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Starting a business is an expensive process and it often needs to be carried out on a very tight budget. Businesses can take months or even years to become profitable so it is important that you know what all of the costs will be before you make the leap and set about starting your own business. Expenses such as rent and business IT support are always important and thankfully they are usually remembered during the setup of a business. Elements such as an update to Windows 8 so that you can maintain a professional appearance, or the expense of business insurance, are those that we often forget, and they are sometimes the most important of all. This article will consider the top 6 frustrating expenses that are often forgotten when setting up a business.

• Hiring an Accountant

Whilst you may be proud of your ability to successfully complete all of your family accounts, it is an entirely different experience when you are dealing with taxes for a small business. Even in a small business there are rules and regulations which will make even the most committed of people lose hope. An accountant is an unavoidable cost that will help you to succeed in your dreams so be sure to hire a knowledgeable accountant to help you to keep your business legitimate.

• Business Filing Costs

When running a business there are many requirements to meet. You may need to apply for a reseller’s license or have your premises checked for safety. All of these requirements will come at a cost so be certain to find out what requirements you will have to meet before you set out.

• Legal Advice

Legal advice is expensive but it is also essential. You will need someone to look over your contracts. Neglecting to get legal advice could be a painful decision should anything go wrong at a later stage.

• Insurance

It may not seem necessary but every business, whether you are a copywriter or a lawyers firm, needs business insurance in case the worst happens. Liability insurance is an absolute must and if you employ staff you will need to be covered for compensation purposes as well.

• Medicare

When you are employed, your employer is responsible for paying your medicare contributions for you. But as a self-employed business owner you will actually have to pay these costs yourself once you are drawing a wage from the business. Failure to make these payments could result in heavy fines at a later stage.

• Life and Disability Insurance

When you work for yourself one of the most important things you need to do is take insurance for the event of injury or illness. If you are running your business alone and an illness befalls you then there is no company to back you up and maintain your wage whilst you recover. Be sure to get insurance so that if anything does happen you will not be left without financial support and a failing business in your absence.

Switching to VOIP business systems is not like turning your company upside down as you install a mass of cables and machinery like it was when the PBX was introduced. It is very easy, and in most markets, it costs nothing.

VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) based business phone systems are increasing popular. It is getting to the point where if you don’t have VOIP, you cannot communicate with clients and suppliers in the way they are already used to. Video calling has fast become the norm. It is easy to think VOIP calling and video calling will cost your company a fortune. In actual fact, the switch over cost is minimal, any devices are normally included with the change without an upfront fee, and your communication costs will be greatly reduced as a result of using VOIP. It is practically impossible for VOIP to be costing you half of your current call costs, and you get video and a lot more services included. In this article, we look at the essentials needed in your office when switching over to VOIP communication services.

• Application. VOIP is a software application. Skype was the company to make VOIP calling well-known to computer users. Microsoft just purchased Skype for 8.9 billion dollars, and so you can expect it to be on every PC running the new Windows 8 operating system. There are literally thousands of VOIP applications available on the market. Some have more features than others. Your VOIP provider is providing their application and their tools to use it. The simplest version of VOIP is an application running on a computer, the most sophisticated uses dedicated servers to run a whole office of handsets allowing VOIP calling, while integrating existing phone systems and landline calling options. In most cases, all those computers handling the phone system are in the facilities of the provider.
• High Speed Internet. No internet speed, and you don’t have the ability to send that information down the internet, and therefore, you cannot have good enough quality calls with VOIP. Standard broadband available to consumers in modern countries is generally good enough, but more expensive dedicated internet connections with super-high speeds are an excellent choice for business because they can handle more data, and they do it faster. You need a network in your office to handle several handsets. Handsets can even operate over a wireless network, if you wish.
• VOIP Handsets. VOIP handsets look like ordinary phones with more buttons, a display, camera and loudspeakers. We can think of these handsets as the devices that communicate with the VOIP application of the provider, that is either on a single computer in your office, or on a high speed dedicated server in the facilities of your VOIP provider. They are like the keyboard, camera and speakers of the laptop if you choose to use Skype. Buying these devices is probably the biggest upfront cost related to VOIP for business, and in many cases, providers are actually renting the devices on very low fees to eliminate upfront costs.

As you can see, the installation, setup and kick-off for VOIP is extremely easy and will be almost instantaneous.