Small business advice from people who have been there, done that is invaluable. Here is some small business advice we have gathered over the years:

Do not invest in fancy stationery or letterhead or envelopes. You are much better off just picking up a good box of linen bond paper and matching envelopes at the office supply store. This is a professional alternative to spending a lot of money.

Another bit of small business advice is to purchase a color laser printer. They are very inexpensive these days. This way you can avoid high commercial printing fees and you can print out marketing material in whatever quantity you need.

Create a simple web site. Make sure your email address matches your company Web site domain. In other words, www.companyname.com, emailaddress@companyname.com. This is very smart small business advice because it promotes branding.

Work from a home office. There is no need to rent commercial office space.

Don't spend a lot of time reading IT-related or consumer computer magazines. Your time needs to be spent marketing. This is a piece of small business advice that will save you tons of wasted time.

Do not rely on timed, unlimited use demo software products. If you're going to work with Microsoft products, then purchase an Action Pack subscription for approximately $300 a year.

One of the most valuable bits of small business advice is do not try to build your own applications. Buy an accounting and time and billing system like Quickbooks or Peachtree. For contact management use ACT or some other similar program.

Send files via email in Acrobat format. This protects the document from tampering and avoids software compatibility problems.

The number one financial related piece of small business advice is to avoid granting credit to one-time clients and or on product sales. You are in business to make money not lend money.

Make sure your invoicing and billing practices are well organized. You need to collect your money on time to pay your own bills.

Don't go cheap when it comes to your phone. Your phone is your image. A very useful piece of business advice is to get a dedicated business line so that when you answer your business phone you don't just say, hello.

The Bottom Line on Small Business Advice

There are many ways you can improve your effectiveness and save money. Some of the best small business advice comes from people who have already made mistakes. Learn from their lessons and consider each bit of small business advice you get very carefully.

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