What are some of the essential things needed to have an ideal home office?

Paula,

There are quite a few threads that deal with this topic. If you search in the threads you will find information that will help.

You will get lots of ideas from these posts and you can also add to the conversation there too.

__________________
Lee Drozak

My "office" is a small desk. I have my imac and tons of software. My only phone is my cell. I have a wifi printer hidden in my coat closet (I don't do much printing). I do have a Macbook Air and an iPad but they are certainly not essential for running my business. I'm sure many here have a set up with more stuff but so far this is all I need.

__________________
Susan Sheehan - VA Cape Cod
21 Steps to Better Networking

I started with a desk, iMac, printer/scanner/fax/copier and software pertinent to what I do. I use my landline and cell. I have an iPad but it's only for personal use.

__________________
Stephanie Cogeos
Wordprocessing & Design

I am reading through few threads on this topic and I think I have picked up some brilliant ideas. You can actually start your home office with only a laptop or desktop and your cell phone to begin with! That's great!

I thought you have to be fully equipped with a scanner, printer, fax, land line, you name it. You can actually outsource these in the beginning till you are able to buy your own.

I have an actual home office but usually find myself sitting at the kitchen table or curled up on the couch with my laptop. My office has the essentials of what I need - a wifi printer, my desk and a filing cabinet. I use my cell phone or Skype for client calls.

Other than that I have things in there like business books that I've collected over the years but those aren't essential items that I need to run my biz, they're just good reads and some of them are good reference materials.

__________________
Tishia Lee, Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant
http://www.TishiaSavesTime.com

I'm just at my PC with my cell phone and a printer/scanner (which I owned before I was a VA, and have yet to use for my clients!). So you don't need much!

__________________
Allie
The Admin Initiative

As Lee mentioned, there's quite a bit on this already on the forum but here is a little Pinterest board I made for a 'dream office'. Personally though, all I really need is my laptop and the floor. I'm strange like that. lol. I also like to go out into the world and work. Sometimes I visit nature (woods, beach, park) or coffee shops. One time I even set up shop in my front yard for the day.

__________________
Frustrated with marketing your virtual assistant business? Self-Promotion into Self-Expression: An Illustrated Guide
Buy before March 3rd & get a free ticket to my upcoming 90 minute workshop!

This is so comforting to know! I definitely didn't want to buy a bunch of equipment without having any business. Do you have "virtual equipment" that you use regularly?