Small Business Week: The top five things every home office must have Minnesota

• Desk - To sit perchance to file. Every entrepreneur needs a place to operate his or her business - a place for billing, filing, copying, writing and e-mailing. For many homepreneurs, their desk becomes their office so it has to be great. Ideally, the desk has a lot of drawers for storage, at least two or three full sides so that there is a lot of desk space and a high wall on one side so you can block out other rooms and activities.

• Headphones - Listen up - working from home can be noisy - being able to plug in your headphones and ignore everything around you is a crucial part of staying focused and achieving what you have to in order to build your business.

• A tall filing cabinet - Anything vertical in a home office is a real space saver. A tall, thin filing cabinet that takes up minimal wall space is key.

• Laptop - When you work at home, sometimes you just have to get out of the office to be with people. Even if it means plugging in your laptop at a local coffee shop. Make sure it has as much power as your personal computer or you will become frustrated very easily.

• Quickbooks Software - The biggest problem many home-based businesses run into is a lack of resources which can lead to disorganization and therefore a lack of productivity. Investing in a good bookkeeping program will help you with year-end, accounting and cash flow management. The first thing a new small business owner should to once their desk is set up and their laptop is working is install Quickbooks and get a system for cash flow management set up before the business grows, not after.

Office supply retailers such as Staples Business Depot offer a wide array of products to help homepreneurs get started. You can find many of the items mentioned above at www.easy.staples.ca.

- News Canada