The budget worksheets below list what you need, or might need, to consider as an infopreneur.
| REQUIRED | Comments | Capital cost (USD) |
| Telephone line installation | Your home phone line will do. | 100 USD (depends on the country) |
| Computer system | You may already have a computer, monitor, printer, modem. | Less than 1000 USD if you need to buy one. I save further by using the Linux operating system. There are many good free distributions around. I prefer the Ubuntu distribution package. |
| Antivirus software | An absolute must for any business, large or small, running under Windows. | Linux does not have a problem with viruses! But a good one for Windows will cost around 20 USD only. |
| Word processing software | Essential part of any budget worksheets to prepare your texts for later insertion on your web site page. | I use OpenOffice.org Writer. Its free and as good as anything else you will have to pay for! |
| Web page creation software | I do not need one! My hosting firm supplies all the templates required to build web pages. I just plug in blocks of text, and files (pictures, graphics, audio, video, etc.) | If you insist, a good one may cost as low as 50-60 USD. When I need to, I use OpenOffice.org Writer and I export the results in HTML format. Its free and it does the job for me. |
| Graphic creation software | Useful to create your own graphics, graphs and picture content for your web site. | I use OpenOffice.org Draw. Its free and it does the job for me. It depends on your needs. |
| Scanner | Useful to very useful, depending on the type of content you have to create. | Less then 100 USD |
| Spelling and grammar checking software | Depends on your skills. You may prefer to use two or three persons, with a known command of the English language, to proof read your texts. | You can find a fairly good software package for around 50 USD. |
| Internet access | A dialup access is sufficient to start with. High speed access is nice to have, but costs more. Again, you may already have an internet access at home. | Dialup access setup cost is zero to 10 USD depending on country. |
| Web site hosting | Do not use the “free” space that comes with your internet access. You need your own private space to have your own domain name for your web business. | No setup cost in my case. |
| Domain name | Essential to register the domain name of your web site. My hosting firm takes care of that for me automatically. | About 7-10 USD. |
| Audio creation software | Useful when you need to create audio content for your web site. | I use Audacity v.1.2.4. It is a free digital audio editor. It does the job for me. It depends on your needs. (You can download from SourceForge.net ) |
| Fax (telecopier) | The average infopreneur rarely needs one. I use the fax software that came with my computer operating system. | If you insist, you can buy one for less than 100 USD. |
| Register your business | It makes dealing with government authorities much simpler and gives the credibility your business deserves. | In Quebec (Canada) it costs 32 CAD annually. |
| TOTAL | | Near zero to about 1500 USD |
| REQUIRED | Comments | Operations Costs (USD per year) |
| Telephone line | Your home phone line will do. | Zero if you use your home line. (Cost depends on the country.) |
| Computer system | Consider possible maintenance cost. | Normally zero maintenance cost during first five years. |
| Printer | I use about 5000 sheets of paper per year. I buy it by the case of 2000-2500 sheets, when on sale. | About 50 USD per year. |
| | I use about two or three cartridges of laser printer toner per year. Again, I wait for them to be on sale, and I always keep one new one in stock. | About 300 USD per year (more if you use ink jet cartridges). |
| Antivirus software | An absolute must for any business, large or small. | Renewal around 20 USD. |
| Word processing software | Essential to prepare your texts for later insertion on your web site page. | I use OpenOffice.org WRITER. Its free to use and upgrade! |
| Web page creation software | I do not need one! My hosting firm supplied all the templates required to build web pages. I just plug in blocks of text, and files (pictures, graphics, audio, video, etc.) | I use OpenOffice.org WRITER Its free to use and upgrade! |
| Graphic creation software | Useful to create your own graphics, graphs and picture content for your web site. | I use OpenOffice.org DRAW. Its free to use and upgrade! |
| Scanner | Useful to very useful, depending on the type of content you have to create. | Zero maintenance. |
| Spelling and grammar checking software | Depends on your skills. You may prefer to use two or three persons, with known command of the English language, to proof read your texts. | Upgrades are few and far between. Near zero cost if product is mature enough. |
| Internet access | A dialup access is sufficient to start with. High speed access is nice to have, but costs more. Again, you may already have an internet access at home. | It can be as low as 100 USD per year, depending on the country. |
| Web site hosting | Do not use the “free” space that comes with your internet access. You need your own private space to have your own domain name for your web business. | 300 USD in my case (includes all the tools for e-commerce you could dream of!) |
| Domain name | Essential to renew. My hosting firm takes care of that for me automatically. | In my case, it is included in the web hosting fee. |
| Audio creation software | Useful when you need to create audio content for your web site. | I use Audacity v.1.2.4. It is free to use and upgrade. |
| Fax (telecopier) | I use the fax software that came with my computer operating system. | In my case, cost is < 5 USD per year. |
| Renew your business registration | It makes dealing with government authorities much simpler and gives the credibility your business deserves. | In Quebec (Canada) it costs 32 CAD annually (about 27 USD). |
| TOTAL | | Less than 1000 USD per year |
Do come back often. I will be adding to this site regularly.
