You may find at least at first that you handle most office services such as document shredding and cleaning yourself. However, as you get busier, you need to consider the value of your time. If you're charging $50 an hour, would it be cheaper for you to spend an hour a week cleaning your office or for someone else to come in and do it for you?

Cleaning

It might not be reasonable to hire a cleaner just to come in and deal with your home-based business area, but you might want to add it to the list of cleaning duties if you already use a cleaning service. This is especially important if you have clients coming to the office: A clean and tidy office gives you a professional and credible image even before the meeting starts. Otherwise, be prepared to clean the office yourself: Dusting, vacuuming, and taking out the trash are non-negotiable every week.

Document Shredding

If you deal with confidential matters, any potentially sensitive information that isn't going to be filed needs to be shredded. If you simply throw it out in the trash, it's vulnerable to the local critters tearing it apart and spreading the papers all down the block — and even to corporate espionage, depending on who you're working with. You could buy a document shredder, but if your volume is high, consider using a document shredding service where you can drop documents off or that provides a pick-up service.

Trash Collection

Is the kind of trash that your home-based business generates within your community's service limitations? Do you pay by the bag for trash service, for example, or is there a bag number limit? If so, be sure to budget in the extra costs that your business will generate. You also need to ensure that you're complying with all hazardous or environmentally unfriendly waste rules, such waste oil disposal, and recycling as much material as possible. Ask your waste management service or your municipality or county office for advice.