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I won’t give the same old advice about not visiting Starbucks every day. Instead, I’m sharing seven steps I personally used to save money as I moved into the role of entrepreneur.

As a home based business owner, you’ve already got a head start since you won’t be paying rent. Other ways you can save:

1. Use WordPress as Your Content Management System

WordPress is a free blogging platform that also works as a website’s content management system.

Since it’s open source software, developers around the world work to improve it. That collaborative work shows in its easy-to-use interface, easily customizable designs and love affair with search engines.

2. Use a Free WordPress Theme Instead of a Web Designer

When you use WordPress, you have access to thousands of themes to use as a web design. “Theme” is lingo that means a web site design. This blog uses the “Cutline” theme, originally designed by Chris Pearson. It’s not hard to find lots of themes.

To be honest, my theme here is not my favorite since it’s all white. I’m horrible with color selection and need to find someone to help me.

3. Buy Business Cards from Vista Print

Too many business owners don’t get started because they need a logo. Oh, but before the logo, they need the right designer. Oh, before the designer, they need to get a tagline and on and on. If you’re not yet sure about your logo and need cards to give out, visit VistaPrint and pick one of the existing designs to use. If you have design skills, you can upload your design to VistaPrint and have cards within a few days.

I found it was important to have a basic card printed and to figure out the logo later. My current design is simple, elegant and will do fine until I work with my designer on the logo.

4. Start Out with an Excellent Web Host

Picking the wrong web host can be an expensive mistake. One web host I use (not listed here) offers outstanding support. However, they do not offer a one-click install of WordPress, and WordPress can’t be installed on www.yourdomain.com. Instead, it has to be installed on blog.yourdomain.com. That means I can’t use easily WordPress as my content management system for the entire website.

The hosts below offer outstanding support AND one-click WordPress installation AND you can install WordPress on www.yourdomain.com or another variation that suits you.

Dreamhost (offers one-click WordPress installation)
HostGator (offers one-click WordPress installation)

5. Figure Out Where You Must Spend Money

When I started my business, I calculated what needed to be bought and what could wait. I took time to think about what issues were going to keep me awake at night (legal) and decided that the legal forms were worth putting at the top of my list. I found an excellent lawyer who charges reasonable fees for his services. I also decided that an accountant and an excellent client communication tool were worth the money.

I use Aweber to keep in touch with my list. It’s a double opt-in list management service that’s easy to use and offers a way to send blog summaries to your list. They offer excellent support — with a convenient live chat feature — and often I can find answers to my questions in their searchable help area.

6. Network Online

Ideally, you should budget for networking events if it applies to your kind of business. You may want to join Business Networking International (BNI), a local group related to your industry, or a networking group via meetup.com. Some of the groups I find useful cost anywhere from nothing on up to $350 per year.

Most important of all is to track from where you get your best clients. If you pay $0 for a organization where you find the best clients, then maybe that $350 is not worth it.

In addition to networking, it’s a good idea to set up a referral marketing plan for yourself. Referrals offer a way to gain introductions to your ideal client. When I started my business, I immediately worked on my referral marketing plan and clients now seem to come “out of the blue.”

7. Buy QuickBooks

QuickBooks will save you money on tax preparation and keeping your books accurate. If I could go back and do things over, I would have bought this software on day one. I had to input four months worth of invoices and expenses (yuck!) because I did not buy this sooner.

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