Plan for unexpected. It never fails that things are going along smoothly, then BAM, a home based business owner gets broad-sided with something they never dreamed would happen. It could be anything from a flooded basement where they have their home based business office to computer getting struck by lightening—or just an electrical outage at busiest time of day. So take time to make back up plans for every eventuality. This doesn’t mean you have to become pessimistic in your outlook, just that you have a backup plan for most any emergency that may come along. Having a plan means you’ll be prepared just in case.

Have money put aside. When your home based business profits are pouring in, it’s easy to let your spending get out of hand. Then when computer does get struck by lightening, you don’t have money for needed repairs. So you need to put aside some money each month while you’re growing your home based business to help you through any bad times you may have—and you will have them. Every business, home based or otherwise, has good times and bad. Having financial resources to see you through them is essential to keeping your home based business operating, and growing.

Use your time wisely. With a stay at home business, it’s easy to get distracted by television, telephone and family. It’s also easy to let paperwork slide. A lot of home based business owners become like Scarlet in Gone with Wind and think there’s always tomorrow. What happens is when things pile up, a home based business owner can easily get overwhelmed. After all, there’s no one else to take care of things. So make sure you organize your time, make a schedule—and stick with it.

One of first ways you can save on your home based business expenses is to buy used furniture and equipment. Some great places to look for used office furniture and equipment is in classified section of your local newspaper, consignment furniture stores, flea markets, online auctions and bankruptcy sales. Other good places to check into for home based business furniture and equipment are new furniture stores because they often take trade-ins or have repossessed furniture that they’re willing to sell at greatly reduced prices. Of course you would never want to sacrifice quality and safety of your home based business equipment, so be sure, especially if buying online, that dealers are reputable ones.

Another way you can reduce your home based business expenses is to team up with other small businesses and home based businesses to increase your purchasing power. Many companies give terrific discounts on items bought in bulk. This is especially true for items like paper where in exchange for large orders you not only get a discount, but also often get shipping for free. There are many types of home business supplies that you can get big savings on when buying this way. When making bulk purchasing arrangements with other small businesses and home based businesses, spell out terms of who’ll be placing order, how delivery will be made and any other details—and put them in writing.