So, you've decided to give working at home a try, at least in the beginning of your new bootstrapped business.

Here then, in honor of fellow business blogger and entrepreneur Ben Yoskovitz's "Blog About Five Things Week", are five tips to help you along the way.

They are:

1. What they don't know won't hurt 'em

Many cities and even small towns have a dizzying variety of regulations governing what you can and can't do with your property including the running of home businesses. Do yourself a favor. Unless you need signs or some other visible external changes to the building, don't ask your local zoning officer if you need a permit to sit around in your underwear blogging in the living room. Small town bureaucrats are usually regulation happy, so the answer to such questions will invariably be yes. Keep things low key. They'll never know the difference.

2. Pick another place to meet

In the years I've worked alone unsupervised in a newspaper bureau office, I've found myself going into that office less and less. Since I generally interact with people either over the phone, by e-mail or by traveling to meet them one on one, the office is often a hindrance to my daily routine, a place to go just to say I've been there. Just because you work out of your house doesn't mean you have to meet clients there, however. Many professionals from attorneys to consultants meet either at their clients' offices or in restaurants and other setting for a business lunch or conference. Clients and customers will appreciate that you're coming to them anyway and will enjoy the change in venue. And even if you occasionally have to pick up a check, it'll cost less than the rent for that useless office.

3. Don't be in a rush to hire that first employee

If you're not sure whether to hire that first employee or not the answer is probably don't. Employees come with a host of problems including added costs for wages, benefits and supplies and added risks in the work environment. (One word: Osha!) Besides there are a number of other options available if you get over worked without adding the responsibilities of another full-time person. (See the posts on Virtual Assistants for more details.)

4. Keep your Superman suit looking spiffy

As I've worked more and more from home since late 1999, I've learned to always have a business casual outfit or two laying out where I can get at them at a moment's notice. Not knowing when it might be necessary to rush out and meet someone on business, I want to be able to look my professional best without much preparation leaving my sloppy, bathrobe draped, coffee swigging alter ego in my home office for those all night projects and long weekend work sessions. All this split personality stuff has its purpose helping you separate the many roles you have to play in your own mind and can save an awful lot on business clothing.

5. Very few start-ups today need a business address

When deciding whether or not your business can be started at home, one important question may be whether any part of your venture absolutely requires an office, store front or other commercial address to function. With improving technology, fewer and fewer businesses do, and entrepreneurs are usually better off getting out and seeing customers or clients anyway than holing up in an office waiting for them to walk in the door. Even many retail businesses today can be launched on the Internet until they earn sufficient revenue to consider a bricks and mortar address. In fact, through drop shipping techniques many start-up retail operations can even get by with little or no inventory until added income warrants a larger investment.