New business owners often struggle with financial issues. There are many expenses that simply must be paid, from marketing tools such as customer leads and advertising, to licenses and certificates. If the company sells a product, then inventory must be bought, and if it hires employees, they must be paid. By the time these nonnegotiable bills are paid, the new business owner may not have much money left. He may be unable to spend hundreds of dollars on office software.

But it is a tradeoff to be considered carefully, as quality must not suffer. Documents that appear unprofessional send a message that the company is small, broke, and untrustworthy. It is critical for the new business owner, who does not yet have a solid list of references, to exude professionalism in everything he or she does.

Enter freeware. The concept of freeware has actually been around about as long as there has been computers. Originally, computers were hulking machines, much more impressive for their sheer size and mass than for their processing power. The self-taught engineers of Silicon Valley were much more interested in perfecting the hardware than in ensuring practical usability for the home market. This opened up a niche for self-taught engineers in other parts of the country who, as they had paid a lot of money to buy these machines, had a vested interest to see what they could make them do. So they created programs and released them to their friends and acquaintances. As they acquired modems and began logging into BBS’s (the precursor to modern internet forums), they began to distribute their programming more widely. Shareware began to develop, in which a program was released for free with some features limited, and by sending a small amount of money (usually $5-$10) to the programmer, the user would receive a code to access the complete program.

An underground revolution has begun, with a new market created by those tired of spending ever more money on software that still wasn’t without its faults. Freeware designers have answered the call of very many and their work is admirable, not uncommonly even bettet than the paid alternatives. Most freeware is now released as “open source,” meaning that the code is available to anyone who cares to use it. This allows any user to modify it to his own needs, and even to release his adaptations for public use.

Freeware programs that are useful for home-based businesses are numerous. Open Office (www.openoffice.org) packages a word processor, spreadsheet and database program with a multimedia presentation program and even a very usable graphics package. Mozilla’s offerings (www.mozilla.com), notably the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird e-mail, are superior in innumerable ways, particularly in stability and safety. Gimp photo editing (gimp-win.sourceforge.net) and Free Accounting Software (www.freeaccountingsoftware.net/default.aspx) complete the basics of what the average home-based business owner should need.

Freeware programs that are useful for home-based businesses are numerous. Open Office (www.openoffice.org) packages a word processor, spreadsheet and database program with a multimedia presentation program and even a truly stunning graphics package. Mozilla’s offerings (www.mozilla.com), notably the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird e-mail, are superior in innumerable ways, particularly in stability and safety. Gimp photo editing (gimp-win.sourceforge.net) and Free Accounting Software (www.freeaccountingsoftware.net/default.aspx) round out the list of what the average home-based business owner should need.

When setting up a new home-based business, owners must take careful stock of their assets and utilize their resources carefully. Freeware offers products that are comparable to costly alternatives, while providing the user with additional customization options and increased functionality.

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