(This is the second in a series of tips for start up businesses in tough economic times)

Don’t let anyone fool you; computers for the office, and computers for the home, are two different animals.  One will be more supped up than the other and both will handle different, and at the same time similar, tasks. They will look and feel similar but a different thought process is going to go into choosing the right computer for each location.

At home you may be inclined to think that you’ll only do email and the occasional letter, but at home you may become inclined to play the odd game, download and listen to music, store digital photographs, let the kids play on the computer, etc.

For the most part, hardware is going to be a more important consideration than software at home – you’ll want a decent sound card for music for example – and you can easily get away with a “Home” version of Windows. You’ll also not be terribly concerned about whether or not a particular piece of software will run on a home computer as it will usually not be critical to… well, anything.  If one software package doesn’t do the job, there are often hundreds of others that will.

In the office on the other hand, software rules and hardware only matters in so much as “does the software I need to run my business run on this hardware?”  Typical office software includes accounting, email, calendar, task list, customer relationship management, custom industry specific applications, databases, and on and on. You’ll want to think about what it is you’ll do with your office computer from a software perspective before purchasing it.

Consider for example a “one man” start up, home based, architectural business.  The business owner will need a computer that runs all of the following software:

• An accounting package
• An email program
• A desktop publishing program for marketing
• An office suite for word processing, spreadsheets, etc
• Software to track appointments and tasks
• Something to track interactions with customers including sales, opportunities, and leads
• A printer or plotter to print drawings on
• And most importantly, some form of CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to actually create drawings

Our friend the architect will probably decide on a software pick something like:

• QuickBooks or Simply Accounting for accounting
• Microsoft Office Professional Edition for email, calendars, desktop publishing, word processing, spreadsheet, appointments, tasks
• Business Contact Manager for sales, opportunities, and leads
• A large format colour laser printer to get started
• And AutoCAD or SolidWorks for drawings

Having sorted out what software will be critical to her business, our friend the architect can now check the minimum hardware requirements of each piece of software and buy a computer that will run them. Had she just gone out and bought a computer without considering the software critical to her business, our friend may have avoided a costly mistake.

On a similar note, knowing what your hardware requirements are, you are in a good position to avoid over-buying and thus over-spending. It is never a wise idea to buy the bare minimum that will run a particular software package and in fact, manufacturers usually publish recommended hardware requirements along with minimum requirements to help determine on what hardware the software will run best. I usually recommend not buying a computer with the latest and greatest CPU – one that was the latest and greatest 6 months ago will work perfectly fine and will save a bundle.

When buying computer equipment it is important to consider where the business will be in 3 or 4 or 5 years. Like any business planning, looking ahead in terms of computer equipment allows you to standardize on a platform, implement processes that improve the business, and avoid having to purchase again in a short period of time.

In thinking of the future, it is wise to think about unexpected growth and purchase computers that are easily networkable. Essentially that means that Windows computers of the “Home” or “Basic” variety should have no place in your business. The initial upfront cost is negligible and if you’ve otherwise planned your hardware and software purchase well, the computer will easily fit into an expanded and structured network easily. A “Home” or “Basic” version of Windows will become a serious thorn in your side if the business expands.

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