to constantly re-evaluate several areas, one of which is expenses. Here are some ideas for cutting small business costs.

A major advantage of a small business, especially an online one, is the low overhead. When you decide to start a business, you already have many of the items that you need, but because you have a low overhead doesn’t mean that you should spend available money on new upgrades, for example.

Breaking It Down

Many of these tips will benefit both online and offline businesses. As we said, many of the items you need (equipment, computer, phone line, transportation) are already within reach. They probably gave you the idea to get started in business in the first place.

However, it is often the small items that can derail you and cost you money. Evaluate your business expenses at least once a year if not semi-annually. Once you get a handle on things the first time, quickly checking the expense report the next time will be a lot easier.

* Check with the telephone company – If you have a home office, you will want to consider a second telephone line. Phone companies have different rates for businesses, and you can take advantage of discounts for local and international calls, as well as internet options.

* Check internet options – With so many internet service providers, you can choose from the top of the line, but if the top is offering the same options as a lower priced one, save yourself some money. Look at reliability. A cable internet option may be faster and more reliable than a DSL hook-up. And, if you bundle services you could save money on telephone, cellular and internet.

* Look at your cell phone bill – Cellular phones are not just for calls anymore. There are smartphones that perform the same functions as computers. Contracts usually last for two years with most providers. Check out new promotions that can lower the cost of internet access. If you make a lot of business calls, consider unlimited calling and text, which is cheaper each month than paying a lot for overages. Also, when you upgrade your cell phone, there are all sorts of free or promotional perks that come with it. Don’t be afraid to ask.

* Use the computer – For many of us, we are on the computer every day anyway. You can use internet calling plans such as Skype or Windows Live. If you have a laptop or computer with a webcam, you and your clients can speak face to face. Some smartphones also have this capability.

* Website checkout options – To cut expenses for an online business, you may need to change your payment policy. Accepting credit cards is universal, but there is some fee involved if you use a merchant account. Instead, use PayPal or 2Checkout.com to accept payments. It is simple and easy for you and your customers.

Evaluating your expenses on a regular basis is good business. Find ways to cut expenses and increase your profit margin.

When you first begin a business, it seems that money is flying away and before you know it, you are in the red. Here are some tips to help you keep your business on track.

Small businesses attract many new entrepreneurs because of their appeal. In most cases, they have low overhead and can turn a profit rather quickly. For online enterprises, you already have most of what you need to start. There will be expenses for website set-up and other nuances, but you can begin for less than $1,000, or even $500 in most cases.

However, just because you are a small business doesn’t mean that you can fly on a shoestring. Big businesses became that way because they kept track of their budget when they were a small business. That knowledge helps them manage multimillion dollar budgets with greater savvy.

Tips to Stay on Track

* Make a plan – Every business, whether large or small, needs a business plan. It will require some research of other small business models such as yours. How much do they spend on overheads? Are there employees you will need to pay? What about insurance costs? Where do you see yourself in five years? Answer all of these questions so you can see where you stand.

* Consult a financial advisor – They can help you move from conception to reality with your budget. How much money do you have now? How much will it take to run the business each month? They can offer suggestions for creating your rudimentary budget so you have a place to start.

* Open a business account – Many small businesses find it helpful to keep their accounting in one place. Companies such as American Express and your local bank can offer comprehensive business solutions and tools with business credit accounts. You have access to a credit line you may need to tap into, but also a way to track your spending. It can help you amend line items to that budget if you need to. Get business credit cards for employees who travel with a set limit for their use.

* Use computer software – Software helps you stay organized and that is a key to staying on top of budgetary needs. Keep track of your accounts payables and receivables. Send letters to overdue accounts to collect money in a timely manner.

* Get organized – Keep business contracts at hand in case you need to consult them. New equipment such as the wireless portable scanner allows you to scan receipts, and organize them into files on your computer for easy consultation to reconcile at the end of the month. And, don’t forget to back up files in case of hard drive crashes.

Keeping to a budget involves finding a place to start. Once you have worked out the details to get started, you can use software, business accounts and sound financial advice to keep your enterprise on the track to success

Keeping proper records will help you cut back on taxes, as well as cut back on headaches when it comes to tax return filing time. Here is how you can make your recordkeeping as streamlined as possible so you have accurate records without it having to take up time and attention:

Have a System for Storing Papers

The system could be by date, by type of expense or whatever other system you want. The most important thing is that you have a system. A filing cabinet can help avoid clutter. Again, order your filing cabinet by date, or by type of expense for tax purposes (e.g. meals, equipment, etc.)

Print All Digital Receipts

Whenever you book a flight, print your flight receipt. Anytime you make a business-related purchase online, print out the receipt immediately. When a purchase is completed online, it can be easy to forget to collect the receipt. Get in the habit of doing it so you don’t have to go receipt-hunting later.

Set a Time to Organize Your Records

Even the most organized business person can’t wait until the end of the year to organize their records. Once or twice a month, you will need to go through all your receipts and other records and ensure everything is properly filed, and you will need to enter expenses into your bookkeeping program. Little tasks can pile up quickly if you don’t have a set time to deal with them. Pick a time to organize once or twice a month and schedule it on your calendar.

Have Essential Papers in One Place

Papers such as W-2s, DBAs, FIDs, NDAs, assignment of IPs, accounts payables and sales records should all be kept in one place, ideally with an offsite back-up as well. Small businesses that get their employees information when they first sign on and then have to ask for it again later on because they lost it often end up looking unprofessional to their staff. Even worse, if the papers for a staff member who has left can’t be found, you run the risk of not being able to write off their expenses.

Outsource Your Recordkeeping

If your business is earning you personally more than $20 or $30 an hour, it’s probably time to outsource your recordkeeping. Bookkeeping is an important task that needs to be done, but it is not a rare skill. You should easily be able to hire someone for $20 an hour to take over the task for you, so you can put your attention on performing tasks that earn revenue.

These are a few commonsense tips for recordkeeping that will help make your life easier and your business more profitable.